My First Food Cooperative Experience

I don't know about where you work, but where I work, the company is pushing for everyone to get healthier. It seems to work. I've noticed a lot of people have lot weight and others are taking the initiative to eat better and exercise  more. I even recruited some co-workers to join my strength training class at the gym. 

We have a girl at work whose sole responsibility is to help us get healthy. So, she schedules classes and food demos and health fairs, etc. to encourage us in our quest to be healthier. A couple of months ago, our challenge for the month was to eat more fruits and veggies. I didn't even turn in my results because they were not even on par with the amount I was supposed to be eating. During the campaign, however, she told us about some local food cooperatives who offer fresh fruits and veggies each week. I made a mental note of it because I had thought about trying this out but had never taken the plunge...until last week. 

My diet lately has been nothing to brag about, and so, in an effort to force myself to eat fresh foods and actually cook something good for me rather than frozen pizza or nachos, I decided to order my first food co-op box. I went with the Plentiful Produce Group because the price seemed reasonable and it was a 1/2 veggie and 1/2 fruit box. I ordered by the deadline and picked up my box at the designated location this past Saturday. 

I really had no idea what to expect and so when I picked up my box, I was amazed at how much food was inside. I had seven sweet potatoes, seven green bananas, four huge red bell peppers, six tangerines, four apples, a bunch of kale, a pound of strawberries, a pound of green beans, and three pounds of broccoli florets. The lady who was handing out the baskets said that we were also supposed to have gotten pears in our box but the pears were bad. Seriously, so much good food and I got it all for $21,50 ($20 plus $1.50 handling fee). 

Before the weekend was out, I had eaten two of the sweet potatoes, all of the green beans (which were the best I have had in a long time), one bell pepper and most of the strawberries. I have hardly put a dent in all the good food because my schedule has been insane this week and I've not been at home in the evenings. I was, however, proud of myself for eating better, fresher, and local food. 

I was so happy with the basket that I went ahead and ordered one for this next week as well. I probably won't order every week because being a single person it is hard to eat all that much food, but I do plan to order often because it is a good motivation to eat well and cook more. 

If you live in Madison County and are interested in a local food cooperative, check out Plentiful Produce.