Arganica: Not Your Average Farm Club
By Laura Sears
metrocurean contributor, lb's good spoon
In recent articles I've mentioned farms that deliver fresh produce to your doorstep, milk delivery services, and also a company that will pick up your compost so you don't have to manage it yourself.
What if there was an organization providing all of the above as well as local brews, wines, meats, cheeses and even oysters? Meet Arganica.
Arganica Farm Club allows you to sign up for various subscriptions and doesn't lock you into weekly deliveries. You can choose from a local or organic crate of in-season vegetables and fruits or take your pick from the large grocery posted on their site, from vegetables to bacon, cheeses and honey.
Each item listing includes where it's from, if it's organic or has been sprayed, and how it's packaged. Ordering with Arganica requires a minimum of $25. There's no delivery fees and each member is charged on the date of delivery. Membership plans range from a one-year plan for $250 to a one-month plan for $30.
Deliveries in the DC and Baltimore areas arrive on Thursdays or Sundays in wooden crates. If you're so inclined you can put out your empty crate on the day of delivery along with your compost for the week. They'll whisk it away for you when they bring your next delivery.
Jessica Schneidman, sourcing director for Arganica, is especially proud of the local beers and wines they have to offer. Each week they're working with different producers to offer great local ingredients and beverages.
If your drink of choice is creamy and opaque, the farm club's milk share program offers both natural and organic milk in glass jars, which can also be recycled through the program.
Have more questions? The Arganica website is incredibly informative although if you're anything like me they have a gracious member services staff who can be reached at 434.979.0480.
Laura Sears is a personal chef, cooking instructor and food writer following her love of cooking and writing after a career in various business jobs. Born and raised in Ohio, she is both molded by those roots and the ones she grew as an early adult in Santa Barbara, Calif. Her love for local, seasonal food blossomed there as did her desire to garden each opportunity she got.
Living in DC has been a recent change though she is encouraged by the number of farmers markets and local suppliers of meat and dairy. You can follow her on her personal blog LB's Good Spoon that was created in 2008 after several friends kept asking her what she had cooked up recently!