Frugal Babe

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Getting Started In Bulk Food Buying

February 11, 2010 By Frugal Babe

Ever since I discovered Green And Crunchy, I’ve been envious of Sheri’s bulk food club.  It’s not available in our area though, so I just kept shopping at the health food store.  If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I don’t compromise when it comes to food.  We don’t buy anything with mystery ingredients, we make pretty much everything from scratch, and our diet is mostly vegan.  We try to buy local and organic (both if possible) whenever we can.

Sheri’s recent posts detailing her bulk food purchases inspired me to try again to see if I could find something similar.  I started with hemp seeds.  I had been buying them from our local store in 8 ounce bags.  We would go through a bag every week, and they were about $8 each.  Expensive, plus all of the wasted packaging was a bummer.  So last week I went to the source (I buy Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds) and ordered two 5 pound buckets of seeds.  They came to a total of $100 ($10/lb as opposed to the $16/lb I was paying when I bought them in little packages each week).  Shipping was free, and the buckets arrived today.  My bulk food buying has begun!

Then this morning we went to check out the food co-op in the nearby town.  The health food store where we normally shop is local to our state, but the co-op is even more local.  Right away I liked the bulk bins (mostly organic) that allow customers to reuse their own containers rather than prepackaging stuff in little plastic bags.  The store was small and quaint, but well-stocked.  And the best part is their bulk buying program.  They can order anything that their distributer carries (which is a lot more than what is available in the store), and members get all bulk orders for 20% above wholesale (as opposed to 40% – 50% above wholesale for non-members).  To become members, we had to buy a share in the co-op, which cost $160.  If we ever move or decide we don’t want to be members (both highly unlikely!) we can sell our share back to them.  So we bought a share, and are now proud co-op members.  I love the fact that we’re supporting a local business that is fully focused on healthy living and local, organic food.  I am also SO FREAKIN EXCITED to place my first bulk order!  I’ve been making a list of all the things I use a lot of, and I’ll place my order sometime in the next week or so.

As an added bonus, co-op members get dividends each year, based on the profitability of the store.  Here’s hoping they do well!

We’ve started our seedlings for the garden, and are very excited about all the food we’re hoping to grow here this summer.  It will be great to have our own vegetables straight from the back yard.  We’re going to let a few of the new trees bear fruit this summer, but we’re planning to pluck the buds off most of them so that they can focus on their roots this year.  So this summer our own crops will be mostly veggies… but one of these days, most of our food will (hopefully!) be as local as can be – grown within 50 yards of our back door.

Anybody else having luck with buying food in bulk?  Growing your own?  Tips for storing food that you grow or purchase in bulk?

Filed Under: food, health 14 Comments

Comments

  1. Lissa says

    February 12, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Wow. I just signed our family up for a food buying club. I have become much more concerned about the quality and safety of the food we buy at the grocery store. So I have been researching different avenues to save money but not skimp on quality foods. I placed my first order this week and cannot wait for it to come in next week.

    Due to food allergies we cannot go vegan or even vegetarian. (nut, dairy and bean) But moving our family to buy local, organic, and free range (for animal based products) will improve our health.

    BTW you have inspired me to make a lot more items from scratch. My next project is homemade bread and tortillas!

    Reply
  2. Lissa says

    February 12, 2010 at 7:25 am

    Oh and we will be starting our seeds in a couple of weeks. And we have a cherry tree. I hope to add more fruit bushes this spring. I agree that I would rather go outside to pick my veggies than run to the store!

    Reply
  3. Cate says

    February 12, 2010 at 9:14 am

    We don’t buy a ton of stuff in bulk, but we do utilize the bulk bins at our local health food store for spices, nuts, shredded coconut, and some grains. It’s much cheaper, and most of it is organic.

    Reply
  4. Kay says

    February 12, 2010 at 10:47 am

    Yayyy! The food coop sounds wonderful. There’s a Karma food coop in TO which I’m considering right now. And buying bulk is the way to go if you have the space to store.

    Right now, we are in a small apartment – not much storage space, but we still do some bulk buying on often needed stuff. Saves money, packaging and many trips to the stores.

    Reply
  5. Kay says

    February 12, 2010 at 10:48 am

    And what do you with the hemp seeds? Smoothies?

    Reply
  6. FrugalBabe says

    February 12, 2010 at 10:52 am

    Kay, I put hemp seeds in smoothies and salad dressings, just about every day. I also mix them in to my homemade energy bars (toss everything in the food processor – nuts, seeds, spirulina, a few dates and raisins… whatever I have on hand). We go through a lot of them, and a $6/lb savings will add up quickly!

    Reply
  7. Nicole says

    February 12, 2010 at 11:05 am

    Hi. You have done wonderfully with this blog. I love so much that I went all the way back to when you started this blog and have read very post since then. I especially love you idea with the ornaments and will probably borrow tht Idea. Along with a few others. I bookmarked this site..YAH!! Keep it up. :)

    Reply
  8. m- says

    February 12, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    What are the benefits of hemp seeds?

    Reply
  9. sam says

    February 12, 2010 at 1:40 pm

    After years of growing great flowers I’ve been having beginners luck growing edible food. I have goals this year but we’ll see how that goes – I’d like to get to the point we have a good stockpile of home grown food.

    There’s no bulk buying club or co-op where I’m at (unless you count Costco). I save the most money by going to the ethnic markets & buying bulk herbs, spices & grains there. I save glass jars and keep the spices in those – I’ve started drawing pretty designs on the jars in multiple colors of permanent marker. I haven’t noticed any degrading of the spice quality however, they are pretty darn potent to begin with! the Indian Market we get the most value from. The Korean one is good for rice and sauces (like fish sauce and rice vinegar) – we usually grab something new to try when we’re there for fun.

    Reply
  10. Kay says

    February 12, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    Thanks FB! Hemp seeds in smoothies, salad dressings and energy bars sounds great. I will give them a try.

    I was looking at the green and crunchy blog and was so inspired by it that I made almond milk just now. Thanks for sharing her blog.

    Reply
  11. FrugalBabe says

    February 12, 2010 at 5:10 pm

    M – hemp seeds are a great source of essential amino acids and Omega 3 fatty acids. Hemp is a very sustainable plant too, as it grows well without chemical herbicides and pesticides. Here’s a link with more info:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

    Reply
  12. Sheri (Green and Crunchy) says

    February 14, 2010 at 11:27 pm

    Hi there! Thanks for the shout out re: bulk buying! I’m happy to hear that you’ve been inspired to become a bulk-buyer — you sound pretty excited :)

    I’m with you on the hemp — we use it all the time too. And your co-op sounds fantastic! Wholesale plus 20% is a great way to shop — you’ll be able to build a nice little stockpile of bulk foods while supporting a local business.

    Happy shopping!

    Reply
  13. Alissa says

    February 15, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    Hey Frugal Babe,
    We’ve just joined a bulk-buying co-op as well! I’m so excited… I’m not sure what thrills me more, saving money, or not having to go to the grocery store. lol. Between the co-op and the Farmer’s Market, the items we need from the grocery store should be pretty minimal.

    Reply

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