Food Co-op
May 10th, 2010 by prissycook
A few weeks ago some friends turned us onto a food co-op that has distribution in Phoenix’s East Valley. Simply defined a co-op is a group of people working towards the good of a group. In this case, the co-op is working toward the economic good of the group.
The co-op pools money from their members and leverages the money for better, bulk deals on produce in this case. So, it’s not a Farmer’s Market, it’s not a grocery store, but in my opinion, it’s snuggled right in the middle. Heck, we picked up our first co-op basket at local park.
We opted for the standard basket ($15) and the Mexican pack add-on ($8). For $23, here’s what we were able to bring home:
Here’s a quick retail calculation of what I estimate retail would have cost for everything in our basket:
8 Gala apples .80 6.40
8 Kiwi
2 bunches bananas .45 90
4 avacado .33 x 4 1.32
5 limes .69 3.45
7 tomatoes .59 4.13
8 tomatillos 4.13
3 containers blackberries .99 3.98
1 cantaloupe 4.39
1 honeydew 4.39
1 onion 1.00
1 head garlic 1.00
2 scallions 1.39 2.78
2 cilantro .99 1.98
1 bag radishes 1.39
3 small squash
2 cucumber 1.00
4 artichoke 1.50 6
1 spinach 2.19
1 green lettuce 2.19
Overall I think it would have cost us close to $60 at the grocery store. Here’s another view:
To make it all worth it, I’ve got to plan out how we’re going to use all these ingredients this week. The goal: Minimize Waste!
You can check out the program here, BountifulBaskets.org. Thanks @wconeybeer and @cconeybeer for the info.
Keesha oversees recruiting and training programs for GoDaddy.com. She is responsible for building programs that attract and retain amazing employees.
Keesha loves food and photography and is passionate about community volunteering. She sat on the board of directors for the Junior League of Phoenix and is on the Children's Museum of Phoenix committee. She attended Blinn College and Texas A&M University. Her most private cupcake confession? She doesn't like frosting!
What a great deal! I have a friend who mentioned Bountiful Baskets to me a couple weeks back. She is hearing some buzz about them in the east valley. After seeing your amazing haul, I’m going to have to get involved. I usually get my produce up at the Superstition Ranch Market (Main near Greenfield, Mesa) but I only seem to make it up there about once a month. With summer crashing in on us, I like to really eat fresh foods (little cooking) in abundance.
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That’s so awesome! My husband and I have been trying to get into something like this. I found a dairy farm in Mesa that gives you fresh milk, eggs, cheese, butter, and a few other things for like $25 every 2 weeks, and then a ranch that delivers grass fed beef and chickens.
I really like the idea of this co-op because if you get something you are not that familiar with or don’t eat all the time, it gives you the opportunity to branch out and learn how to eat or cook something new!
Great post, thanks for sharing!