Welcome to the Boston Organics Blog!

For the second week in a row and the third time this winter, we're having trouble sourcing ripe bananas. And we're not alone. Head to your local super market and you'll likely either see empty banana shelves or shelves of green bananas.

The reason: Shipments of imported bananas have been delayed due to the winter storms we have seen over the past few weeks.

We know our customers have questions about the sudden banana shortage, so we wanted to do our best to answer them here.

Drum roll please...

Eddie started as our newest bike delivery person in the winter of 2017-2018 after previously working for Boston Pedicab. Not surprisingly, he loves biking and, like many of his colleagues, he's a big music fan and plays in a band. Here's some more about Eddie.

We're a mission-driven organization. If you head to the About Us page of our website you can read about our push to provide access to fresh, organic produce and to promote and support healthy living in a mindful and sustainable way that respects the environment, supports local farms, local businesses, and fair-trade practices.

Lauren Stein is a local journalist who was inspired by her young daughter to write a cookbook -- with a twist. All of the recipes in "Fresh Made Simple" are illustrated.

"I wanted to create something that we would enjoy looking at together," Stein says. "She would begin to learn colors and shapes and foods, and at the same time it would actually give me ideas for what to cook for our family."

Stein's idea evolved into a collection of everyday recipes, easy to prepare, for the whole family to enjoy.

"The drawings are so playful, but at the same time very instructional with the cooking action and ingredients all in there," she says. "My hope was cooks of all ages and skills would be inspired to cook something fresh and delicious."

Here's some more about Stein, her cookbook, and how she's teaching her kids to love cooking and eating good food. You can enjoy three of her illustrated recipes for mushroom dishes here.

Lauren K. Stein is a cookbook author, journalist and proud mom of two kids who lives in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. Mealtime with her daughter inspired Fresh Made Simple, her first collection of recipes – 76 illustrated guides to fresh, simple snacks and meals.

Below are three recipes from Fresh Made Simple that all feature mushrooms.

Colin started out as a driver at Boston Organics in 2016, left for a while to take a position with Boston Public Schools, and then rejoined the team in the fall of 2017 as our new customer service manager. When he's not answering your produce-related emails, he can be found playing bass in his band or fly fishing. Learn more about Colin below!

We discovered Justin Klaassen, a product developer and father of two who lives in South Boston, when he started tagging us on Instagram, where he posts under the name @hoppybeerman. Always the posts would feature a beer next to some fruits or vegetables that he got in his Boston Organics box.

2017 was another great year for Boston Organics and we have our customers to thank. Here's an infographic with some information on some of our company highlights, including number of pounds of local apples delivered, number of nonprofits supported, and number of pounds of food donated to Food For Free.