LINC Box Review: A Tasty Way to Enjoy Local, Seasonal Produce

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Are you a fan of supporting local? Wish you had more time to visit local farmers markets, but can’t always get there? Want to eat more fresh, seasonal produce but not break the bank? If any of these sound like you, you might want to check out a LINC Box subscription. 

Recently, we had the opportunity to partner with LINC Foods to try out a LINC Box – their first of the summer season! Below, we share what LINC Box is, what to know before you order, and our review of LINC Foods and the LINC Box.

This post was created in partnership with LINC Foods, and as always, opinions are our own. 

Quick summary:

  • The LINC Box is a weekly produce box, from local farmers, you can order for delivery or neighborhood pick up
  • Order a Half share, Base share, or Large share depending on the size of your family and how much produce you want
  • Add-on other grocery staples, including bread, cheese, locally crafted beer and more
  • We recommend the LINC Box: it’s a great value for the price, there’s something for everyone to enjoy, and it adds a boost of healthy, tasty flavor to any recipe or favorite dish
  • Get $10 off your first LINC Box with promo code SPOKANE sign up here!

Getting to Know LINC Foods

Local Inland Northwest Cooperative (LINC) Foods began in the summer of 2014, with LINC founders Beth Robinette and Joel Williamson. At that time, Robinette and Williamson didn’t even have their own warehouse – they received produce in an alley behind a downtown motel!

Since then, LINC Foods has come a long way, with a completely streamlined and easy to navigate website that makes choosing and ordering a variety of produce (including the LINC Box and LINC Market) simple.

As we mentioned in our post on community supported agriculture around Spokane, farm boxes (also known as veggie boxes, farm shares, etc.) and food hubs allow farmers to spend less time marketing and selling at venues and more time to grow the food itself. By purchasing a farm share and participating in community supported agriculture, you are able to support a local farm with seeds, water, equipment and labor throughout the season. 

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Some of the incredible produce you’ll find in your LINC Box (varies depending on the season!)

In turn, the farms provide seasonal produce weekly throughout harvest season, typically beginning in June. A company like LINC Foods connects you, the consumer, directly to these farms in the form of a farm share/farm box. 

Signing up for LINC Foods, either with their LINC Box or ordering through their online LINC Market, is one way you can ensure you know where your food is coming from, how it’s produced, and that you are supporting a local farmer. 

LINC Box

Each week, LINC members can take home a box full of fresh produce, dairy, meats – even bread and beer. Making the LINC box unique among community supported agriculture subscriptions, the LINC Box is available all year round! LINC now offers a summer/fall season (June – November) as well as a winter/spring box (December – May).

Produce is grown on the farm and harvested based on the number of LINC Box members receiving a box that week. It is then brought to the LINC Foods aggregation point to be organized and delivered to LINC Box members.

LINC Foods offers several options depending on your family size and how many vegetables you want to receive. Called shares, here is how LINC breaks down their share boxes:

  • Half share – $27 every other week for 6-8 varieties of produce
  • Base share – $27 weekly for 6-8 varieties of produce
  • Large share – $52 weekly for 6-8 varieties of produce in double quantities

In addition to their summer share LINC Box, you can now also subscribe to LINC’s Brewery Box! Every month, LINC works with 3-4 breweries across the state to handpick four beers crafted with care and made to be flavorful. You can choose your preferred number of four packs to add to your LINC Box or subscribe to a Brewery Box solo.

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More incredible, tasty and unique produce found in your LINC Box

LINC Box Prices and Options

As mentioned above, this is how LINC Box share sizes break down:

  • Half share – $27 every other week for 6-8 varieties of produce
  • Base share – $27 weekly for 6-8 varieties of produce
  • Large share – $52 weekly for 6-8 varieties of produce in double quantities

You can pick up your LINC Box for free at a variety of locations (you will choose your pickup location in advance, so you know where to go!) or you can have your LINC Box delivered for $8/delivery. Farm-to-doorstep delivery is available within 10 miles of downtown Spokane.

In addition to the produce shares, you can also purchase add-ons. You can find a full list of add-ons, including ones highlighted in the LINC newsletter, when purchasing your LINC Box (after choosing a location and LINC Box share). 

