La Boîte à Légumes
Why organic baskets?
By subscribing to our organic baskets you’ll get local, organic vegetables and you’ll be supporting our local Quebec farmers! Picked when ripe and delivered fresh close to your home or place of work. Discover the pleasure of eating in season and encouraging both environmentally-friendly farming practices and the local farmers who cultivate our land.
Organic Farming
Organic farming is better for your health, the health of your loved ones and of the planet, with no synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In addition, the farming methods preserve soil fertility and its biodiversity. Opting to support local organic farming is THE solution for the overall health of our environment!
Buying Local
Our organic baskets have a short supply chain, which helps stimulate the local economy and reduces the distance our food needs to travel (reducing a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions). A direct link with your farmer means access to freshly harvested, perfectly ripened, tasty and nutrient-rich produce.
Solidarity with the farmers
By subscribing to our organic baskets, you support a family farming business in your area and help to maintain and develop the largest network of organic farms in North America. The format also ensures that the farmers receive a decent income because they receive 100% of the value of the subscriptions. It's a win-win relationship.
A better price
The vegetables in our organic baskets are on average 20% cheaper than the Quebec organic vegetables found in grocery stores. The cost of your subscription goes directly to your family farmer, so without any intermediaries, the cost of the products is reduced. In addition, you’ll have a direct human contact with the person who cultivates your vegetables, who can guarantee their quality at a better price!
A flexible formula
You choose the delivery point close to your home or workplace. As needed, you can exchange vegetables at the pickup point, change the size of your basket any time during the season, postpone delivery during your holidays, and pay for your subscription in several installments. Certain delivery points also offer the option to order complementary products.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my basket be delivered to the home?
No. Organic baskets are delivered to a delivery point that you choose when you subscribe. our delivery point will determine the selection of your family farmer.
Do I have to subscribe to Équiterre?
No. You subscribe directly to your farm (which will use either the Family Farmers Network website or its own platform for subscription). The Network acts as an intermediary to put you in contact with your farmer.
Can I choose the content of my basket?
Yes and no. The farmers prepare uniform baskets for their subscribers, but often provide, a mini-market formula at the delivery point, so that you can choose your vegetables from the selection being offered. In addition, an exchange basket is also often available.
Which basket format should I choose?
The formats and values of baskets vary from one farm to another and the quantity of vegetables that an individual, couple or family consumes varies depending on how often you cook, eat out, etc. In any case, you can modify the format of your basket along the way.
Does my basket contain only local, organic food?
Yes. The organic baskets contain only local organic food. No products are imported. However, if the farm you have selected is in the process of being certified, you will receive fresh, local, but not certified organic, products.
Why do I have to contribute $18 to the Family Farmers Network?
Your contribution allows the Network to support family farmers with the logistics, marketing and promotion of their organic baskets. It also makes it possible to develop the Network in order to provide organic baskets to a larger number of citizens. All subscribers are therefore involved in financing the project, making the farmers’ contribution more affordable.
Does the Family Farmers Network guarantee my season with the farm?
The Family Farmers Network cannot vouch for the partnership between farms and their subscribers. But the Network, created by Équiterre almost 25 years ago, is solid. It is based on solidarity between a farm and local citizens. It is the responsibility of subscribers to be well informed about the nature of the project and of the farm before subscribing, and the responsibility of the farm to use all reasonable organic and ethical means to produce quality fruits and vegetables in sufficient quantity to supply subscribers throughout the season. The Network acts only as an intermediary between the farms and its subscribers so that they can participate in this ecological, supportive and humane food model.
Are there also organic baskets in the fall and winter?
Yes. Twenty family farmers provide baskets of vegetables in the fall and the winter, as well as a farm collective called Bio Locaux. Winter baskets require that the farms plan additional harvests during the summer and have the infrastructure to store and distribute the vegetables that have been conserved for the winter season. Winter baskets are usually delivered every two weeks, from November to March or April. They are mostly filled with vegetables that preserve well (potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, etc.) and regularly with greens, greenhouse vegetables, sprouts and processed products.
Subscribe to Équiterre's family farmers' organic baskets
Équiterre also support farms currently obtaining their certification.