Can you believe it? This is SO much more than you could ever buy at the grocery store for that price. It is also really high quality, very fresh! It's also great because they always give you something a little exotic so your forced to try something you might otherwise not. We've had mangos, jimacas, pummelos, asian pears, cara cara oranges and the list goes on. You never know what you are going to get, but I'll tell you what...we eat a whole lot more fresh produce now and I hardly EVER buy fresh fruits and veggies from the grocery store anymore. BB also offers great bread add ons every week. And it is really good bread. I'm talking 100% Whole Wheat or 9 grain sandwhich bread, Olive Oil loaves, Rye Bread...good stuff! I don't buy bread at the store hardly at either now. In fact most weeks I just send my husband for milk on his way home from work and we are set. (I buy my meat in bulk as well and freeze it)
I tell everyone I know about it because I think it is SUCH a valuable asset to our community. Cedar City started with one drop site, every other week, in October 2009 and 14 orders. There are currently four sites in the Cedar/Enoch area accommodating I think 100 people each. At least one of them is now open every week. We are hoping to start another site on the west end of town and I've heard rumors of at least one other in Cedar, one in Parowan and one in Kannaraville, all close by.
So what good does this do you? If you live in one of those four states....check out the site and find a site near you. If there isn't one, you can probably start one. The founders Sally and Tanya are great to answer questions. If you don't live there...you may be able to get in on the action somehow, it's worth exploring. Or you can look for a similar program. I think the food co-op idea is gaining a lot of ground all over.
Excuses:
*We don't eat that much produce....
If you get this and have it in your house...you will eat more I PROMISE. You will find things to make with it and find yourself eating healthier because you don't want it to go to waste. Besides, even if some of it does go to waste....you still only spent $15 on the whole lot of it!
*I don't have anywhere to put it....
My solution is seen in the picture below. Pretty sure we got this at Walmart. I love this for a few reasons. It's portable, so if I need to move it I can. It's accessible. When my kids ask what they can have for a snack I send them to find an apple. When my son is hungry, he sees the bananas and will ask for them instead of asking for something less healthy. It keeps everything right there so I can remember I have produce that needs to be eaten.
*I can't afford it....
A basket will last a normal family a good two weeks. There is a great variety of food so that even though some will need to be eaten right away, some is hardier and will last till the end of the two weeks. $30 a month spent on healthy food like this will be worth the investment I PROMISE! It will help change the way you eat, in a fabulous way.
The area I live in has an email group to share recipes for the ingredients we get each week. That is great, but if you like the recipe, you have to save the email or print it out. So I considered starting a new BB food blog, but my hubby suggested I just tweak this one to fit! So I have decided to make a few changes to this blog. I'm going through all the recipes and instead of labeling them as simply containing "veggies" I'm going to label specific produce items. So if you get the mexican pack or the italian ingredient pack with your basket, you'll be able to look up items containing specific ingredients. I'm hoping to recruit more contributors (aka Other BB friends) to the blog this way as well and get some more healthier recipes on here. Plus I'm hoping this will be helpful as it gets closer to gardening season, so if you have zucchini coming out your ears, maybe you can find some ideas here.
Anyone else totally stoked about this? Have I converted anyone yet?
Above: Dipping Pack that was offered over Superbowl weekend. Cost was I think $7.50 for all of that. Avocados on a killer sale are at least 50 cents a piece. The carrots would cost probably $1.50. Tomatoes: $2.50. Celery...I dunno 50 cents or a dollar? Cilantro again???? $1? But we are already past the $7.50 it cost me...
Above: Italian ingredient add on pack. You get a ginormous pack of fresh herbs and spices with this baby. Have you ever priced those at the store? Again this pack is $7.50 to add on your basket. You couldn't get half of this for that price!
5 comments:
I know that Beaver is starting their own site next week and Parowan in a couple of weeks. I was thinking we need a site further south than the ones we have here in Cedar, but with so many towns that have been coming here breaking off and starting there own do you think we need more than 4 sites here? That's the one thing I wondered about. I would love to help with a new site closer to me if it does start up, who would be running it?
i'm in. i've meant to sign up before, but the couple of times i've gone to do it, the week was either full or closed. tomorrow i'm going to do it! those pictures are making me so hungry! and my kids already willingly eat fruits and veggies, so i might as well keep running with it :)
I need no selling on the basket. And I like the idea of using this blog for recipes. Can I get in on the email too? I'll post the recipe for our thai soup, once I look it up and am sure of it again. We are so excited to eat it, just trying to decide if we should use the fresh coconut in it too. Audrey- I don't think the growth will be a problem. College students were picking up at the storage until location this weekend, so even if we take half of the current regulars from there, I think it will grow. Summer might change it some as people can get their own produce, but we'll just have to see.
I second your testimonal on bountiful baskets. I can't believe how quickly Cedar has grown. Wow, I love the baskets and have been co-op'ing' for three months now. I was a little worried that we would not go through so much and then the exotic food would be a challenge. I am so surprised that I have not thrown one produce item away. I am glad you blogged about it.
Greetings from Arizona ... where Bountiful Baskets originated.
Do you have anyone in your area buying the Organic Bountiful Baskets, on a regular basis? We find that Organic has become a less valuable investment over time.
It would be nice for both Organic & Conventional Bountiful Baskets were a great deal as we hope is the intent. However, Organic (boxed) seems to have become less quantity and marginal quality for more money. Maybe a coordinated effort from various areas would help everyone get the best value for their produce dollars. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Do enjoy and eat fresh!
Sven o'Sedona
sedonasven@gmail.com
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