Since Jared and I don't have space for a garden on our apartment balcony, the best we have been able to do so far is our hanging tomato plants (pretty darn good, if you ask me). Nonetheless, I have been wanting to get some legitimate fresh produce lately. For example, in Mexico I had fresh-picked pineapple and mango all the time and nothing that gets shipped here to the U.S. can really come close to the great flavor of the stuff that comes right off the plant. By the same token, I had some pretty good peaches from Costco last summer, but they cost a fortune and only approached the taste of the peaches that my parents used to buy locally by the bushel for canning.
So I started searching around to see what farmer's markets might be around here this summer, and even looked for farms that let you go pick your own produce. There are a few places where you can go pick you own apples. No place where you can harvest your own peaches, etc. In my searches, I came across a local food co-op. It sounded pretty granola, and my first inclination was to keep surfing past it, but I was on a boring conference call and had plenty of time to read about it. I realized that it is a group of local families and individuals who have joined up to purchase food in bulk from grocery store suppliers. So basically you are getting the wholesale price on your groceries, without any grocery store mark-up. You are required to donate an hour or so of your time a week, whether it be sorting goods at the co-op warehouse or doing some paperwork or something.
In exchange, you get a smoking deal on seasonal produce, frozen meat, and staples such as rice and flour. So I am thinking about joining up. I could volunteer an hour or two on Saturday, and I might even be able to do an "in kind" donation where I offer some basic accounting/book keeping services a couple of hours a week. I figure I would save about 30% on grocery staples by joining, but it seems like such a granola thing to do. So, what do you say? Should I sign up, or are my new communist tendencies a silent cry for help?
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3 comments:
I believe this could be the modern start of bartering - you could be the test pilot of this and think of the benefits...fresh peaches over that ice cream Pork Chop jst made while listening to the newest MoTab ... could it get any sweeter. Or to spice it up Rubarb & Strawberries. It could help you come part of the local community, give a little of your accounting knowledge to the working man. I say go for it.
You are married to a trade after all
Good point; Jared and I talked about this last night and he is all for it. He was like, "Oh, I see, so we just have to help deliver stuff or something?" He really is a natural at this trader stuff.
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