Become a Co-Op Member!

How do we save money on organics? One way is through using the co-op system. That is, contributing to a large pool of farmers and producers and walking away with produce and other food. This winter we have been  eating frozen vegetables from my parents huge garden that they helped us put up in the fall, but also discovered and started taking advantage of Bountiful Baskets. For $26.50 a week, we pick up a box of fresh and delicious organic veggies and fruits. We also add on organic nine grain bread every other week, five loaves for $12 from a bakery in Arizona. 

Bountiful Baskets has been a money saving resource for the winter when we've run out of frozen veggies and Montana won't hit its growing season until May at the earliest. I priced out all of our basket one day as what I would have paid for it all at the Real Food Store in Helena, and for organic produce we were saving at least
$15 a week. For bread, $13 every two weeks we saved. 

The downside to Bountiful Baskets is that it isn't local. Nowhere close to local, which I am a big believer in. But thanks to some fabulous and food conscious friends, we found an awesome local growers co-op. If you live in Montana, I encourage you to look into Western Montana Growers Co-op.. We are signing up for a full summer share soon and there are profiles of each, local and often biodynamic farm on the page you can research.