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When you go to your LINC Box account, you will see how much the add-ons are, adjust quantities, and then pick your preferred delivery method (pick up or farm-to-doorstep delivery.) 

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An example of local add-ons available through LINC (labneh cheese!)

What’s In a LINC Box? LINC Box Review

We were lucky enough to try LINC Box’s very first summer season box at the beginning of June. Below is an example of the email you’ll receive from LINC ahead of time, letting you know what is on the way and how you can prepare some of these delicious vegetables. 

Curious about what’s coming up in future LINC Boxes? You can also follow along at LINC’s Blog, updated weekly with upcoming veggies, fruits and add-ons. 

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We received the base share, which meant we would receive 6-8 types of produce weekly. We received six varieties of produce, and the add-ons of mushrooms and labneh cheese. 

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Our LINC Box Base share for the first week in June (produce will change throughout the season as more things are in season!)

Not every week will be the same, of course! There may be some overlap in greens occasionally, but as the summer season continues, you’ll see a variety of new vegetables, plus fruit, and different add-ons.

In addition, in LINC’s FAQ section, they note that “Boxes tend to be lighter in the spring with greater availability of leafy greens and heavier in the fall and winter when seasonal produce (eg. root vegetables) is more dense.” 

I’ve ordered CSA boxes before, and I can attest it’s fun getting the email or opening your box to see a new variety of vegetables. If it’s veggies you’re familiar with, it’s a fun opportunity to try an old favorite. If it’s a new-to-you veggie, it’s a great opportunity to try out new flavors and recipes. 

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linc box
Your LINC order comes in a reusable box and has minimal packaging, to cut down on waste. The liners are also biodegradable!

Our Experience Ordering the LINC Box

We received the Base share LINC Box (6-8 types of produce weekly) as well as cheese and mushroom add-ons. We were familiar with everything but the salad turnips, and even LINC realized salad turnips might be new for people, so they sent along a recipe for the turnips. We appreciated this!

Ordering was incredibly easy! While we were provided a box to try out for this review, we had ordered from LINC before, and the ordering process is very simple and easy to follow. 

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Example of Ordering page – in this example, I chose to have Farm to Doorstep delivery

After that, you’ll input your payment information and address (especially if you chose delivery), click Confirm Order, and be on your way!

As you can see above, there are a variety of dates when you can pick up or receive your LINC Box. In our case, we had Friday delivery, but I have also picked up at The Grain Shed in Perry on Wednesdays. Pick up or delivery is very customizable – a huge plus if you will be traveling or just need flexible options!

Our Review of a LINC Box Subscription: Pros and Cons

If you’re considering subscribing to LINC Box and trying it out, you probably are wondering what we thought of it! Below, we share the pros of ordering a LINC Box and address some common concerns. 

You Will Eat More Veggies!

As a vegetarian, you can probably assume I already eat a lot of vegetables. However, I live with a meat eater, so our diet can lean more towards carbs and starch (hello, pasta!) 

We thought we ate a reasonable amount of veggies, but when we received the LINC Box, it reminded us of all the delicious veggie recipes we knew… but rarely ate.

linc weekly veggies review

If you’re not already familiar with veggie recipes, don’t worry! One of the simplest recipes you can make using your LINC Box? Roasted vegetables! 

Almost every veggie in our LINC Box lended itself to roasting (see photos below), which we then added to a simple angel hair pasta dish (with chicken for my husband.)

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Roasted LINC Box veggies, including the asparagus, turnips, and mushrooms

Roasting vegetables is easy, doesn’t take a lot of prep, and doesn’t require any fancy kitchen supplies. We have our own recipe, but this one from Cooking Classy is very similar to what we do!

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A gourmet meal, thanks to the flavorful and fresh produce from LINC Box!

For the salad greens, that was simple: we made them into salad! We had received spinach along with our salad mix, so I put some spinach and the salad mix into a bowl with some tomatoes we already had. It was a simple salad, and next time I would definitely put those salad greens into a Greek salad, with olives, feta cheese, and Greek dressing!

Finally, there’s always breakfast – anytime! We added some of the mushrooms and garlic to our breakfast scrambles and our veggie burritos, giving those meals a healthy, tasty boost.

