Hi everyone! I am so happy to be back in the cooking and baking mix with the cooler weather. I got a ton of vegetables from my CSA this week and am cooking away. In addition to the return of the CSA, I also got some awesome news: Fresh Direct has come to our area!
For those of you who don’t know, Fresh Direct is a delivery food service but not your typical supermarket service. They deliver local as well as organic produce , local artesanal items such as pies and jams as well as all the other items you need to keep your fridge and pantry stocked for healthy living. I am psyched! Over 300 local products, even seafood!
I spoke with the chief marketing and strategy officer, Monica Woo, who told me that not only do 600,000 customers in the tri-state area use and love fresh direct, but that they partner with local food pantries and farms in their areas. They are currently working with about 50 farms. They are also the biggest donor to City Harvest in NYC which provides food for those in need.
Here are some other cool things I learned:
They will be partnering with our town to provide healthy food workshops with kids and parents and I am excited to be working with them to start these programs very soon in our district’s schools as part of the health and Wellness committee
They plan to create partnerships with our local food pantries and soup kitchens
In the next week, I will be receiving a big box of coupons and info pamphlets to help you receive a major discount on your first few orders so stay tuned to Take Back the Kitchen!
I love Fresh Direct and now don’t feel that I need to return to NYC. Take that, NYC!
6 Responses
That's soooo cool! I used to be jealous of all my NY peeps who had their groceries delivered by FreshDirect, and now I covet their home delivered foodstuffs no more!
cool, Alma. Thanks for posting.
I was so happy to get a postcard from FreshDirect announcing they are coming here and offering all sorts of discounts! But – Two years ago there was a report on NPR that they were being accused of bad labor practices (emphasis on "accused" – I don't know if it was true or what, if anything they've done to change since then). Alma, do you know? I'd like to give them my business and pass the tip along to Monclair Parents of Multiples!
This is such great news! I loved it in the city and miss it
Here is the response from the Marketing Director of Fresh Direct in response to the labor practices:
The accusation of "bad labor practice" was, unfortunately, fabricated by the Teamsters union, after they had failed to organize our employees at the Plant to join two years or so ago.
The truth is that, in 2007, our plant employees VOTED 4 to 1 to NOT unionize, because they were happy with FreshDirect.
FreshDirect is pro-employees but not anti-union. We want to listen to our employees, and give them the freedom to choose. Indeed, our Transportation team is unionized (600 associates).
Our plant employees have chosen not to unionize.
FreshDirect is proud of our relationship with our 1000+ plant employees. The fair wages, comprehensive and low cost benefits, as well as opportunities for advancements are the reasons why our employees are happy with FreshDirect. Most of our new hires are referrals from current employees.
I tried shopping with Fresh Direct once but I didn't like it; I admit I'm not much of an internet shopper. Anyway, just last weekend we talked to some friends about it, they just got Fresh Direct in their neighborhood (it's what they missed most about Brooklyn). After talking to them I was willing to give it another shot and then…bam! There's your entry. Signs abound for Fresh Direct.