My family loves veggies, and we go through a lot of them in any given week. However, we also like to try new things, which can be tricky, as the selection at our local grocery store is limited.
Hungry Harvest is a produce subscription service that delivers fresh produce weekly, making it easy to add variety to your diet.
Plus, as it offers primarily rejected produce that otherwise would’ve been thrown out, the company aims to help reduce food waste.
This review provides a comprehensive review of how Hungry Harvest works, its pros and cons, and my personal experience trying the service.
Pros
- reduces food waste by purchasing otherwise unsold produce from farms
- offers conventional and organic produce boxes in multiple sizes
- weekly or biweekly subscription with the option to skip anytime
- add-on grocery items are available
- free shipping on orders over $29.99
Cons
- only available in select areas on the East Coast, in South Florida, and in the Detroit metro area
- requires a minimum purchase amount of fresh produce before other items can be added to the order
- grocery selection is more limited than that of competitors
What is Hungry Harvest?
Hungry Harvest is a fresh produce delivery service that offers weekly or biweekly shipments of “rescued” produce — produce that may otherwise be thrown away for a variety of reasons, such as being misshapen, blemished, or not uniformly sized.
The service offers organic and conventionally grown produce boxes that are delivered weekly, each containing a selection of that week’s “rescued” produce.
You can also add plant-based meats, eggs, dairy products, and pantry staples, such as grains and snacks, to your order.
Hungry Harvest currently offers three box sizes, including:
- Mini: 6–7 types of produce, best for 1–2 people
- Full: 7–9 types of produce, best for 2–4 people
- Super: 10–12 types of produce, best for 3–5 people
Hungry Harvest only delivers to select areas on the East Coast, as well as in South Florida and the Detroit metro area.
However, the company is trying to expand its service area, so it’s worth entering your zip code on the Hungry Harvest website to see whether it’s available where you live.
How much does Hungry Harvest cost?
Hungry Harvest offers several produce boxes to suit a variety of budgets. Here are the details:
- Mini Harvest: $15 minimum
- Mini Organic Harvest: $28 minimum
- Full Harvest: $25 minimum
- Full Organic Harvest: $34 minimum
- Super Harvest: $33 minimum
- Super Organic Harvest: $42 minimum
Keep in mind that the minimums above must be met using fresh produce. Once you’ve reached this minimum, you can add additional groceries, like snacks and cheese, to your order.
Shipping is free on orders over $29.99, and otherwise there’s a flat $3.49 fee per order.
How does Hungry Harvest work?
For those who live in the delivery area, Hungry Harvest works similarly to other produce subscription services in that after setting up your account, you’ll be able to customize your box, which will be delivered to your home on a weekly or biweekly basis.
The signup process
To get started with Hungry Harvest, you’ll first select the box size you want on the company’s website and then follow the prompts to complete your checkout and membership signup.
Next, based on your location, you’ll be assigned a delivery day for your box.
As the items change frequently, you won’t be able to customize your box until just a few days before your scheduled delivery day. This time period is known as your customization window.
Keep in mind that Hungry Harvest is a subscription service, so you’ll be charged and sent a box on a weekly or biweekly basis unless you skip or cancel your subscription.
You can skip weeks indefinitely or cancel your subscription directly through the Hungry Harvest website.
Product selection
As mentioned above, you’ll have just a few days to customize your box prior to your scheduled delivery day.
During this time, you’ll be able to select from a wide variety of seasonal produce.
Here’s an example of the selections available when I ordered my Full Organic Harvest box:
- avocado
- beets
- mango
- cucumber
- sweet potato
- blueberries
- summer squash
- Brussels sprouts
- lettuce
- potatoes
- pears
- Asian pears
- apples
- butternut squash
All of the produce is clearly labeled as organic or conventional. Though, if you select an organic box during the signup process, you’ll only be given organic fruits and vegetables to choose from.
Once you’ve reached the required minimum order size, you can add additional grocery or pantry items, such as plant-based dairy alternatives, eggs, meats, plant-based proteins, snacks, and more.
The add-on items are sourced similarly to the produce, meaning they were rejected by supermarkets due to being discontinued, having an old package design, or being near their sell-by date. Occasionally, Hungry Harvest also offers fun, seasonal items.
As a result, just as with the produce, the availability of these items changes weekly.
Finally, if you forget to customize your box during the allotted timeframe, Hungry Harvest will select items for you.
Where does Hungry Harvest source its food from?
Hungry Harvest partners with both large and small farms in its delivery regions, buying up the farms’ unsold produce.
According to the service’s website, most of Hungry Harvest’s produce is local to Maryland during the summer months. The company then partners with farmers in warmer regions during the winter.
Hungry Harvest doesn’t disclose specific information about the farms it partners with. However, according to the company’s website, every Hungry Harvest order saves at least 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of produce that would have otherwise been discarded.
The company also operates a nonprofit called Produce in a SNAP, which provides fresh produce at reduced prices to low income households.
Diet friendliness
How diet-friendly your Hungry Harvest box is depends mostly on the types of produce you select.
For instance, all of the produce items are suitable for people following a plant-based, vegan, or flexitarian diet.
However, starchier vegetables like potatoes and corn, or sugary fruits like mango and banana, are higher in carbohydrates and may not be suitable for low carb diets like the keto diet (
As for the add-on items, while some are gluten-free, vegan, or low carb, you’ll want to check the label to make sure you’re selecting items that are suitable for your dietary needs and preferences.
How long does it take to receive your Hungry Harvest box?
