A start-up food box company is proving that ugly fruits and vegetables need love too.
Eat Impact is a Toronto company that provides healthy, in-season produce from the farm to your doorstep and recently started delivering in Barrie.
The only difference is the product can be ugly, misshapen, or a little mall for store standards.
Founder Anna Stegink says 50 percent of all food produced in Canada goes to waste.
"We're conditioned by the modern grocery store to expect produce to look a certain way. But realistically, most produce looks different or a bit funny, but it's fresh, delicious, and sometimes even more nutritious."
That's why "Eat Impact" sources their products from local farmers and distributors to provide in-season fruits and veggies.
You can choose from different sizes of boxes and decide what kind of variety you want, including all veggies, all fruit, mixture or organic.
The food is great, and Anna says the cost is worth the try.
"It costs 40 percent less than you pay at a grocery store. With food inflation costs soaring right now, this is a really important problem we're trying to solve so that people can access better food for less money."
She says feedback from the boxes has been great, allowing people to try something they never had before. Many customers report eating much more fresh produce just by being part of this program.
Regarding people's concerns with environmental impact, Anna says they have taken a lot of care in thinking about their ecological footprint.
"We're a zero-waste business, and everything we use is recyclable. When we deliver in cardboard boxes, we pick them up the following week to reuse. We never use plastic craft paper in our packaging, and all routes for delivery drivers are optimized to reduce kilometres and emissions."
She adds, "We also donate to different tree-planting organizations based on the kilometre usage to prevent greenhouse gas emissions in that way."
For more information on Eat Impact, you can check them out here or follow them on instagram @eatimpact
feature image from@eatimpact
