Jenny and I are trying out a new service called Bountiful Baskets. It lets you purchase fruits and veggies co-op style, giving you large amounts of produce at a low cost. Twice a month, we pay the organization $15 plus a service charge early in the week. Then on Saturday morning, Jenny goes to Grapevine and picks up a huge basket of produce. Each time the mix is a little different based on what the organization can find that week. Our most recent basket included oranges, apples, tomatoes, grapefruits, mushrooms, red bell peppers, kale, lettuce, onions, lemons, and mangoes. It’s somewhere between 15 and 30 pounds of fruits and vegetables for under $20, which sounds like a good deal to me. Since our basket normally includes items that we don’t normally buy, it helps us to vary our diet and eat better.

There are other organizations that do pretty much the same thing, such as Urban Acres and Your Health Source. Both of them charge more but offer organic produce. We haven’t decided whether to stick with Bountiful Backets or try one of the other ones.

If you live near a pickup site for one of these organizations, I recommend giving it a try.