Produce Co-op

Fridays are my favorite days. Fun easy day for the blog, Hubby is home often, and its the night I get to have homemade pizza and a beer. YUM. But what can make a Friday better? If it’s produce co-op Friday!!

I belong to a local produce co-op that has several pick up areas on different days of the week, all over the city. I pay a whopping $17.50 every two weeks for my basket of produce. How does a co-op work, you ask? Well, it starts with one person with a really good idea. They order lots of produce in bulk from (in our case) a business that distributes produce to local restaurants.  The head of the co-op orders from that company, their delivery trucks just take an extra load for us, and drop off at our pick up location. Several members of the co-op then sort the produce into baskets. As co-op members, our part in the co-op is to #1 buy the basket, and #2, come every now and then to help sort the produce into baskets for everyone. All the purchasers come during a time slot, transfer the produce to their baskets, and off they go! Members do not have to purchase every week, but the more people who buy into the co-op, the more and better produce we get for $17.50.

Here is what we had in our baskets today: 4 red plums, 6 bananas, 7 gala apples, 4 valencia oranges, 15 red potatoes, 4 yellow onions, 2 bell peppers, 6 roma tomatoes, 6 yellow squash, 2 bags of baby carrots, 2 avocados, 2 heads of iceburg lettuce, and one bag of spinach. Each week is a little different, including types of potatoes, apples, onions, tomatoes and lettuce. Sometimes instead of special things like plums, avocados and spinach we will get garlic cloves, corn, cantaloupe, etc.

If you live in the Charlotte, NC area, you can join the same co-op circle I am in- just check here for open pick-ups near you. If you are interested in organic produce, click here. The price is higher, but you can tailor your order. Elsewhere, simply google “produce co-op” and a large city near you. If you don’t find one near you, perhaps you can start one for your area! Let me know, and I will get you into contact with our co-op leader. She always says, “I’m just a Mom who had a great idea.”. You could be too!!

Here’s to living- Happier, Healthier, more FRUGAL lives!

~FrugalMegan~