I Tried Hungry Harvest for a Month: Here‘s My Honest Review (With Lots of Pics!)
Hey there, fellow food lover! If you‘re anything like me, you‘re always on the hunt for ways to eat well, save money, and do good for the planet. That‘s why I was excited to try out Hungry Harvest, a weekly subscription box that delivers "rescued" fruits and veggies to your door.
Basically, Hungry Harvest buys up surplus and "ugly" produce directly from farms and wholesalers, then passes the savings (and the cute misshapen veggies) on to us customers! Their mission is to fight food waste and hunger.
I was a bit skeptical at first about the quality of "rejected" produce, but I‘m always down to try something new in the name of sustainability (and my wallet). So I signed up for a month to see how it went. Spoiler alert: I was happily surprised!
How Hungry Harvest Works + Pricing
Hungry Harvest makes it super easy to join the food waste fighting club:
- Enter your zip code to see if they deliver to you (they‘re in 9 states, with plans to expand)
- Choose your box size and type (organic or not, veg only, etc.)
- Select any produce you don‘t want
- Wait excitedly for your first delivery!
They offer 5 different box sizes, from a "Mini" with 10-12 lbs of produce meant for 1-2 people, up to a "Super Organic" with 25+ lbs for families. Prices range from $15-$45 per week. Delivery is free for most areas, or $3-5 if you‘re outside their main hubs.
For my first go-round, I opted for the "Full Veggie" box, which promised to cover about 4-5 meals for 2 people at $29 per week. I was honestly shocked at how low the price was compared to my usual organic grocery haul!
My Hungry Harvest Unboxing & First Impressions
The day had arrived—my first Hungry Harvest delivery! The box was surprisingly compact considering how much was packed inside. Here‘s what I got in my Week 1 Full Veggie:
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 lb brussels sprouts
- 2 zucchini
- 1 eggplant
- 1 butternut squash
- 1 lb rainbow carrots
- 1 red onion
- 3 Fuji apples
At first glance, everything looked super fresh and high-quality, just slightly misshapen or discolored as advertised. The kale leaves were HUGE! The "ugly" squash had a funky curved shape but seemed perfect otherwise.
One pleasant surprise was the variety and seasonality of the produce. Hungry Harvest works with different farms to source what‘s in surplus at any given time, so the contents change weekly. I loved the mix of staples like zucchini with less familiar foods like rainbow carrots.
My one critique is that a few items had some bruising or soft spots I had to cut out. I‘m sure it‘s hard to completely avoid when rescuing cast-off produce, but just a heads up to inspect and use up anything iffy early on.
Getting Cooking With My Hungry Harvest Haul
Now for the fun part—transforming my Hungry Harvest bounty into actual meals! I‘ll be honest, I had to get creative and Google some new techniques (what does one do with a giant eggplant??). But that‘s part of the fun of this service, IMHO. It pushed me out of my cooking comfort zone.
Here are a few of the yummy dishes I made in Week 1:
- Kale and white bean soup with carrots and onion (loosely based on this recipe)
- Honey miso roasted brussels sprouts (a riff on this recipe)
- Autumn quinoa salad with roasted butternut squash, zucchini, and apple
Overall, we got about 4 solid dinners for 2 out of the box, plus a couple lunches from leftovers. Not bad for under $30 worth of organic produce!
I tried to calculate the approximate cost per serving, and it came out to around $3-4 each. That‘s a steal compared to my usual $5-7 per serving from Whole Foods or farmers markets.
Real Talk: Is Hungry Harvest Actually Making an Impact?
Saving money on organic fruits and veg is great and all, but what about Hungry Harvest‘s claims of reducing food waste and fighting hunger? I did some digging to see if their do-good mission held up.
According to the USDA, food waste is a huge problem in the US—between 30-40% of our food supply goes uneaten. That‘s wild! Hungry Harvest cites research showing that about 20 billion pounds of produce gets discarded on farms each year, often because it‘s not "pretty" enough for grocery store standards.
By swooping in and rescuing this surplus and wonky-looking produce, Hungry Harvest estimates they‘ve diverted over 30 million pounds of food from going to waste since 2014. They also donate or subsidize about 1-2 pounds for every 10 pounds they sell.
Those numbers sound impressive, but how much impact is that really making? I did the math, and 30 million pounds over 8 years comes out to saving about 10,275 pounds of produce per day on average.
