Food Co-op - Long Post
Hey My Marchers,
Every other Saturday morning, I go pick up my fruits and veggies that I order from this food co-op that I belong to. I could go every week, but I have a hard time eating everything I get in two weeks anyway. So here's the deal... I joined a food co-op called bountifulbaskets.org. A couple of ladies names Sally and Tanya got together and worked out a deal with a produce distributor that they would order in bulk and get the same wholesale prices that grocery stores and restaurants get. I and a whole bunch of other people go online Tuesday or Wednesday and pick where we want to get our food on Saturday morning (56 places in the Phoenix area and spots in Utah and around the rest of Arizona), order what I want and pay for it, along with a $1.50 handling fee. There's a standard fee for a basket of 15.00 (organic is a little more) and you can add on things like organic bread, cases of apples or mangos or blackberries (it changes every week) and most weeks they have an add on pack like Mexican veggies or Italian veggies for about $7.50. You can get 5 loaves of fresh organic 9 grain bread for 10.00. I have no idea of what I'm going to get in the base basket for $15.00.
After Wednesday, Sally and Tanya figure out how many people they are buying for and order the food. On Saturday morning, the distributor delivers the food all over the Phoenix area - mostly to parks - and volunteers sort the produce evenly into baskets. I get up Saturday morning, take my own baskets to the park, transfer my produce from their containers to mine and come home. If you don't pick up your food on time, it gets donated to a local fire house. Here's what I picked up this morning:
5 pounds of bananas 3 pounds of Ranier cherries - I weighed them and that would have cost me at least $21.00 in the stores here. 2 large red bell peppers Asparagus 1 English cucumber 1 head of broccoflower 1 Heirloom cantaloupe 1 seedless watermelon 1 head of Romaine 13 peaches 8 Fuji apples 7 Roma tomatoes The Italian pack had: 1 eggplant 2 zucchini Fresh Parsley Fresh Basil Fresh Rosemary Fresh Thyme 1 yellow onion 1 red onion 3 heads of garlic 8 ounces of button mushrooms
I paid a total of $24.00 for all that fresh food. Look for food co-ops like this in your areas and if you don't have one, maybe you can start one. It's really a thing of beauty and it runs like a dream. One week there was a mix up on my order and the distributor delivered my food to my front door by the time I got home. You can't ask for better than that. If you go to bountifulbaskets.org know that the website is a disaster and it took a leap of faith for me to order the first time.
Here's to healthy eating.
Connie
Every other Saturday morning, I go pick up my fruits and veggies that I order from this food co-op that I belong to. I could go every week, but I have a hard time eating everything I get in two weeks anyway. So here's the deal... I joined a food co-op called bountifulbaskets.org. A couple of ladies names Sally and Tanya got together and worked out a deal with a produce distributor that they would order in bulk and get the same wholesale prices that grocery stores and restaurants get. I and a whole bunch of other people go online Tuesday or Wednesday and pick where we want to get our food on Saturday morning (56 places in the Phoenix area and spots in Utah and around the rest of Arizona), order what I want and pay for it, along with a $1.50 handling fee. There's a standard fee for a basket of 15.00 (organic is a little more) and you can add on things like organic bread, cases of apples or mangos or blackberries (it changes every week) and most weeks they have an add on pack like Mexican veggies or Italian veggies for about $7.50. You can get 5 loaves of fresh organic 9 grain bread for 10.00. I have no idea of what I'm going to get in the base basket for $15.00.
After Wednesday, Sally and Tanya figure out how many people they are buying for and order the food. On Saturday morning, the distributor delivers the food all over the Phoenix area - mostly to parks - and volunteers sort the produce evenly into baskets. I get up Saturday morning, take my own baskets to the park, transfer my produce from their containers to mine and come home. If you don't pick up your food on time, it gets donated to a local fire house. Here's what I picked up this morning:
5 pounds of bananas 3 pounds of Ranier cherries - I weighed them and that would have cost me at least $21.00 in the stores here. 2 large red bell peppers Asparagus 1 English cucumber 1 head of broccoflower 1 Heirloom cantaloupe 1 seedless watermelon 1 head of Romaine 13 peaches 8 Fuji apples 7 Roma tomatoes The Italian pack had: 1 eggplant 2 zucchini Fresh Parsley Fresh Basil Fresh Rosemary Fresh Thyme 1 yellow onion 1 red onion 3 heads of garlic 8 ounces of button mushrooms
I paid a total of $24.00 for all that fresh food. Look for food co-ops like this in your areas and if you don't have one, maybe you can start one. It's really a thing of beauty and it runs like a dream. One week there was a mix up on my order and the distributor delivered my food to my front door by the time I got home. You can't ask for better than that. If you go to bountifulbaskets.org know that the website is a disaster and it took a leap of faith for me to order the first time.
Here's to healthy eating.
Connie
Goodmrning Connie...that sounds like an excellent deal....I wish they had that program here, I'de definalty do it. We do have a type of food co-op program around here called Angel Food Ministries that sales nice food baskets but those are monthly and its not bad deal, for a family of four they offer like a week supply of a nice variety of meats and you can get veggies too usually for $20-25. The fruits and veggies are a very good deal... Its alot cheaper then the grocery store the quality and quanity is great. I do both on occasion depending what the monthly menue is. Either that or the farmers market for veggies and the dreaded goooood stuff...damn those Amish and their homemade pies LOL, they are toooooo good.
edited to add...can you tell its another sleepless night and now I want pie arggggg...lol
edited to add...can you tell its another sleepless night and now I want pie arggggg...lol
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe" ----"Anatole France"
"Joyously grasp the ties that bind you, for they lead straight to the heart"---"Wm."
Kimberly...
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