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Misfits Market – Ugly Delicious and affordable.

Inspired by a friend’s Instagram post about her subscription box to ‘ugly’ produce that normally goes to waste, I began considering one myself. I mentioned more than a week ago to my partner that I’d be interested in trying one of them so long as it did not break the bank. Unsurprisingly, he agreed. See, we love samples and trying new things when it comes to food, coffee, tea, and so on. Being able to try something before fully committing to it is always a great idea. Unfortunately, COVID keeps us firmly exiled, for the good of the realm, at home. Our groceries are delivered, and barring forgetting to add personal hygiene items to the list for delivery, we stay home.

We can’t head on out and get our shopping on at our favorite produce places or Asian grocers or visit a farmer’s market. Surprisingly, we almost thought we wouldn’t be able to get a subscription ‘ugly’ produce box either as none of them were shipping to Florida.

Or so we thought.
(The Dramatic Music Goes Here.)

The Plot Ripens

My husband found Misfits Market first and began exploring their website, social media, and customer reviews. While the reviews were positive, they delivered to Florida, and their social media presence is great—it was the price of the Mischief weekly box that sold us first. Without shipping and handling, 10 – 13 pounds of fresh organic mixed fruits and veggies, mostly seasonal as well as leftovers that grocery stores either do not need or cannot sell for whatever reason, goes for $23.00 US. With the shipping and handling it comes to $27.50, weekly, with the option to skip weeks if you find yourself swimming in too many cabbages suddenly.

That Price Though

11-13 lbs of produce from my local grocery store or through Instacart would cost us anywhere—and has cost us– $50 to $70. Just for fruits and vegetables alone, and I am not talking the convenient pre-sliced or chopped either. That’s a lot of money for essential food items everyone, and I mean everyone should have access too. So we signed up and eagerly awaited our first box.

We were not disappointed. The produce that we got was not at all misfits to me. I grew up in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada, where my grandparents at one point had at least 3 gardens almost an acre in size. Vegetables that came from that garden were imperfect but tasted amazing, and the Misfits produce we got looked exactly like what I would have helped my Nanna’s handpick from her garden.

 For our $27.50 we received:

  •  2 Large zucchinis
  • 1 medium spaghetti squash
  • 2 yellow/Spanish onions
  • 1 large cucumber
  • 1 package of cherry tomatoes
  • 2 generous leafy heads of baby bok choy
  • 4 Gala apples
  • 1 massive head of celery
  • 1 bunch of carrots
  • 4 Plumcots (A cross between a plum and an apricot)

We ate the plumcots within the first five minutes of opening the box (after washing.) Sorry for the blurry pic of it all, yes I was excited over a damn box of veggies.

Anyway, my point here is, if you like surprise food, if you want to cut down on food waste if you’re looking to eat healthier without going broke and if you just plain want to try something new, I highly recommend Misfits Market. (Remember to go easy on them during COVID, the mail crisis, and the fact they are moving to a newer facility and expanding their business to respond to demand right now.)

Does it get 2 PEWPEWs out of 2?

I think it’s worth it because there is so much more to it than just a box full of leafy greens. Misfits Markets allows you to add extras to your boxes and that offers a little bit of customization (they are working on allowing us to truly customize our weekly boxes so I am EXCITE.) Next week’s box we added shishito peppers, a coffee brand we’ve never heard before with a flavor we’ve never tried, as well as chocolate bars from a different brand. Next week, we’ll be trying Partake food’s cookies as well a Hen of the Woods/Maitake mushrooms.

I’m eager to try cooking again, in small steps, as this pandemic has meant that I have spent too many months taking something breaded or unhealthy from the freezer and slapping it on an oven tray. Has self-isolating for you resolved into any culinary experiments? What have you tried and loved? Any favorite new recipes or failures? I’d love to know to add to my experiments, too.

Published inPhat Life