wrap up of citrus project- from Texas Grove to TFMN (fairly long)

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

We're down to the last boxes of fruit going to our local food co-

op. They are- as many of the group that ordered oranges- unimpressed

with the quality & taste of this shipment. The significant

differences from one box of oranges to the next makes me think that

their management practices are not the best. Most reviews of

grapefruit from this order were very positive. After corresponding

with the son (marketing)of one of the partner/owners of the grove, I

and Sara feel that they are either not concerned about our reaction

to the quality of their oranges or they feel that they really are

good quality and we're expecting too much. I think we should expect

more than this minimal quality fruit- even if it has to be at a

higher cost. My research pointed us toward a direct source of

quality product- not cheap food. We've all been disappointed by that

before. So,,,,, at this point we're wondering if after a total

review of group reaction to this order- we look elsewhere, or forget

about this endeavor to support the farm directly and return to

purchasing from our neighborhood food co-op. See the survey info to

indicate you comments- if you haven't already done so.

We will have raised some funds for the group food swaps if we

don't have too many requests for refunds. My input of forwarding

payment of over $8,000 and scheduling reciept, unloading & reloading

some 12,000 pounds of citrus, along with delivery to our primary

sites was very fulfilling as were the comments of support for the

effort. Sara's ability to handle orders and contact people about

deliveries, etc. was outstanding. She deserves a lot of the credit

for making this project work as well as it did. I would call our

little project a minor success when the books are closed with some

funds ledtover for the TFMN swap team. Happy New Year to ALL, Alvin