Hi all! Jamie here, reporting on my experience with the newly popular and rapidly expanding box service, “Misfits Market”. For those who haven't seen the highly effective ads online, this is a weekly or bi-weekly service that ships “rejected” organic produce right to your door in an effort to counter the massive issue of food waste in the United States. “Misfits” are any produce deemed too big, small, or irregular for the grocery store, as well as items in which there was an unexpected surplus.

The claim is that they are also a helpful service for the farms themselves, as they are purchasing produce that was likely to be tossed. This direct line to the source is also supposed to be a money saver for the consumer, grocery stores being omitted from the equation. At $22 and $35 subscription options, their boxes, “the Mischief” and the “the Madness”, are both quite substantial in size; the former being 10-13 lbs of produce and the latter up to a whopping 22 lbs. I opted for “the Mischief”, as the larger box was marketed for a larger household.

In sampling this service, I hoped to find at least a partial fix for three ongoing dilemmas in my life: eating a wider variety of fruits and vegetables on a more regular basis, reducing the amount of food I throw away, and, of course, saving money. In general I love to cook from scratch, but I often don't feel like it after work. When I came across an ad for Misfits Market online, I was immediately intrigued and thought the boxes might help inspire me to work toward these goals.

Let's take a look into the boxes!

Week 1-

In the Box:
- 1 Butternut Squash
- 1 Eggplant
- 1 Small Head of Little Gem Lettuce
- 1 Bag of Red, Yellow, and Orange Mini Sweet Peppers
- 1 English Cucumber

- 1 Bunch of Carrots
- 1 Bunch of Curly Kale
- 1 Container of Grape Tomatoes
- 2 Oranges
- 3 Limes
- 3 Small Yellow Onions
- 3 Black Plums

The first thing I feel I must note, other than the impressive quantity of produce that you receive in their smallest box option, is that it did take two days of shipping for them to get the box to me from their closest location (New Jersey, apparently). Having said that, everything still arrived fresh and ready to eat despite the fact that we we're facing near record highs this summer, and despite the fact that my ice packs were melted by the time my box arrived. In my opinion, this speaks to the freshness of the produce they're shipping out, as I don't believe a tired old head of little gem lettuce could withstand that journey and those temperatures without wilting.

Of course, one of the main concerns voiced by those who consider subscribing to Misfits Market (including my husband) is something along the lines of, “just how weird is the produce?” The answer is: not very, despite their hilarious advertisements. The eggplant had some light scarring, the yellow onions were closer to the size of shallots, and the carrots were a bit lopsided and leggy, but everything actually looked pretty good. The kale, the plums, the mini peppers, and the butternut squash were all close to perfection in size, quality, and flavor.

I did manage to use most of the produce, though some of it did unfortunately go to waste. I waited too long to incorporate the grape tomatoes into a dish, 1 lime shriveled up, and I never did use that little gem lettuce. Still, it was a fun challenge to try to incorporate it all, and I was especially pleased when I improvised on my Eggplant and Polenta recipe from Eating Well Magazine by sauteeing in some of the sweet peppers so they wouldn't go to waste. Delicious!

Week 2-

In the Box:
- 1 Butternut Squash
- 1 Eggplant
- 1 Container of Blueberries
- 1 Bunch of Lacinto Kale
- 1 Bunch of Broccolini
- 2 Mangoes
- 2 Green Bell Peppers
- 2 Zucchini
- 2 English Cucumbers
- 4 Gold Delicious Apples
- 3 Small Yellow Onions
- 6 Small Red Potatoes

Hooray for zucchini and broccolini! I must admit, I was a bit more pleased with the contents of this box, even if I did have to find yet another recipe for eggplant. Though some might not be be used to cooking with broccolini (or baby broccoli), I haven't yet been sent anything out of the ordinary or that I'm unfamiliar with (Update; I did finally get a variety of squash I didn't recognize after writing this review). For this box, the biggest waste was probably my English cucumbers. Since I received one the week before and two this week, I definitely didn't need all that cucumber. This, of course, is one of the reasons people opt out of this service; it was thought up as a means to cut back on food waste, but also has the potential to create food waste on its own in your home. Still, it's nice to think that produce that might have all gone to waste anyways has a better chance of being enjoyed through the Misfits Market service.

