# Dirt cheap groceries



## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

Back in the day, Angel Food Ministries was a mainstay for me ... they bought in super-bulk and repackaged things in family-sized boxes and resold them at cost for about a 50% discount. They had some non-perishables, but most of their food was frozen. They offered a lot of restaurant-quality premade food. I loved it, and ordered from them every month for a couple years.

They're no longer in business (a pretty colorful story itself,) but a lot of other organizations have stepped forward and are operating on the same model. You can order online and pick up your food at a designated day and place, usually a church. They don't have any eligibility criteria.

Some of what they offer would be great for processing as preps. As for the rest? You can use that to make room in your budget to make room for more preps.  I figure that knowledge is power, so I share resources as I find them. Most of these guys just operate east of the Mississippi. I eagerly await distribution sites in my state - I'd get back in that groove in a heartbeat.

http://1glories.chadgramling.com/afm/


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We have something like that here in east Texas, but I've never used it.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

Nothing not even close to us.


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## rhrobert (Apr 27, 2009)

I looked at Gabelli, and they are higher than I can get the same locally. 2 oranges for a $1.00? I get them singly for 39 cents each, cheaper in quantity...same for bananas, they charge 40 cents a pound, but I get them for 19-29 cents a pound.

8lbs of chicken for $28 at gabellis, and I get whole fryers for 2.50 each.

I guess it all depends on where you live as to what constitutes a deal. For me, they would be too expensive.


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

As a past customer of Angel Food, I have only one thing to say about the old program:

You get what you pay for.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I have never participated in any of these, but I see that people are thrilled by Bountiful Baskets, which is available in many states, including mine, Colorado.

When it comes to quality, I cannot speak to that with BB, but having participated in other food coops, there are a few sources of goods to get food from. When we had our food coop in North Dakota 30+ years ago, we participated in a number of sources. We got grains, canned goods, and more from a coop supplier in the Twin Cities. They had a semi that made deliveries about once a month. We were very satisfied with the quality. If you wanted 25 # of beans, you just ordered it. Food coops are not always a store front, but a few are. They are member owned and run. Usually, they are not set up to make a profit. This source delivered to many coops in North Dakota and surrounding areas.

We added a meat supplier, from South Dakota.

We somehow had a produce supplier.

Literally, people could get all their food from the coop. Many people who had never bought in bulk had a hard time getting started and planning it out. 

So, if quality is a problem, there are options for buying with others. I know that you have to do volunteer work for Bountiful Baskets. It works the same way as a food coop, in some ways.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I shop at IGA Priceless and Aldi's; I checked the gospelhomeministries vegetable basket--whoa!!
That is not dirt cheap--what a ripoff!!
Must be in a state not near any great groceries like Aldi's or IGA Priceless.


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## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

I went through the list of suppliers, and the only one that serves my area is the Bountiful Baskets. They sell in bulk of course, and each offering is WAY more than I can use in a household of one. Probably more than I can even store. I might try a single order and see what happens ...


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

notyermomma said:


> I went through the list of suppliers, and the only one that serves my area is the Bountiful Baskets.


Closest one to us is about 40-45 mins away.
http://www3.bountifulbaskets.org/?page_id=6&state=TX&producttype=BOTH



weedygarden said:


> When we had our food coop in North Dakota 30+ years ago, we participated in a number of sources. We got grains, canned goods, ... had a semi that made deliveries about once a month. We were very satisfied with the quality. They are member owned and run. Usually, they are not set up to make a profit.


When I lived in North Dakota, there were some folks that had a VERY effective Food Co-Op. One large bulk item would often be split among 2-10 families as needed. God organization. I was too young and uninterested at the time to learn more about it.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

I have only experienced one group-buy club around here. It was all "organic" foods, which, I found researching the regs on that, to be a ripoff. No guarantees of what most people think they are getting. And they were VERY expensive. We never made an order. 

We grow REAL organic produce for ourselves. I believe that is the only way you can know what you are getting. Lots cheaper than buying anywhere and we grow enough to use only the best, feeding the rest to chickens or composting it. 

In general I have found that when you introduce a middleman into any purchase, it costs you money.


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## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

> We grow REAL organic produce for ourselves. I believe that is the only way you can know what you are getting.


Agreed. The only thing is that most people don't have the space to grow enough to make it worthwhile. I do what I can with containers on my 2nd story apartment, but all my veggies are in the flower stage right now. It'll be nice when everything pops though. :factor10:


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