It is with a sad, but thankful heart, that I inform you, that after a year and a half, I have decided to discontinue my produce co op for good.  It has taken some time and much contemplation to come to this conclusion.  I have loved being able to participate in such a wonderful experience.  I have met some very wonderful people over the year and some have stuck with me from the beginning.

I will miss having all the produce in my fridge at all times, as well as some things that I wouldn't normally buy just because.  I won't miss trying to find people all the time to fill spots, or having to cover the cost of extra baskets because someone just decided at the last minute that they were done with co op.  I feel like I now have my days back, even though it was just one day a week, it took a couple days to plan and order and then sort and wait all day for everyone to come pick up, since everyone has different schedules.

I did learn quite a bit about produce.  How to store produce to last for a couple weeks, what produce costs, which is more than most people realize!  I even learned a little about finances and how to work with less money to save produce spoilage and help people live on a lesser amount of money.  I loved every minute of it and maybe one day in the future, I will start up again, but for now, I feel that this is the best option for my family at this point.  My grocery budget will go up a little, or I will just have to revamp what I buy in order to accomodate for the extra cost of produce, since I will no longer get free produce.

If you want to start your own co op where you live, it is really quite easy.  It does take some time and thought, but anyone can do it.  Here is a previous post about my co op if you are interested in learning more.