Intentional Living

Alternatives to Grocery Stores & Gardening

Most of us trudge through the grocery stores on a scant amount of time each week and throw things in our cart hoping for the best. Or, we find ourselves shopping by the scattered list in our purse or on our phones. There’s a handful of us that yearn for the yester years to plant a garden each year in hopes to source quality foods for our family. Yet in our hectic busy lives it seems that both of these are a challenge for most with either not enough time or too many weeds! 

Therefore we wanted to take a moment to look at some alternate ways to source good quality foods to feed our families. I personally have tried a couple and a few that I would like to try and get some honest feedback on. 

A local CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) is a great option and one that I, along with Liz, have tried and enjoyed. For a couple of summers, we purchased a share in our local CSA and received weekly deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was great to pick up food that was sourced locally and without chemicals. I planned my menu each week based on what we received. 

One downside to the CSA was making sure I was available weekly for the one hour pick up window. Secondly, some produce was not what my family typically ate or enjoyed although we did enjoy experimenting with new items like fennel. Others I ended up throwing items out or donating.

Recently I tried www.imperfectfoods.com. Overall I was satisfied. The produce was not damaged and the quality was good. I liked the convenience of the subscribed delivery dates without having to think about it or take time to head to the store. On the downside, it still did require, if I chose, to double check what was in my cart before shipping so I could add or delete as desired. However what is more enjoyable was to order in my pj’s rather than battling a North Dakota snow storm.

Our blog contributors have also tried FarmBoxDirect, Melaleuca, and numerous online grocery ordering sites with success. 

Please share your favorites, the ones you avoid, the ones most cost-effective, etc.

Contributed by Jessica 

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