Hungry Harvest hires drivers to deliver orders, and boxes are typically delivered within 24–48 hours of being packaged.
In fact, the company typically keeps the customization window open until the afternoon prior to your delivery date.
However, one drawback of this delivery system is that you don’t have the same tracking options offered by larger delivery companies.
My experience trying Hungry Harvest
Delivery and variety
Hungry Harvest doesn’t deliver to my address, so I received a review box outside of the normal signup process. For that reason, I wasn’t able to select the items myself.
Here’s what I received:
- 1 container of salad greens
- 1 bag of cherry tomatoes
- 1 bag of carrots
- 1 pineapple
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- 3 Fuyu persimmons
- 2 butternut squashes
- 8 onions
To cut back on packaging, the produce was loose in a smaller box within the outer shipping box, but fortunately, it was all in good shape when it arrived.
However, if you get a package carrier that’s rough on packages, I could see this negatively affecting the quality of your items.
In addition to the produce itself, I received a produce guide, which includes information on how, where, and how long to store various types of produce to maximize their shelf life. I found this guide to be very helpful and will definitely hang on to it.
Ingredient freshness and quality
The freshness of the food I received was really impressive. The only things I noticed off the bat were the shoestring-thin asparagus and that both butternut squashes were very tiny, slightly smaller than a can of soda.
However, with the exception of the butternut squashes and the asparagus, I really couldn’t tell the difference between the food I received in my box and what I’d normally get at the grocery store.
Although it seems like many people associate produce delivery boxes in general with moldy or rotten food, that wasn’t the case with this box. None of it was moldy or rotting — or even overripe. In fact, the pineapple and persimmons were underripe.
Taste
Overall, I thought the Hungry Harvest produce tasted excellent, very much on par with what I would purchase at the grocery store.
In particular, I enjoyed getting to try the Japanese Fuyu persimmons, as I’ve never seen them at my local store. Though, while I found the fruit fun to try, my 6-year-old wasn’t a big fan of the persimmon’s chewy texture.
The onions tasted fine — very much like how onions from the store taste — and we’ve used them both raw and cooked in several dishes.
At the time of writing this article, I’m experimenting with fermenting the carrots and tomatoes, so I haven’t been able to taste them yet — I’m excited to do so though!
The only complaint I had was that the asparagus was a little woody and fibrous for my liking.
Who should try Hungry Harvest?
First and foremost, Hungry Harvest is only available in certain zip codes on the East Coast, in South Florida, and in the Detroit metro area.
Therefore, if you live outside of these areas, you’ll need to choose an alternative, such as Imperfect Foods or Misfits Market.
After trying Hungry Harvest for myself, I think it’s an excellent fit if you do a lot of cooking at home and like to incorporate plenty of fruits and vegetables into your meals.
Just keep in mind that to prevent food waste (and wasting your money), it’s important that you’re prepared to use all the produce you get each week.
That said, there are some drawbacks to consider.
For example, as it requires an ongoing subscription with a minimum order amount that must be met with produce, the service is fairly inflexible.
It may also not be a good fit if you prefer consistency, as it’s highly unlikely you’ll receive the same things from week to week.
Similarly, as you don’t know what produce is available until just a few days before your delivery date, Hungry Harvest can make it trickier to meal plan.
Finally, as it doesn’t offer a large selection of grocery items, you’ll still need to make a trip to the grocery store, or order the rest of your items from a grocery delivery service.
Hungry Harvest alternatives
If you’re unsure whether Hungry Harvest is the right fit, or it doesn’t deliver to your area, it’s worth considering alternatives like Imperfect Foods or Misfits Market.
Here’s a quick look at how these three produce delivery services compare:
| Hungry Harvest | Misfits Market | Imperfect Foods | |
| Minimum order cost | $15 | $30 | $30–$45 |
| Availability | certain zip codes on the East Coast, in South Florida, and in the Detroit metro area | nationwide (except Hawaii, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming) | certain zip codes in the West Coast, Midwest, Northeast |
| Products offered | • fresh fruits and vegetables • bread • dairy • eggs • meats and plant-based alternatives • some pantry items | • fresh fruits and vegetables vegetables • meats and plant-based alternatives • bread • dairy • eggs • some pantry items | • fresh fruits and vegetables • meats and plant-based alternatives • bread • some pantry items |
| Shipping fees | $3.49, or free on orders over $29.99 | $5.50 per order | $4.99–$8.99 per order |
| Subscription | yes | no | yes |
Each service has its pros and cons.
Hungry Harvest has the lowest minimum order, yet it has the most limited service area and requires the full minimum order to be composed of produce before other types of grocery items can be added.
On the other hand, Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods have higher minimum orders and charge a shipping fee on all orders. However, they don’t require a minimum of any type of food before other items can be added.
Additionally, Misfits Market doesn’t require a subscription and offers a larger variety of grocery and pantry items, making it a better option if you’re looking to order the majority of your grocery list.
The bottom line
Hungry Harvest is a fresh produce delivery service that operates primarily on the East Coast and parts of South Florida and the Detroit metro area.
The service offers weekly or biweekly shipments of “reclaimed” fruits and vegetables and allows you to add items to your orders from a limited selection of groceries.
My experience with Hungry Harvest was excellent. Everything arrived in great condition, and I found the taste and quality of the produce to be on par with what’s available at the grocery store.
The biggest downside of the service is its limited delivery area.
However, if you live within the service area, are looking for a convenient way to enjoy more fresh produce, and want to help cut back on food waste, Hungry Harvest is worth trying.