In a country that wastes over 900 million pounds of food daily, that‘s honestly a tiny dent. But! It‘s still over 10,000 lbs of perfectly good fruits and veggies that would have been tossed, now going to feed people instead, every day. That‘s nothing to sneeze at!
I was also curious about Hungry Harvest‘s charitable giving. According to their impact report, they‘ve donated over 3 million pounds of produce to local hunger-relief organizations and offer discounted boxes to SNAP users.
While 3 million pounds sounds like a lot, it averages out to around 1,000 pounds per day—a small fraction of their total sales. I‘d love to see them increase their direct giving, but I appreciate that they have some "buy one, give one" component built in.
Hungry Harvest vs. Imperfect Foods vs. Misfits Market
Of course, Hungry Harvest isn‘t the only "ugly" produce delivery game in town. Their biggest competitors are Imperfect Foods and Misfits Market. I‘ve tried both, so I thought I‘d share a quick comparison:
Imperfect Foods
- Offers produce, meat, dairy, and shelf-stable items
- Fully customizable boxes
- Pricier than Hungry Harvest, but higher-end products
Misfits Market
- Mostly non-produce items, some seasonal fruits/veggies
- Pre-built boxes with a few customizations
- Cheapest option, but less fresh produce
Compared to these two, I found Hungry Harvest to be the best balance of affordability, produce quality, and variety. Imperfect is great if you want one-stop shopping and don‘t mind paying more. Misfits is more of a budget-friendly Costco/Trader Joe‘s in a box.
If your main goal is eating more fresh fruits and veggies on a budget, Hungry Harvest is the way to go. Their produce is cheaper and better quality than Misfits, and you get a lot more compared to Imperfect.
What 3 of My Friends Thought of Hungry Harvest
Obviously my experience is just one perspective, so I recruited 3 friends to try out Hungry Harvest too and share their thoughts:
Friend 1: "I was honestly shocked at the freshness and sizing of the produce that arrived, given the price and mission. A lot of times ‘ugly produce‘ means a really bruised/brown avocado, limp greens, etc. That was not at all the case with Hungry Harvest. I‘m a convert!"
Friend 2: "The variety each week is fun and forces me to integrate fruits and veggies I wouldn‘t normally buy at the grocery store. Keeps healthy eating interesting! Only bummer is that delivery to my rural area has an extra $5 fee."
Friend 3: "I love the convenience of not having to think about or shop for produce. My one callout is that the shelf life of some items is pretty short, so you have to prioritize cooking them up. I‘d love it if they had a customization option so I could opt for some heartier veggies."
The consensus seems to be that Hungry Harvest is great for adventurous eaters who want an affordable way to eat more high-quality produce. The freshness and variety are big positives, but you have to be diligent about using things up and dealing with a few blemishes.
Final Verdict: Should You Try Hungry Harvest?
After a month of chowing down on Hungry Harvest and putting it through its paces, here‘s my honest review:
Pros:
- 👍 Insanely good value for organic produce
- 👍 Pushes you to eat more fruits/veggies and try new things
- 👍 Actually fresh and tasty, not super "ugly"
- 👍 Helps reduce a bit of food waste
- 👍 Donates a small amount to hunger relief
- 👍 Super convenient delivery
Cons:
- 👎 Limited delivery area with some extra fees
- 👎 Can‘t totally customize your box
- 👎 Some items have a short shelf life
- 👎 Small impact relative to total US food waste
- 👎 Charitable giving is only a tiny part of their business
So, is Hungry Harvest worth it? I say yes, if you‘re looking for an affordable way to supplement your diet with more organic produce, try new veggies, and do a tiny bit of good in the process. Just be realistic that you‘re not singlehandedly solving food waste or hunger.
I‘d especially recommend Hungry Harvest if you‘re:
- Wanting to eat healthier on a budget
- Tired of the same grocery store options
- Don‘t need a lot of customization
- Like a cooking challenge and hate to waste food
- Trying to make your dollar go further while still supporting small farms
Bottom line: Hungry Harvest gets my stamp of approval as a fun, affordable, and eco-friendly way to mix up your produce game. The experience of trying new fruits and veggies every week never got old, and I was consistently impressed with the freshness for the price.
I hope this super honest review helped you decide if it‘s right for you! Let me know in the comments if you‘ve tried Hungry Harvest or any other "ugly" produce delivery. I‘m always down to swap recipes and money-saving tips.
Happy harvest!
[Insert photo of me with my Hungry Harvest spread]
