Compostable Foam Packaging - The Best Thing since Sliced Bread

We ordered a food box from The Very Good Butchers. We've been eyeing their products (all plant-based meats) for a while now and finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.

They are a local company (Victoria, BC) who started out selling their products at local farmer's markets, but then demand exploded and... they are now a "thing". They even appeared on Dragon's Den and had the Dragon's vying for their business. You don't see that everyday...

Anyhow... our box arrived... and... it has their trademark picture of a little deceased bean on one side of it. Poor little bean... butchered by these callous men with their knives and hatchets. Sigh... better than a butchered lamb, pig, cow or chicken, I say... but that's just me...

I was a little concerned about the packaging of this box. The contents are apparently packed frozen and then the whole thing is shipped via Purolator. Knowing how fast my frozen berries can thaw if I dally at other shops after getting the groceries... I was a bit concerned about how they planned to keep every thing cold during transport.

I know from our dalliance with GoodFood that there are some strange gel cold packs in white plastic that are used to keep things cold. The gel is apparently flushable down the toilet once it's thawed. I still haven't figured out what that's made out of but... I'll trust the reassurance that it is actually flushable. But... cold packs are only useful if the container is insulated. GoodFood used a bunch of waffle cardboard with a silver reflective liner to keep their boxes cold. Fresh Prep actually sends their stuff in reusable insulated carry-bags (kind of like a soft cat carrier, but without the windows).

I was intrigued to learn what The Very Good Butchers would be using and... was a bit surprised at what I found...

Eh? foam packaging in green plastic? What the heck?? I mean, it worked... with three gel freezer packs, everything was nice and frosty cold but... still... foam packaging!?

Except... as I felt the foam stuff, it didn't feel right. It felt kind of crispy and didn't have the right texture for your typical poly-whatever petroleum-based foam packaging. Which, by the way, is not accepted at recycling depots. I should know, I've tried... polystyrene (styrofoam) is accepted... but none of this other poly-packaging material.

Sooo... I emailed the Good Butchers... sorry, The Very Good Butchers... and asked them about the green plastic foam stuff. They replied within the hour and directed me to the Green Cell Foam site. Qu'est-ce que c'est??

Compostable foam padding? What the heck? Dissolvable in water?? What is this sorcery???!!

But it's true... I cut open the green plastic which is apparently recyclable. I'm not entirely happy that there is still plastic in this mix but after researching the foam stuff, I know why a plastic layer is required.

You see that little skinny piece of foam on top of that pile... well, I held it under the faucet and it dissolved into nothingness. I can see how... if the cold packs get any condensation on them... the whole foam packaging could just dissolve within the box if it wasn't protected by something waterproof.

We are going to put these pieces into our compost bin. Apparently it will dissolve within six months, depending on the moisture content of the compost. In our wet climate, I think they'll be gone within a few weeks.

What are they made of? Well the Green Cell Foam site has a gazillion pictures of corn so... yep, it's made from cornstarch. I'm not sure how they do it (trademark secret likely) but... it's a big leap forward from using petroleum based products which can't be recycled and will still be in our landfills 500 years from now (and beyond). This green cell foam has apparently been around for a few years, and I have to say I'm a bit surprised that I've not come across it before. It's cool though and The Very Good Butchers get a green check-mark from me for using this stuff....

The Very Good Bean Butchers

Bean Butchers? Yep, they're a thing. Butchering poor harmless little beans, all so that we can eat something that looks like meat, tastes like meat but... ain't meat. Even though it's butchered. What a cool idea... and apparently a wildly popular and growing trend.

For a while now, I've been aware The Very Good Butchers. They are expert bean butchers and created various meat-free alternatives using beans, organic veggies and vital wheat gluten (a.k.a. seitan). They are a relatively local company (120 km away in Victoria) which is always nice. Go local!

I know that technically this is a variation of processed food but... it also seems like their ingredient lists are fairly clean. There aren't any weird preservatives and... well... I've been wanting to try them for a while. Our local health food store carries some of their items, mostly sausages, but the VGB site has a few other intriguing products: taco stuffers, BBQ Jackfruit (say what??), Ribz, burgers and even Stuffed Beast (also comes unstuffed).

Big Butcher Box
top row - Pepperoni, BBQ Jackfruit, Ribz
middle row - Taco Stuffers, Smokin' Burgers, Burgers
bottom row - Very British Bangers, Smokin' Bangers

I was poking around their website in mid December and many of their items were sold out, including the Stuffed Beast. The Beast gets rave reviews even from meat-eaters sooo... one of these days we may give that a try. But for now... we decided to dip our toe into the water and try one of their Butcher Boxes... For $112 (including courier shipping)... we get:

• 2 packs of Very Good Burgers
• 1 pack of Smokin' Burgers
• 1 pack of Smokin' Bangers
• 1 pack of Very British Bangers
• 2 packs of Taco Stuff'er
• 1 pack of BBQ Jackfruit 
• 2 packs of Ribz
• 2 packs of Pepperoni
  

The burgers and sausages are obvious... but what does one do with the taco stuffers? And the Jackfruit stuff? Fear not... The Very Good Butchers have some recipe ideas on their website as well. Nice.

We used to get a butcher box (real meat) from Twin Rivers Meats via the local Hospice Society (a fundraiser for them) soooo... this is not all that different in quantity or variety. And it will give me some more stuff to track in the freezer app! It's not like we are going to be having these things every day... maybe once a week... just to see how it goes. It's all a grand experiment

Although... if they ever get bought out by Big Food... we'll be taking our business elsewhere. There's a difference between supporting a small artisan business where you know you are getting quality vs being at the mercy of Big Food and their tendency to value profits over quality. I read that The Very Good Butchers went public on the Canadian Stock Exchange this past year. This might be explained by The Very Good Butchers making an appearance on the Dragon's Den two years ago! They0 had five Dragons vying for a slice of their business. Fascinating... Time will tell if quality still trumps share-holder profits.