Even as we spoke, Danny Turner, who started the organic food delivery system with his wife Miranda back in April, had to run because a shipment of beets, shallots and onions from two family farms near Coaldale (near Lethbridge) had just arrived, and his unloading guy had gone home for the day. 
With some 500 regular customers (people ordering shipments to their home at least every two weeks), the business is very nearly to the point where the owners can give themselves a salary. Danny expects to hit 400 weekly deliveries this month. Last April, when first we spoke, the business had 120 customers.
"Momentum is starting to carry us," says Danny of the unexpected growth. "It's word of mouth."
Danny and Miranda Turner are thirtysomething parents of two small boys who wanted to build a business that would both support their family and an organic food delivery system. For roughly $50 a week (including a charge for a sustainability fund to purchase emission offsets), customers of the Organic Box can pick from among a number of organic items to be delivered year-round.
Where possible, those products are local (they have a dozen local producers), but the Turners also carry things like organic oranges and bananas, and try to find those nearest to home. For instance, the oranges come from California, not Florida. The Turners strive to have all products certified organic, but also have some producers who use organic practices, but aren't certified.
The Turners were inspired in their effort by their time living in San Francisco, where the local food movement has been big for years. Plus, Danny's thesis for his master's degree at Oxford University in England examined a business model that is now the backbone of the Organic Box.
For more information, go to theorganicbox.ca,or phone 780-469-1900.
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