How to Start a Food-Buying Club

Sometimes several families join together to form what is referred to as a "food-buying club," in order to be able to purchase better quality food (i.e. organic) and save money.

They are able to save lots of money because they are a group purchasing food from wholesale distributors, or even directly from the farmers in the communities in which they reside. If this idea sounds appealing, maybe you should consider starting one in your own local community. You'll need several households to begin, particularly so that everyone can help out with what needs to be done and that the order will be able to meet the minimum total for delivery.

Cooperative food warehouses exist all over the United States, such as the Shop Natural Cooperative and Frontier Natural Products, that will deliver high quality foods to community clubs . Each family in the club orders from a catalog and then one huge order is placed online for the entire group. Within about a week, the warehouse delivers the food to a specified location, typically one of the families homes. Everyone meets up there to unload the truck and collect their family's order. The cooperative food warehouses tend to have a minimum order requirement, and this varies with each one ranging anywhere from $75 to $1000. Food buying clubs generally place orders once each month or so. Generally, payment is made upon delivery usually by check. Some food buying club participants pay using food stamp/SNAP benefits and WIC coupons.

You can start your own food buying club by creating a short letter or flyer and distribute them to people in your neighborhood or others whom you know may be interested in participating such as a church, or homeschooling group. This letter should state how it will work, the food warehouse you will use as well as the minimum order required to place an order. You should also inform them just how often you plan to place orders. Include your contact info, and offer to let them look at a catalog. Once you have enough families, place your first order. If you don't want to start your own, you can join an existing one.