Did you know that most Health Insurance Plans will reimburse you up to $200 a year for "Healthy Lifestyle Living?" Some of these "Healthy Lifestyle Living" items include gym membership (though many have a requirement that you must go certain amount of times a month to get reimbursed), exercise and health classes, and joining an organic co-op.
Two years ago, Rob and I decided to try it out. We joined a co-op for about $240. For 18-20 weeks, we then received a 1/2 share of produce every week. And this half share was more than enough for the four of us! (Note: We have 2 small children--but we are SERIOUS veggie eaters!) AND most of my garden produce was then able to be frozen for us to eat in the winter. To make this deal even sweeter--our health insurance reimbursed us $200. That means we only spent $40 for 18-20 weeks of produce! AMAZING! (Just a warning--prices for co-ops have gone up since then and are closer to $300 for 1/2 share, but we still feel that with the amount of produce we receive and the reimbursement--it is WELL worth the cost. There are also other options if you would like a reduced price/free--such as volunteering to work at the farm in exchange for your share.
Since then, every year we have become members of a local co-op which delivers the produce to my husband's work (it is one of the pick-up sites), weekly. We are always excited to see what we get and we LOVE knowing our food is organic AND we are supporting local farmers AND we are spending WAY less than if I purchased the produce at the grocery store AND my garden veggies can be saved for the winter. (Check out all those PROS!)
So put a call into your health insurance and see if they will offer you a reimbursement for your food! And then check out the CSA's in your area. (You will want to do this soon--as many co-ops are already filling up for this coming summer!)
Here is a link to the CSA that we use and LOVE
http://www.wholesomeharvestcsa.com/
and here is a listing of CSA's in the Madison area. Check it out!
http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/atlas/farms/csa.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment