Co-op Makes Great Expectations

Here is an outstanding idea for saving money on groceries (besides having a garden): a food co-op or wholesale purchasing group. Friends can form a food co-op, give themselves a name, and obtain groceries at wholesale prices, if there is a natural foods warehouse in their community. It worked beautifully for about a dozen of us in the Seattle area: we called ourselves the "Better Bread" group - and yes, we did experiment with making bread, too. We gathered a few friends and met monthly to get the grocery list going. It's a wonderful way to learn about new foods, "We need three more people to take a few pounds of couscous," or, "Red lentils are on sale if we get a full bushel," and, of course, to make lasting friends. The food truck delivered to one person's home, and we'd converge to have our meeting, discuss a topic or two of common interest, and divvy up the large parcels of interesting groceries. Warning: after a few months, a high proportion of our members were 'expecting' again. We decided it was due to the vitamin E!