Week 15: Share Contents & Whole Foods Cost Comparison

Below are the contents of my farm share this past week. It's quite clear that it's the height of summer.

While shopping for a client at Whole Foods this week, I jotted down how much each of these items would have cost there. Based on my estimates, this farm share would have cost me $49.47 at Whole Foods, but because I am a member of a CSA, I only paid $29.11 ($25.88 per week for the produce and $3.23 per week for the eggs). That's a savings of $20.36!

Not only did I save $20.36,

• I received a larger watermelon than the ones sold at Whole Foods
• I received better quality basil than what is sold at Whole Foods, and paid less for it
• I didn't have to drive to the grocery store
• I didn't have to spend time thinking about what vegetables to buy and pondering their origins, price, freshness and seasonality.
• I didn't have to load the vegetables into a dirty grocery cart, unload them onto a dirty cashier belt, load them into my car, only to unload them once I got home.
• I also saved fuel resources because my farmer only had to drive 18.5 miles to deliver the produce to my neighborhood, and I only had to drive 3 miles from my house to pick it up.
• I supported a local farmer and my local economy.
• I taught my two-year old that good food comes from a farmer, although I'm afraid he gets confused at pick-up and might think that the house we go to is the actual farm.

This week's farm share and what each item would cost at Whole Foods:

A big watermelon= $5 (Graceland Farm's watermelon was much larger than the ones at WF)

6 large heirloom tomatoes $4.99/lb = $15 (each tomato weighs about a half pound)

2 pints of cherry tomatoes $3.99/ pt= $7.98

7 small peppers $3.99/ lb = $3

large bunch of basil $2.50 per dinky plant = $5

2 cucumbers- $.75 each = $1.50

4 Japanese eggplants- $4.99/lb = $4.99

6 ears of corn- $.50 each = $3.00

& a dozen farm eggs- forgot to check, but somewhere around $4

Total: $49.47