The Veg Box: bridging the gap between farmer and consumer

In our modern, fast-paced world, the buying of fruit and vegetables hardly ever involves an interaction between the consumer and the person who grew the produce – the farmer.

Instead it involves trips to large supermarkets, where vegetables are put on display in rows of containers of different produce, with the person buying them having little idea as to their provenance or when they were picked from the ground.

Indeed, Malta’s agricultural sector is facing unprecedented threats from foreign competitors and land-use issues, and the perception is that traditional Maltese agriculture is waning.

But this does not have to be the case, and consumers can do their part to support local producers.

Enter The Veg Box, a fruits and vegetables market which strives to bridge the gap between farmers and consumer of food, and supports those who work the land in a traditional way.

The Veg Box offers naturally and locally-grown produce, in keeping with its principles that produce grown simply and following a less mass-produced industrialised method makes for healthier meals.

Having first been founded in 2012, in the summer of 2019, The Veg Box moved to a new location at The Farmoury in the countryside of Manikata, near the entrance to the Majjistral Nature Park.

From its Manikata base it offers a selection of fruits and vegetables, sourced from the produce of five local farmers.

The Veg Box harvests twice a week, to ensure produce quality and freshness.

It also supports the local farming community by offering capacity building courses, encouraging workers of the land to convert to organic and sustainable production.

The prices of the fruit and vegetables offered are in keeping with the farmers’ guidelines, which ensures their service remains sustainable and continues to support local farmers.

The Veg Box is open Tuesdays and Friday “from 9:30am till sunset, plus one hour”, which means their doors are currently open till around 7pm.