Week 3-

In the Box:
- 1 Eggplant (!)
- 1 Mango
- 1 Container of Blueberries
- 1 Bunch of Green Leaf Lettuce
- 1 Fennel Bulb
- 1 Celery Heart
- 1 Bunch of Carrots
- 2 Tomatoes
- 3 Baby Zucchini
- 3 Limes
- 4 Small Yellow Onions
- 4 Red Potatoes

This was the box that I failed the most with. It didn't really have to do with the box itself, but my own inherent laziness. My husband and I decided to take on the project of priming and repainting the exterior of our new house, and the whole ordeal took up most of our weekends for five weeks, as well as some of our evenings during the work week. We saved money, but I'm not sure we'd do it again! While most of the produce in this box went to good use, a few of the major items ended up shriveled before I could muster up the motivation to cook them for dinner.

Most disappointing was my failure to utilize the fennel bulb, which I actually love to serve chopped and roasted with potatoes. This was one of my concerns going into this experiment, and I had hoped the box would make me even more conscious of my own issues with food waste (it did somewhat, I felt even more guilty, but it didn't solve my problem).

Week 4-

In the Box:
- 1 Eggplant (Gah!!!! Baba Ganoush anyone? Perhaps a helping of Ratatouille?)
- 1 Mango
- 1 Bunch of Broccolini
- 1 Bag of Red, Yellow, and Orange Mini Sweet Peppers
- 1 Large Tomato
- 2 Beets
- 2 Bok Choy
- 2 Large Spanish Onions
- 3 Red Plums
- 3 Limes
- 4 Cripps Pink Apples (1 Rotten)
- 5 Red Potatoes

This 4th box was also the first in which I received a piece of rotten produce. I don't believe it looked quite as bad when they put it in; my guess is that the apple had a bruise and, on it's two day journey to me, the damaged section essentially liquefied. A bit of a bummer, but, something I personally would consider unavoidable for this type of service. Though one of my apples arrived rotten, the other 3 were absolutely delicious, as was the mango, the broccolini, and the mini peppers.

In order to make quick use of some of the more time-sensitive items and to use up some of my lasting produce, I got a bit creative with recipes that I've made in the past. bok choy substituted spinach, lime was added to oil and vinegar dressing, and onions were sauteed into just about any recipe they might compliment (I had begun to accumulate quite a surplus over the weeks). This was perhaps my favorite part of this experiment; finding and altering recipes that would incorporate as much of my produce as possible.

All in all, this is a fun and useful service that I'd consider worth the cost, but it definitely didn't solve my own personal issues with food waste. I had hoped that the bi-weekly box would be good motivation for me to cook all the produce I received, but the inspiration hasn't been enough to curb my laziness. And, while I didn't mind not being able to pick the produce I received, it did create some issues when I received too much of one thing-- especially two or three boxes in a row.

I do feel like I saved some money, though the savings would be minimal to nil if you wasted a lot of the produce you received. It was a challenge to stagger the produce correctly over the course of the week; I tried to consume first any produce that was most perishable, but I still had a hard time using it all before something would inevitably wilt (eggplants, which I received in every box, are especially fragile).

For those with more time and motivation, I can see this service being a wonderful way to incorporate more healthy and organic foods into your family's diet without spending a ton at a place like Whole Foods. I do look forward to receiving the box, however, and plan to continue the service into the autumn, mainly because I'm excited to see the seasonal produce they'll include. Hopefully, I'll get better at making use of it all-- after all, many squash varieties can sit for weeks at a time!