Honesty Boxes And The Intrinsic Trust Required Among Strangers
This is an honesty box, at least that is what we call them in Australia. You may know them by a different name – roadside stall, farm stand, or perhaps there are none where you live and the concept is foreign to you
In Australia, the humble honesty box can be found in almost every region in the country.
It is a system where property owners put out produce for sale, that they have grown or made, in a little roadside booth. The honesty part comes from the fact the stall is unmanned, no one is watching the transaction. The seller relies on the integrity of the customer to pay for the goods by placing money in a cash tin provided. Many different people have honesty boxes, not just commercial farmers. There are small backyard growers with a garden surplus or with over active hen layers, hobby farms, jam makers or those that simply love to share abundance.
Why I love them
I love the simplicity of the transaction, the money goes directly to the grower. I love that trust is placed in community. Prices are cheap and there is always the surprise of the find. You never know exactly what delicious goodies are tucked away in the stall.
It is local, freshly picked, in season and in many cases, organically grown. I love finding honesty boxes when I travel. It is a way to feel the provenance of your food. Standing there on the road side soaking up the countryside, you get to take home with you a little bit of that place and taste the terroir.
I hope our social climate never changes to the point they are no longer viable options for growers. I feel blessed that they even exist.
Crypto-currency can replace the eroding trust
Most Honesty Boxes accept only cash. I did come across one potato stall in Western Australia that had the option to do a bank transfer. PayPal would not work in this enviroment. Some of the items purchased are cheap and the merchant fees would eat into the profits for such small purchases.
Despite the general goodwill, money tins nowadays are usually welded to the stalls. This does not always prevent theft. There is of course stories of people robbing honesty boxes. The most common problem is people stealing the cash tin. The fact honesty boxes are still here in Australia, means on a whole there is still an intrinsic trust in others or perhaps a lingering hope of that trust.
But the future of honesty boxes is looking bleaker. Some stalls that have operated for decades have shut due to repeated theft of the money tins. For the past 8 years, I have been visiting a little honesty box in The Channon, a little village about three hours drive from me. It is the quaintest most delightful stall that sells an eclectic mix of produce, jams, plants and herbs of the most unusual varieties. The chilli jam is divine as is the sweet potato relish. I have bought jakfruit, arrowroot, fresh tumeric, galangal and even tried the lions tail (a legal alternative to cannabis that can be smoked or made into tea).
On one of our more recent visits to The Channon honesty box we saw a note on the chalkboard shaming people who stole her tin. The next time, the chalkboard described how the stealing was affecting her, the disillusionment and her devastation that a few scum bags are ruining such a lovely thing. On our last visit there was a note asking customers to toot the horn once they have left the money so she can come down and empty the tin. This is my favourite honesty box ever and I really want it to stay around.
After I loaded our car with all manner of spray free delectables my husband and I spent the rest of our drive home talking about how crypto-currency is a perfect solution for these micro-transactions. The system could even secure the produce and only release a lock upon payment. Unfortunately while the uptake of crypto-currency is growing in Australia, I still have to basically explain it from scratch to anyone I mention it to. Not enough people use it yet. That said, the nearest bitcoin ATM and shop that accepts bitcoin is only 11 miles away from The Channon honesty box. So there is crypto in this part of the world!
Tomorrow I am going on a road trip (foot loose and fancy free – yay for babysitting grandparents) and I will be swinging by The Channon honesty box. I hope it is still operating, it has been a few months since my last visit. I might even drop her a thank-you note in the tin and suggest she look into bitcoin. Revolution has to start somewhere right!
Until next time
xx Isabella
Fellow Aussie here. Many moons ago, growing up on a pineapple farm, I helped fund my school trip to Japan by gleaning late ripening pineapples that were left after harvesting and sold them in a roadside stall out the front. The money was short a few times, but it generally worked.
I'm now in the vending machine business and I've been brainstorming designs for frankensteining some old parts into a roadside stall automated vending machine. The cryptocurrency aspect would be an interesting alternative. It would be easy enough to print a QR code and display it and no power would be required.
