With seven other farming families, Ildi and Levente Haidu produce the ‘Peasant Box’ for customers in the city. In this way, they can distribute their many different, fresh and high quality products.
“Every week, we pack 70 boxes with cauliflower, spinach, pumpkin and many other vegetables for our customers in the city. With seven other farming families we participate in the Cutia Taranului, or “Peasant Box”. This initiative started in 2012 and together we now deliver to about 250 people in the cities of Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca. Through a special website, people can subscribe to the Peasant Box.
On our farm we produce many different crops, often using traditional heirloom seeds and applying little or no chemicals. This is appreciated by our customers who communicate with us regularly.
Before, we were often living in uncertainty, sometimes spending days at the farmers’ market without selling anything. The problem in Romania is that big supermarkets and commercial retailers are taking over the food markets. The Peasant Box is a wonderful solution. It guarantees us about 70 customers each week. This means that we can make more long-term investments in our farm and experiment with new crops. Our customers in the city are happy to receive fresh, high quality food. They say that the diversity of the Peasant Box vastly exceeds what they would normally buy in the market.”
Interview by Josefin Smeds, MSc student in Sweden and intern at the peasant association Eco Ruralis in Romania.
