What can 25 bucks get you in these dust-bowl days?

Good question, Thrifty McFrugalpants. In a town where one man’s restaurant tab is another man’s mortgage payment, the answer is, well, chump change.

But of the best possible kind. The totally organic, totally affordable Organic Express is a health nut’s crack house, and the $25 mixed-order box is a welcome fix for every veggie wannabe. Brimming with delights like sweet Valencia oranges and luscious d’Anjou pears, the healthy hamper hits your doorstep filled with twelve to sixteen varieties of produce. Feeling flush? Go for the $35 box. Or opt for an all-veggie or all-fruit order.

Owner Paul Johnson started this fresh-market-on-the-Web out of his Bay Area garage in an effort to support local organic farmers — and to offer a healthy alternative to pallid supermarket produce and pesky pesticides. Almost everything is grown right here in California, and it’s all guaranteed organic. And if the thought of a one-for-all veggie box makes you want to stop hugging that tree, don’t despair. Organic Express will happily customize each boxful to placate the finicky eater.

Now that’s an investment to chew on.

Organic Express (310-674-2642 or organicexpress.com).