Bountiful Baskets Food Cooperative

When we first moved to Bountiful, UT and people heard that we were vegetarian they almost always asked, "Oh have you heard of Bountiful Baskets?"  People tried to explain it and for the most part it made sense but I had to look it up.  Was is for just people in Bountiful? Was it for low income families?  Is it food that is past expiration or about to expire? Was is it???  I went to their website, bountifulbaskets.org and finally learned how wonderful this program is!  Here is a little blurb from their homepage:

"BBFC (Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op) is a group of people who work together for mutual benefit. This is a grassroots, all volunteer, no contracts, no catch co-operative. Since there are no employees at Bountiful Baskets, we as a group pay rock bottom prices on your food. This also means the co-op would not happen without volunteers. If you are interested in the co-op continuing, please volunteer occasionally. All it takes is a little time, energy and a smile. Volunteer opportunities include helping prepare the baskets, breaking down boxes, assisting with the distribution, and packing up. To help out, simply arrive an hour early dressed and ready to work with water to drink."

They also quote a press release from a city where the program is running, "Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op is a participatory experience. Participants all save a substantial amount of money on healthy food. In exchange there are no employees to guide participants through the experience.”

I found that this is not just for people in Bountiful, UT and it's not just for poor folks like me it's for anyone who wants to participate!  You can go HERE and see where the nearest pick-up location is and if there isn't one close enough to you, you can go HERE and see about starting up a new location where you are!

We got our first Bountiful Basket this morning and I was giddy with excitement as I unloaded my "baskets" (as you can see above - they are really just boxes) of produce to see what we got.  With BB you don't get to pick what you get...you just get what you get.  I think this is great because it forces you {in a great way} to get out of your comfort zone, try new things and add variety to your diet which is crucial for good health.  This time I got the standard produce basket which is $15 unless it's your first ever basket and then it's $18.  I also couldn't resist the tropical basket for $10.50 because the description said it might contain 2 vanilla beans!!! (THOSE COST ALMOST $10 AT THE REGULAR GROCERY STORE!!!! (there is always $1.50 handling fee - so keep that in mind)

So are you dying to know what I got with my $30?  We got:

1 head of romaine
a bunch of mint
2 big beets
a HUGE bag of beautiful green beans
1 large jicama
5 tomatoes
2 artichokes
5 green apples
10 red potatoes
a carton of strawberries
a big bunch of bananas
4 mangos
2 pineapples
1 plantain
6 limes
6 kiwis
1 coconut and....
2 VANILLA BEANS!

If I were to have bought all of this at the regular grocery store it would have cost me somewhere between $60-65!  That's at least a 50% savings my friend!  I could never afford to buy such fun food if it weren't for this amazing co-op.  All I have to do is volunteer my time to help out every so often?  No problem.  I think we'll probably go through 2-3 baskets per month and we'll volunteer one of those weeks.  It's just one hour...for 50% discount on awesome produce...no brainer!

I took lots of pictures so you can see they don't fill these baskets with fruits and vegetables that are on their deathbed.  These are beautiful, fresh, lovely fruits and vegetables living with healing nutrients!  Are you wondering if I will really be able to use all of this produce before it goes bad?  You can bet your bottom dollar!  The BBFC website has a page that explains how to store your produce so it doesn't go bad quickly.

Did I mention that they have 100% Organic Baskets for I think $10 more?  Seriously - you can't get a better deal!  I hope you'll look into this fun and frugal way of buy produce!  It's my new best friend.

Healthy Eating {On a Budget}

During my 9 years of spiritual preparation to becoming a vegetarian I often used the excuse, "it's just too expensive." I've heard this excuse time and time again and I totally sympathize. There is a lot of truth to to this concern. We want to eat and feed our families healthily BUT the pocket book only stretches so far each month.

In many cases it is cheaper to buy Big Macs for the whole family rather than fresh organic fruits and vegetables but we don't want to feed Big Macs to our kids everyday. How about those extreme couponers? They boast, "I just got 25 boxes of fruit loops for .25, 30 boxes of pop tarts for only $3 and 14 bags for potato chips for $2.50!!!" I think WOW - that's a really bad deal! That's a whole heck of a lot of JUNK you just paid hard earned money for. I'm not against using coupons - NOT AT ALL - I'm against using them just because you can get a "good deal". If your getting processed, refined and sugary foods for cheap - you are not getting a good deal. You're going to end up paying way more in medical and dental bills later on than you saved at the grocery store. I always say, "If you have a great coupon ask yourself is this a GOOD {Health} DEAL {Choice}?" I encourage you to do the same.

As with so many things in life we need to find the happy medium, the right balance. Ronda and I want to show you how to get the best deal for your health! This is the first of many posts about how to feeding your family -big or small - on a budget.

First things first. Many of you will need to change the way you shop. Here are a few examples:

• Instead of buying what you need for a weeks worth of meals buy things you use often in bulk. I use a lot of corn, broccoli, spinach, strawberries which I buy frozen in huge bags from Costco. I also buy carrot juice (which freezes well), whole wheat tortillas, freeze dried fruit, organic tortilla chips, organic salsa, canned diced tomatoes, honey (which all last a long time)...ect. in bulk at Costco for a fraction of the cost (example: one 16 oz bag of organic frozen corn can cost up to $3.99 you can buy a 5lb bad of frozen organic corn for as little as $5.99)
  
• Also remember that dried beans are much cheaper than canned. {More on beans in bulk later}
• Buying and grinding your own grains is much cheaper than buying whole grain flours. {More on buying in bulk and grinding your own grains to come}
  
• Grow your own produce if you have any bit of space that gets 6-8 hours or more of sunshine there is a lot you can do - even on your window sill. {Of course there will be more on this topic as well}
• Homemade! There are many things that you can make yourself that are cheaper and healthier than what you would buy in the store, for example: vegetable broth, breads granola...etc.
  

These are just a few ideas to help you get started. Remember that it's most likely going to be a little more expensive when you first start out just because you are trying new things and are new to this. But you are also not buying meat anymore and that is often the most expensive thing on your weekly grocery list - so don't worry too much about it and know that we'll help you work out the kinks so you can have the best of both worlds!