Produce Co-op

So my friend was blogging about her produce co-op.  I am not totally convinced her arrangement should be labeled a co-op because it is more like group home delivery and some people get paid. I decided that if I ever tell anyone about my blog they might want to know about my produce co-op.

My co-op has 12 "units" that means we buy food based on splitting it 12 ways.  Sometimes people split a full unit (as I did before my children started eating solid foods) but they split it between themselves after we as a group have divided by 12.  12 seemed like an unusual number to me when I joined (why not 10 or 15) but when you see how many produce items come in counts or weights that are divisible by 12 it makes sense.  Each unit pays in $30 so when it comes time to shop $360 is available to purchase for everyone.

We have a shopping schedule so that each member takes a turn each rotation shopping for produce from distributors at the Dallas Farmers Market.  They haul it back to a location closer to home where we divide it up.  We do this every two weeks. 

When it comes an individual's turn to shop, they and their partner can pick what they want but most members are considerate enough to buy mostly common dietary staples.  We encourage trying new items but we don't want to have to many new and unusual options in any given load.  If it wasn't for a fearless co-op member I would never have known about jicama or the joy of baked kale leaves.  We also encourage buying seasonally so we get more for the money.

The co-op has some leaders who take care of creating the schedule, managing the wait list and counting the $$$$$ but they are not paid positions.  You can volunteer to do it at anytime and you can step down anytime.

I just got my coop load today. They seem to be getting smaller these days but still a better deal than grocery shopping. Though I must admit when coop had lettuce and not tomatoes I snagged some pretty ripe roma tomatoes at Market Street for $0.79/lb. If they go soft they become SALSA!!!!!
For my $30 unit I got:
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 2 red leaf lettuce
- 11 red skinned potatoes
- 5lbs of carrots
- 3 kiwi
- 2.5 lbs grapes
- 9 large fuji apples (actually I got 7 and traded yellow squash for a couple more)
- 2lbs strawberries (actually 1lb but traded more squash)
- 1 pint blueberries
- 4 large onions
- 1 small cantaloupe
- 1lb mushrooms
- 2 zucchini
- 4 bell peppers
I also would have had a head of cauliflower and about that same amount of broccoli but I decided at the last minute I wasn't in the mood to find creative ways to get my family to eat those AGAIN and gave them to someone else.  I could have traded but I was preoccupied this morning.
I don't make a meal plan because I like to decide based upon my mood what I want to cook but usually each day I decide based on how much life any particular vegetable(s) seem to have in them.