Our produce containers have a whole new look, and we think you’re going to love it!
Many customers have voiced the desire to see less plastic and more reusable materials when shopping for produce, and we feel the same. Our commitment to growing good food in a sustainable way extends all the way to the grocery store shelves, and your dinner tables thereafter. As such, we have transitioned all salad greens (mesclun, lettuce mix, kale, spinach…) to recycled and recyclable plastic containers, with updates for other vegetables coming later this season. You’ll notice the containers have a new look, a bright green sticker, and are much easier to open and close.
You’ll also notice these containers are made of 100% recycled #1 PET or PETE plastic. As plastics go, there is a lot to love about PET. To start, the container holding your mesclun has already been recycled from a previous product, like a plastic water bottle. With a lid that is easier to open and close, you can reuse the container at home or work several times. And when it is time to part ways, know there is a very strong market for recycling PET products again into something else - think clothing, carpeting, furniture, and fibers. Chittenden Solid Waste District accepts and resells all clean #1 PET plastics.
While we wish we could do away with plastic altogether - and that may be the case in the future - in the meantime, our goal is to provide you with the freshest produce of the highest quality, in the most responsible packaging available. Plastic containers ensure greens don’t wilt or bruise. We know the resources it requires to create nutritious, delicious, certified organic vegetables, and we are committed to making sure you realize that value every time you cook and eat JSF produce.
We aim to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in all that we do:
We wash and reuse all case containers in which we transport produce and eggs to stores and restaurants
If we don’t need to bag it, we don’t - zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes all go to restaurants in reusable totes. No plastic wrap, no bags.
You can find recycled and reusable bags at our Farmstands for shopping. We also accept clean paper pulp egg cartons for reuse, so please feel free to bring yours to our farmstands.
CSA bags are cleaned and reused throughout the season. You are welcome to return yours at CSA pick up each week and we will put it to good use.
As a team, the vast majority of our data tracking, planning, and sales orders are kept electronically. We minimize our use of paper through a well-loved iPad and many many Google Sheets!
No food wasted: We sell what we harvest, we donate what is left in the field. Anything not suitable for human consumption is happily accepted by our hens and pigs. And after all that, anything that remains becomes high quality compost for use in the next growing season.
To learn more about our packaging supplier, visit www.producepackaging.com
All major grocery stores will accept plastic film and bags for recycling - to learn more, visit CSWD here or enter your zip code for a nearby store with a “Take Back” station.