[highclassjackass]

Don't get me wrong, I love carting back fresh veggies from the grocery store near my office in the city, but I miss me some Fresh Direct.

WHEN, please WHEN will they start delivering to the Stuy!!!


_________________
...a criminal who never broke no laws.

[The Changeling]

This has been bothering me for some time now. I've written hate mail to Fresh Direct because they had the nerve to have a subway ad in the Myrtle-Willoughby train station and they don't even deliver here! I wrote them and told them that I will not use their service even if they do come around and begin to believe that The Stuy is worth their time. If they are not going to serve underserved communities, then what do we need them for? We won't need Fresh Direct when we finally get a decent neighborhood grocer. And what's more insulting is that I think some of the people around here actually WORK for Fresh Direct! Fresh Direct can go directly to hell.

[highclassjackass]

Yeah - that kind of hypocrisy is intolerable. I could care not at all if Fresh Direct delivers out here - I'm more upset about the rotten state of the local grocery store, and my alternative which is to take a subway to get decent looking produce and meat...and frozen goods...and cheese, and eggs, and...ok, everything essentially.

ARGH.
_________________
...a criminal who never broke no laws.

[Boygabriel]

what's their current non-delivery boundary? ie how close to b-s do they get?
_________________
Spend a buck, light a number for one the 400,000 victims in Darfur: darfurwall.org

[piratesofwaverly]

FD seems like such an environmental disaster to me that I can't support using them. I have no hard info on which to base my claim, but all the packaging everything comes in and the trucks idling to keep their reefer units going seems bad.

[Boygabriel]

[Guest]

FD uses big boxes to ship small items for crying out loud! And then there's their big trucks delivering to each household -- and the idling. I like to pick individucal items for myself. Other than convenience, IMHO FD's a lose-lose situation. The fact that we Americans are so overworked and have no time (or make no time) to shop and have to have our groceries delivered says a lot.

[queencallipygos]

[Boygabriel]

I don't order fresh direct because I'm lazy. I order fresh direct because it's cheaper, has a much better selection, and has much higher food quality.

but your blind hatred of FD users is appreciated.
_________________
Spend a buck, light a number for one the 400,000 victims in Darfur: darfurwall.org

[Kevin_on_Putnam]

We're on putnam near irving and FD delivers to us. You know, a lot of people DRIVE to the supermarkets like the Pathmark in the Atlantic Terminal. A lot of families can't carry all the groceries home they need for the week. I think one FD truck per neighborhood trumps all that car traffic, so environmentally speaking, it's a wash

[LimestoneKid]

[streetwise]

I believe that they deliver as far east as Nostrand right now. That was only after a number of people from the homes and apartments near Bedford Ave. wrote them to request delivery. If they see a demand for an area, they will expand their delivery zones.

[LeffertsGirl]

I know they go at least as far as Classon...
_________________
earth goddess!

[Boygabriel]

[Guest]

[Guest]

[Boygabriel]

[Guest]

[quote="Boygabriel"]

[arZan]

This is a great discussion.

I personally dont think FD is any cheaper. Its the same prices as the local farmers market and a bit more expensive than the Pathmark I go to.

Yes its not in the same league of expensiveness as Whole Foods but thats another topic.

I wish they would have a better packaging strategy and spent time developing that. And the same with the actual delivery.

FD has a lot of positives, but the few negatives are not something that can be overlooked.

Another point raised briefly was the whole insistence of us wanting to eat anything and everything year around, be it in season or not. It takes the whole FD issue to a macro level. Like Chilean produce at Pathmark, travelled more miles that my frequent flier account to get to the local supermarket....eh !!
_________________
http://clintonhill.us
http://wadias.in/site/arzan/blog/

[Boygabriel]

[quote="Anonymous"]

[Boygabriel]

[queencallipygos]

[bolletje]

[piratesofwaverly]

There's no doubt that our area needs better grocery options. I would love it if Union Market would open a shop around here or we could found a coop or if someone else did something. Until then, I'll make do w/ farmer's market, csa, associated on myrtle and out-of nabe options, notably, Perelandra and Whole Paycheck.

http://www.myrtleavenue.org/blog/index.cfm/20.....or-Organics-Gourmet-Foods

[Boygabriel]

[Boygabriel]

Good news people! (semi-sarcasm)

When I got my FD delivery yesterday the guys turned off the truck while they brought the food inside! That means my food delivery created less carbon monoxide than a person who drives themselves to the grocery store.
_________________
Spend a buck, light a number for one the 400,000 victims in Darfur: darfurwall.org

[Guest]

FD could get a lot of eco-street cred if they took back the cardboard they wasted on the previous delivery. And they waste a lot. You can get a big box holding nothing but two items. Hardly difficult for them to do. You'd bundle it up if you give it to them, they take it. thats it.

Perhaps they should also get a fleet of smaller, even electric, vehicles for delivery. Those trucks are too big for brooklyn streets that lack parking.

[Guest]

[Boygabriel]

[Guest]

If you live in a minority neighborhood, chances are very high FD will not deliver to you.

I live in Williamsburg (no, not Bushwick), but since I am surrounded by Puetro Ricans, they will not deliver to me.

[queencallipygos]

[Boygabriel]

[piratesofwaverly]

FD would go a long way towards answering their critics if they used hybrid vehicles and reuseable containers. And greened-up their warehouse(s).

This seems like good brand positioning to me-I would bet that people who care (and can afford to care) enough about food to pay this kind of money for it are also likely to care (and can afford to care) about Al Gore's Oscar chances. Ok, I lost the thread there, but you get what I mean.

[Travis Bickle]

Where is Spike Lee's joint? Don't he still live in an ungentrified 'hood? I thought he was keepin' it real? Or is he just another in the long list of sell-outs once they got some coin?

[Boygabriel]

[arZan]

[j.b.]

It's fascinating how everyone loves a conspiracy, and how so many people's first step is to ascribe malicious intent to a 3rd party's actions. There was a great Foregin Policy article about this potentially deleterious tendency in people.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3679

We Americans are lazy in that when we mean to say 'class' we reflexively say 'race'.

FreshDirect -is- usually pretty expensive for staple foods. Meat and fish are more expensive at FD. Pasta is more expensive. Rice. Bread. Milk. It's everything else that's has a chance of being cheaper than a small grocery store, because the grocer isn't moving as many of the premium/prepared goods taking up precious shelf space. FD has less need for loss leaders, because it doesn't have a store to get you to walk into. They had you at 'pre-paying delivery passes' and 'here, Ill carry it up to your door for you'.

I love Fresh Direct because they almost always have better produce than any other store, but they are expensive. Likewise, the farmer's market. I love the market's bustle. That said, it's often sentimentalized because it fits into a specific worldview. (Like hydrogen fuel and 'clean coal'.) I've been going there for years and all I end up occasionally buying are flowers, olive bread and some cider. Their stuff is expensive, and the selection is limited. (At least the one in FG.) Eating stuff your great-grandmother would recognize as food is definitely a good goal but you can do that in other places.

When i go to the local supermarket, I end up saving about 30% compared to FD or the farmer's market. That adds up when you're plunking down 150-200 a week. I don't buy the prepared meals, as I might on a whim when ordering online. I actually stare at ingredients. Now that we have babies, we're buying a lot more staple foods and veggies. And this is what's usually cheapest at the local market.

I've come to the decision to buy the heavy or bulky stuff through FD, tip them nicely to bring it upstairs 3 flights. Oh, and the grapes. Love the grapes. We'll do that once a month. The default from now on will be the local market. The little one on Waverly is the little store that could, in my opinion. Lots of stuff, if not everything.

I personally don't care about the exhaust FD may emit on my behalf. I've noticed them turning the engine off recently, but even if they didn't I'm not going to sweat it. My wife and I have never purchased or kept a car in our lives. I use the train whenever possible, and then some. We choose to live in a city, and not a place that requires a car. I care about maintaining the environment, I'm a Sierra Club member but there's a point of diminishing returns where philosophy turns into self-flagellation and a hairshirt. All things in moderation, including moderation. And FreshDirect.

[Boygabriel]

[Boygabriel]

[piratesofwaverly]

More Hairshirts!

Interesting comments all the way around. I can never predict which topics get people inspired to post.....

[Kevin_on_Putnam]

You know if you compare a basket of items from Fresh direct and a basket of items from the local Key food, the price comes out pretty much the same. The difference is in the quality. All the fish, cheese, meat etc. is really fresh and sometimes, a really exceptional quality. I buy fish bones for stock occasionally and they'll usually give me the backbone of a shark or cod, really excellent for fish stock, and the farmed salmon is just terrific.

[Hungry Girl]

When I go to Key Food on Fifth Ave. or Pathmark or the Associated on Waverly I normally am getting food AND non-food items: Paper towels, dog food, plastic bags, ketchup, toilet paper, chicken, shampoo, a sixpack. When I shop at Fresh Direct, I am almost always getting 100% fresh food. Chard, fish, cheese, chicken, salad. Since a food-only order is more costly I've found it hard to compare the relative expense. Overall, I've been very happy with the quality of items purchased at Fresh Direct. Fairway - OTOH - makes me insane. Stuff looks better than it is and costs more too! Ya gotta love that view from the parking lot though.

One thing about FD that drives me nuts - at a grocery store you can compare a price per pound (or weight measurement unit of the appropriate kind) on comparable items. In fact, that is New York State law - it HAS to be posted. There isn't any comparable unit pricing selection at the Fresh Direct site. Shouldn't there be?

[southoxford]

Our food bills have gone down since we started using Fresh Direct. I attribute this to a few things, aside from potentially lower prices:
1) Careful menu planning
2) Very few impulse buys
3) Easier cost-comparisons on their website.

And our FD food is fresher and tastier than anything I've ever gotten at the Pathmark on Atlantic (our "local" grocery store.) The last time I went to Pathmark, it took me two and a half hours to find everything I wanted. Many things were out of stock. The meat department was a nightmare. And the kicker was that by the time we checked out, our bill was higher than it would have been at FreshDirect. For me, that's enough to justify FD's environmental impact, whatever it is.

And FWIW, I emailed FreshDirect about using reusable plastic crates instead of cardboard boxes. They said no, but I feel that if enough people wrote in and expressed concern, they might change their minds. So if you get a chance, try it!

[BonnieEM]

Hey:

I don't know if anyone else ordered the $69/Vday meal. I did! Well, it sucked. I opened the box, and found "frozen" foods in there.. Today, I started checking out sites, to see whether anyone else had that problem. Did you?
One other thing that I found on one of the blogs, that new competition to FD is coming. This company called breadnbrie.com. So maybe, FD will become better in food quality and in delivery, or I'll switch... ( no big loss for them)

[southoxford]

Bonnie, wasn't the food supposed to be frozen? I mean, they didn't expect you to eat it frozen, but it was meant to be heated or cooked or whatever. I'm confused as to what the problem was.