FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. When you meet Mike Geller, you could easily assume hed been raised on a farm, driving a tractor before he was even in middle school. Hes rugged in his denim jeans and flannel shirt, sleeves rolled halfway up his arms as he carts around large baskets of farm-fresh produce and other treats. Youd never guess he left an advertising career to start up a delivery business in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.
Geller is the founder of Mikes Organic Delivery, a farm-to-front door service that curates a mouthwatering selection of locally sourced, humanely and naturally raised foods right to your kitchen.
I like to think of myself as a remover of obstacles, he says. I know its not always easy for busy parents to make the time to shop. I know people arent used to eating or cooking in season. So I try to remove as many barriers as possible. I do the farm research, pick up the food and deliver it to you, and you know youre getting good, clean, healthy food. I even include recipes with the delivery, so youre not left wondering, what do I do with parsnips?
Still, what do you do with parsnips?
Look, he laughs, the way we eat is all backwards. It used to be, youd look at what was in season, what was available, and make a dish with what you had. But now, were so used to having everything available all the time, and we dont even question how. If you want fresh salsa in Connecticut in January, you know those tomatoes travelled an awfully long way just to get to you.
The problem with vegetables racking up so many miles prior to ending up on your dinner table, Geller explains, is that the food is harvested long before its ripe. The strawberries youll find in the supermarket most of the time were picked when they were green and then artificially ripened. When you cut into a vine-ripened strawberry, its red all the way through. The artificially ripened ones are white inside.
With Mikes Organic Delivery, though, youre probably covering more miles on your morning commute than all the food in your weekly basket combined. Most of the produce I deliver was in the ground or on the vine within 24 hours of arriving at your door, says Geller.
Part of the beauty of Gellers business model is that he doesnt just work with one or two farms with only a handful of offerings between them. Instead, he has well-established relationships with at least a dozen different farms, boasting varied crops and organic foods, from fresh produce to free-range chicken and hormone-free dairy products. And its all packed and delivered for you.
I love what I do, he says. Im passionate about it, and I really believe in my mission. Im really trying to reconnect people with their food and the people who grow it. The way I look at it is, if you want to know about your food, whats in it, ask the farmer. If you cant ask the farmer, you dont know about your food.
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