When in doubt, just ask

Today I found out some potentially exciting news! I'm always looking for ways to lower our grocery bill but also am working to introduce more organic produce into our budget. These things are not always very compatible. I read a post recently that suggested talking to your local produce manager... http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/feeding-the-family-hey-mr-produce-man

Well, lucky for me one of our customers is the owner of a grocery store! He stops in on his way to the produce markets everyday. So, why not ask him if he really would sell produce, especially organic produce, by the case? He was not surprised at all. In fact, it sounds like he has done this in the past or maybe does it fairly often. And here I'd been nervous about asking him! If I want produce I just need to e-mail him and he'll get it for me. If I order by the case then he tells me his wholesale price and tacks on about 20% for his time and gas getting it and invoicing it, etc. I'd have the produce within a few days at most. So simple!

My dilema now is figuring out how much these cases will cost. He can give me an approximate cost if I e-mail him what I want. However, he doesn't have a list of prices and I don't want to waste his time giving me tons of prices and then not order anything. I know that organic will be more expensive than our typical loss leader shopping, but it will also be better for us in the long run. My goal is to start getting the 'dirty dozen' organic and then take baby steps from there as our budget allows. The more real we eat, the better. I also figure I can get apples, pears and a few other things from friends and neighbors this fall so really I would only be looking at a few cases to start.

I should mention we can not even begin to eat a full case of fruit before it goes bad. One of my big adventures this year is going to be canning!