Thanks to some co-op moms I found a new source for organic veggies - Bountiful Baskets Co-ops. They offer both conventional and organic baskets for pretty low prices, using group purchasing to get a lower price. They claim they try to buy local as much as possible. A bit more info:
Conventional Produce Basket $15 Contribution
50% fruit, 50% vegetables, 100% healthy, delicious & fun
In the conventional basket we focus our buying as follows: High Quality, Low Cost and As Local as Possible... So, how hard do we try? Pretty hard! Most bananas are from Central America or the Carribean and are grown by a couple gargantuan conglomerate growers. We get all of our bananas from small farmers in central Mexico. This saves the co-op between $4 and $7 a box, keeps money with small farmers, and helps keep the carbon footprint small.
Organic Produce Basket $25 Contribution
50% fruit, 50% vegetables, 100% ORGANIC, healthy, delicious & fun
In the organic basket we focus our buying as follows: 100% Certified Organic Produce, High Quality, Low Cost and As Local as Possible! Much of the produce in the winter is Arizona local and regional to the rest of the co-op. We enjoy working with several local farmers. We always like it when our produce was in the ground just a couple days before distribution. You produce doesn't sit on store shelves for days before you get it!
So today was the first week we bought in and I went with the organic basket.
Our basket included:
~2 packages of romaine from Earthbound Farms
~1 Pineapple (Mexico)
~2 large Tomatoes from Earthbound Farms (Mexico)
~1 large leek
~1 large Eggplant (from Natura, Mexico)
~1 bunch of asparagus (Brock Farms, Mexico)
~1 bundle of dill from EarthBound Farms
~3 lbs of apples from Washington
~Oranges from Natura (Mexico)
~Potatos
~6 Kiwis from California
~2 medium sized squashes of some kind (Natura, Mexico)
Overall I definitely got over $25 worth of organic produce, my only concern is how much of it is coming from Mexico. I don't know if it is because we are kind of inbetween growing seasons? It is definitely from popular organic brands tho... but I would like it better if the stuff was more local. I think next week I am going to try the conventional basket and compare where that stuff is coming from. I did take a pic of the conventional and it looked like quite a bit more greens but less packaged. I am also going to try the tortilla's next week as the ingredient list looks pretty decent.
3 comments:
I really wish our basket had bananas in it.
yeah that would have been nice! LOL I now need to menu plan for the week with all this stuff.
The produce they get comes from kodiak produce in az. it buys rejected loads from resturants and grocery stores that find it unfit for sell or consumption.
http://01f8756.netsolhost.com/shippers.html
when shippers have a bumper crop that needs to move to the consumer quickly they call Kodiak.
Kodiak accepts kicked produce, with a promise that we will give the best return possible.
Kodiak accepts wrecked loads on consignment with a promise of prompt return.
i would be alittle worried about what i was getting and from where. and if it was really organic. just some food for thought
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