Lower Your Grocery Bill - a bit of “Acorn” news

submitted by Ruth VanBogelen, Acorn Farmers Market & Café Board

This article is not about cutting coupons or buying in bulk! There are other very practical and healthy ways to lower your grocery bill.  

1. Base the value of the food by the nutritional content. Examples:
   • If you had a choice between buying a dozen eggs at a farmers market for $4 or a bag of potato chips for $4 – which is the better value? The eggs are an excellent source of protein. Potato chips offer you lots of unhealthy fat and a LOT of salt. The fat and salt in chips may taste really good, but in the long run may mean you’ll need to spend money on prescription medications to prevent heart problems, fight high blood pressure, diabetes etc..  
   • If you have a choice between chicken on sale at big box stores or chicken at the farmers market, keep this in mind. I have purchased 3 pounds of  chicken breasts in a large grocery store for $2.00 a pound (on sale!!!). When I got home, I packaged the chicken for the freezer by weighing pieces. Would you believe I only really purchased 1.5 pounds of chicken and 1.5 pounds of “juice” that was in the absorption paper under the chicken. So really I spend $4 a pound for the chicken, which likely was chicken pumped with hormones to get it to gain weight fast. I could have bought healthy free range chicken at the farmers market for the same price.  
2. Only shop the perimeter of the store, which means most of the foods that will go into your cart are ‘whole foods’ – produce, meat, cheese, milk, etc. – most of what you need to make healthy meals. You’d be surprised how low your grocery bill becomes when you aren’t sucked in by all the deals – like 4 packages of cookies for only $5, 3 boxes of pop for only $9.99, etc.  
3. Plan ahead; decide what meals you will prepare for the week, make a shopping list, and have blinders on so that nothing, absolutely nothing gets into your cart that is not on the list.

Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café will be a non-profit food store in Manchester, MI next spring.  The model is for farmers, bakers, etc., to sell their products on consignment and they set the price at which the items will be sold! No mark up by Acorn!

To start-up a non-profit store, we need donations and grant funds. If you can donate one time, a couple times or set up a monthly amount – visit the website to set up donations through PayPal or mail donations to Acorn Farmers Market & Café, PO Box 432, Manchester, MI 48158. The store's physical address will be 327 W. Main. 

To follow progress on this new food store which will sell locally grown produce, meat, dairy, eggs, and more – all produced by local farmers – go to the web site  www.acornfarmersmarketcafe.org and like us on Facebook @ Acorn Farmers’ Market and Café

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.