2014 Vegan MOFO Day 1 - Chow Locally!

Happy MoFo 2014 to one and all. I'm excited to be back for my 7th year of the challenge. The past 4 years I have been able to post every day for the entire MoFo month. I have a lot of other commitments in my world this month, so if I make all 30 days this year, I am promoting myself to "Bad Ass" MoFo Rock star status.

I'm so jazzed for this year's theme: Chow Locally!

Chow Locally is an organization whose team is very passionate about getting local, fresh, healthy food out to people in the Phoenix area. The team works with local farmers and ranchers to bring together the best local food out there. Their service supports local farmers by providing more distribution channels than they could achieve on their own. Chow Locally has a unique way of distributing the freshest local produce. People sign up for their box online and select the most convenient pick up location. They have drop off points all over the valley including several farmers markets, Whole Foods Markes and YMCA's. Click here for a list of current drop off/pick up points to see which one works for you. I'm super excited because Chow Locally actually delivers to several locations within my company. My groceries come right to my work. It doesn't get any more convenient than that! If you are interested, you can coordinate a pickup location that is convenient for you as well.

I've tried other CSA's and co-ops that offer boxes. What I like better about Chow Locally is the flexibility they offer. You don't have to get a box every week. You can go onto their easy to navigate website and opt out of your box on any given week. You can also easily change your pick up location online. The cost of the box is very reasonable as well. The boxes are only $23.97 a week (this price includes the tax). Each week the boxes typically have 7-10 different produce items from various farms in AZ. Each box comes with an informative insert that tells which farm grew the item in the box. It also provides descriptions and helpful hints for using the produce. I highly recommend you go to their website to learn more about the team and their outstanding program and give it a try. I can tell you first hand the quality of the produce is excellent!

So how does this tie into MoFo? Well in a couple of ways.

First and most exciting, the folks at Chow Locally have generously offered to provide a box each week of MoFo for me to give away to a lucky local reader. Once a week, I will post a box giveaway. To be eligible to win a Chow Locally box you must live in the Phoenix area or be in the area to pick up your box. Winners will be chosen at random the following day. I will contact the winner via email to arrange a pick up location, so please make sure to leave an email contact in you comments. The first giveaway will be tomorrow!! Exciting!!

Don't fear my out of state blogatrons: I am planning a couple of other giveaways for you during the month. So make sure to keep coming back to get some new recipes and see what other fun is in store.

Second - I will be posting recipes using the produce from the box I get each week. This is a fun way to give you some new ideas on how to use those local ingredients. I am so thrilled to be partnering with Chow Locally this year! It is a win win win to be sure. Come along with me as I Chow Locally!

Here is a shot of the share I got last week. Make sure to come back and check out the recipes I created from this week's share.