Produce Problems

So many times I've heard people say they can't eat healthy because it's too expensive. I could give you a list of medical procedures related to obesity that will cost far more then what you'll pay at the checkout stand. Let's be honest though, have you walked through the produce aisle lately? The prices are kind of ridiculous. There are ways around some of the gouging that takes place in that department of the grocery store, however.

My first favorite is Bountiful Baskets. Bountiful, What? BOUNTIFUL BASKETS! It's a food co-op where you make a contribution on Monday for a mystery basket to be picked up on Saturday. You can choose a Conventional or an Organic Basket. Conventional baskets are $15 and Organic are $25. I've added it up several times and generally come home with twice the produce I would get for the same amount at the grocery store. Also, because you don't know what you'll be recieving in advance, it's a great way to try new things you might not otherwise purchase! To get involved in your community or see if it's available where you live visit www.bountifulbaskets.org.

The next best thing you can do to reduce your produce cost, GROW GROW GROW! Anyone can grow a garden- house or apartment, alot of room or a little. Gardens can be grown in green houses or raised beds or garden plots or flower pots! I once read that having a garden is like growing your own money. A packet of seeds can run as little as ten cents and will produce several plants to keep you nourished all summer long. Plus you get the added benefit of Vitamin D from the sunshine and you'll burn a few extra calories keeping your garden tended.

This is the seed starter I began just this past weekend. We have three kinds of tomatoes, lettuce, watermelon, cucumber, jalapeno, bell peppers and pumpkins. If you look closely you can see some have already begun to sprout. I'll plant them outside in a few weeks when it warms up a little more and we'll have lots of basic produce all summer long. The entire growing set-up including starter green house and organic seeds cost us less than $20.

What are you waiting for? Get going and get growing!