Awesome @brendio. I would love to know how that project unfolds. I guess one of the main considerations with crypto in Australia, is often the internet is not good or non-existent in places and 3G and 4G is the same. But if that is not an issue with the location you are considering, I think it is a fantastic idea. Lovely to hear that a humble pineapple honesty box funded your school trip. Thanks for reading.
Enjoyable read Isabelle (not too long, and bright read) and nice to know that honesty is still in existence in some little corners of the world :-) We used to be able to leave our fromt doors open in the UK, in the 50's and even the 60's. That's our honesty box, I guess. And since the drugs came in strongly, probably after all the mines shut down (after the Iron Lady went after the mines), in the 1980's, you tend to be looked at as a fool if you expect honesty by a lot of people. Not everybody, but still, a little bit sad. Hope Oz can still retain that community honesty !
Thanks for your insights @paulpuk2000. I did wonder how many other places would have honesty boxes. They are mostly located in rural areas - I guess that is where the produce is grown but a system like this would not last in our capital cities or larger developed places. But for now - they are my source of local cheap great food!
It's a lovely service to have and the implicit honesty in the system makes one feel good about life. At peace..............
Come on by my place for cucumbers, potatoes, eggs, beets, tomatoes, tomatillos, melons, carrots, lettuce, and beans. All right there in our honesty box, and all raised in spare time on a one acre suburban plot. Sometimes you'll find my daughter tending the stand.
yay! Go @jsteck. Well done for growing such a marvellous crop on one acre. So lovely to hear.
we used to be able to do stuff like that in America -- sadly, no longer
That is sad. I am glad I posted this article. I grew up with honesty boxes, I remember 25 years ago or more my parents buying sweet corn from this stall (which happens to still be there) and I just assumed this was normal. I was chatting to a lady that has an oranges honesty stall down in Mildura and she was from Italy and told me that this concept would never work there. I was surprised at that. Maybe Australia is not that different to the rest of the world, we just have a lot of space and less people.
Very informative to learn this Australian custom. The Amish and Mennonites in Pennsylvania use the "honor system." I have heard stories of theft with them but have always felt they keep a watchful eye from afar on the produce stand.
Very interesting. I am sure some of these stalls might have sneaky cameras or censor buzzers, but most are just stuck at the end of a very long driveway out in the country.
Looks good :)
It's a beautiful post. It is nice how they still operate and a shame that the actions of a few make this type of thing less viable as a way of life still. It's a great system and wish it were more prevalent.
Me too! But for now it is still very nice they are around. Thank-you for stopping by @clevecross
any good shops in Melbourne North?
There are definitely ones in Victoria, the do not tend to be closer into cities, but you never know. I did find a tomato and garlic one only 14km from the centre of Brisbane when I lived there. You can check out http://roadstalls.com.au/ - that is a directory of stalls etc...and you can search by location.
A few bad apples (forgive the pun) spoil the fun for everyone else.
I love the concept. In America there are these little "libraries" (more like glorified mailboxes) that people can swap books at, unattended. But even those have their critics and are prone to abuse.
We have a couple of those -- "Little Free Library" -- in my neighborhood. Take a book, leave a book. I've found some good reads, and donated things to clear shelf space at home. I'm a big fan, haven't heard any criticism or complains about them here.
oh I like that idea of a little honesty book swap library. I have seen a few book swaps in Australia but they are usually located indoors, like a laundromat or something.
I wish honesty boxes would be a reality in the whole world, it would mean a much more healthy humanity, @bridgetbunchy!
It would indeed. Although there is also a resurgence of the humble farmers market, which is another great place to buy local seasonal produce. In Australia, many of the small hobby farms are getting pushed out of the commercial scene by large scale farms. Much of the countries produce sold in supermarkets can get traced back to a handful of companies. Farmer's markets and honesty boxes keep the little guys around.