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Something for Everyone

In every LINC Box, there’s a very good chance you’ll recognize some (if not all!) of the veggies in the box. If you have a family member who’s a picky eater, chances are they will recognize something they like and be up for eating it.

Find something in your box that’s unfamiliar? While we knew of rhubarb, it wasn’t something my husband and I had cooked on our own (my mother and grandmother are fans, but I hadn’t cooked it by myself!)

Inspired, we found this strawberry rhubarb jam recipe and made it. It was my first time making jam (I know!) and luckily, the recipe was spot on – the jam came out incredible, and it was so fun finding a new recipe to use with our fresh rhubarb!

With a LINC Box, you can use your regular, favorite meals with an added dose of veggies or try out a brand new recipe. You never know – you may find a new favorite veggie or fruit in your LINC Box! There’s something for everyone when it comes to a LINC Box.

Still not sure what to do with some of the produce in your LINC Box? Don’t worry, LINC has created a Facebook group for LINC Box fans, and you can find it here. In the group, people share what they’re cooking and you can ask questions about the best ways to use whatever produce you’re unsure of. 

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While this sparkling wine wasn’t part of our LINC Box, you can order a subscription to LINC’s Brewery Box or add wine and/or beer as a weekly add-on to your LINC subscription

Too Much Food?

My husband and I are only two people, so I was worried that we would receive a lot of veggies and not be able to get through them all. There’s nothing worse than having produce that goes bad, and it had happened to me before when I had a CSA delivery back in Denver, CO.

Luckily, that’s not an issue with LINC! LINC recognizes not everyone will be able to eat that much produce in a week, and therefore offers different share sizes:

  • Half share – $27 every other week for 6-8 varieties of produce
  • Base share – $27 weekly for 6-8 varieties of produce
  • Large share – $52 weekly for 6-8 varieties of produce in double quantities

In our case, the Half share (6-8 varieties of produce every other week) would be absolutely perfect. It took us about a week and a half to go through everything in our box (we’re not actually done with the labneh cheese, and we still have our strawberry-rhubarb jam, but those will both last longer!)

Again, we are only two people, though. If you have a bigger family, the Base share might be the best. If you have a big family that goes through a ton of produce, the Large share would be an even better deal!

Finally, if there’s ever a time you can’t pick up or receive your LINC Box, you can always pause it! According to LINC’s FAQ, “If you know ahead of time you won’t be able to pick up your box, just log into your account to place a hold. Please place a hold five days prior to your LINC Box delivery  so we can make adjustments in the amount of produce we coordinate with the farmers.”

linc box review summer veggies
You can also add a Brewer’s Box to your LINC Box!

Is the LINC Food Box a Good Deal?

Overall, we really enjoyed trying out a LINC Box subscription. The Pacific and Inland Northwest has, in our opinion, some of the best fresh produce throughout the nation, and there’s absolutely nothing better than supporting local farmers and enjoying what’s in season here.

The value for the price you pay is definitely there, too – everything was fresh and you received a lot of each variety of produce. Given the increasing costs of groceries, $27 for a weekly share of organically grown veggies is truly a great deal. 

In fact, I would say ordering from LINC is actually a better deal than buying at the store, given the variety and the amount of produce you receive. Like I said, it took us a week and a half to get through all of the veggies, and we had them for breakfast, lunch, dinner – and snacks! 

Also, you know you’re supporting local buying from LINC, so in addition to being a great deal, you’re also putting money back into the community. 

Should you subscribe to a LINC Box? In our opinion, yes! I’ve been a part of several CSAs over the last decade plus, and LINC’s is by far the best executed. In addition to tasty produce, ordering is easy, pausing your subscription is straightforward, and you have the flexibility to purchase a variety of tasty add-ons (like bread or beer!)

Oh, and those salad turnips? Turns out they’re fantastic just sliced up and eaten with hummus! We had them on a plate with carrots (hummus + carrots being a typical snack for us) and the turnips were a bigger hit than the carrots! Looks like we found a new favorite veggie, thanks to LINC Box!

You can sign up for a LINC Box here – new subscribers can get $10 off their first LINC Box with promo code SPOKANE.

Have you ever purchased a farm share or participated in a veggie box subscription program? Let us know at our Facebook group, Getting to Know Spokane, here!

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