Shopping locally

Shopping locally. It is a movement that has been happening lately and, let me tell you, I am all for it. Usually, though, when you think of shopping locally you think of switching things up and shopping at local places in place of box store shopping. You know, Sorella’s instead of Macy’s and Explorations Toys in lieu of Toys R Us. Those types of things.

Don’t get me wrong; I shop local like it is going out of style at those places, but I also have been trying to be local in other things, too.

I shop local for my groceries. I mean really, really local. Here are some places that we get our groceries:
Produce and Honey we get at the Monroe Park Grocery Co-op. Have you ever heard of this? It is amazing! They have a Facebook page with plenty of information for joining and visiting. Local, organic produce at crazy, cheap prices … need I say more?

We get our meat from Martin’s Butcher Shop in Wakarusa and John’s Butcher shop in downtown Nappanee. Local meat from local farmers, at inexpensive prices. It tastes amazing. I can’t even begin to describe to you the taste difference. I would say you just have to taste it to see that the price is worth it, but seriously, no lies everything is cheaper than at the grocery store.

Bulk foods and other fun things are found at E & S in Shipshewana. Any kind of sprinkle you could ever want, candy galore, beans, rice, spices. It’s all so cheap. There are always oodles of things there that just seem to come and go. For example this week I snagged 40 ounce bags of Starbuck’s coffee beans for $13.98 … amazing! Simply wonderful! They also have an impressive produce section where I was able to snag a package of campari tomatoes and found a mixed box of produce for only $2! A word here is that some of there are things are past their expiration dates and are listed as “seconds” but don’t let that turn you off … seconds are clearly marked and it isn’t all seconds, just an aisle.

Cheese and other fun things can be found at Rentown in Bremen. Have you ever heard of this place? If not you and your family need to take a little field trip down and check out Rentown. They have bulk cheeses, which I love. They have oodles and oodles of flavors, too. This week I got Colby Jack cheese for $1.99 a pound. In the supermarket, if you are lucky you can find bagged shredded cheese on sale for $2 for half pound. Now, I’m no math whiz, but that’s a savings of 50 percent to you and me. I buy a big block and shred some, slice some, whatever I need. They also always have deals going on that come and go. I got butter for $1.50 for the quarters container you get at the store. Amazing. Simply amazing!

Now I know it seems kind of crazy to go hither and yon for food, but I take comfort in knowing that I am saving a boatload of money for my family, and we are having a great time. I love teaching my children to try to find things as local as possible (which yes I know not everything is from here) and to shop locally to support small businesses.

This past week we dined at the South Side Soda Shop in Goshen, and then went to the Once Upon a Child over there before going to Shipshewana (E&S). We then jaunted down to Wakarusa (Martin’s) before going to Bremen (Rentown). We then picked up Em from Nick’s parent’s house in Bremen and headed home. A full circle of shopping. We do this type of shopping once a month. I’ve gotten to know our eating habits enough to know how much we need, what I can freeze, and what I need to keep my eye out for.

We live in downtown South Bend and it takes us about half and hour to get to Shipshewana … it’s not that bad and it is super fun to escape to over there once in a while. It’s good for the soul to get out of the city every once in a while. I encourage you to befriend the major highways, bypasses, and toll roads.

Things I don’t get there I get at the supermarket, of course. We do this local shopping circuit at the beginning of each month and then I subtract whatever I spend out of our grocery budget so I know what I have left for the supermarket throughout the month.

I encourage you to try shopping locally like this and to check out some of my family’s favorite haunts. And if you see me there, I’d love it if you stopped me to chat…we can exchange names of other places to shop locally.