Bountiful Baskets

My friend, Heidi, told me about a food co-op she liked, so we tried it this week. It's called Bountiful Baskets (look it up at bountifulbaskets.org).

• You go online, pay $18, then go pick up your produce on the distribution date. We paid on Tuesday, and today was the pick-up day. If you don't show up within 20 minutes of the pick-up time, your food is considered abandoned and you don't get it.
• We showed up--the pick-up site was the middle school gym--all the food was divided into fruits and vegetables. We transferred one basket of fruit and one basket of vegetables into some bags we had brought, then signed a paper and walked out the door.
• The co-op is 100% volunteer-run, so Heidi was there sorting food into baskets for people, as well as several other people we recognized.
• You can sign up for the basic produce basket, which is what we did, or you have the option of adding additional baskets of specialty items. We are going to add a "Mexican produce" option next time. That basket includes onions, jalapenos, avocados, etc. There's also a "citrus basket" that includes more oranges, grapefruit, lemons, etc. They also offer some specialty breads that we may try in the future.
• We thought it was a cool idea and we are definitely going to try it again.This is what we came home with today. Every time is different, so you don't know exactly what you'll get. The girls loved the oranges!