ShopNatural (formerly called the Tucson Cooperative Warehouse) is a place where you can buy all sorts of healthy products. Much of the food is available in bulk, but you can also buy smaller amounts.

Buying in bulk makes things less expensive per pound, but it’s sometimes hard to use and store bulk items. That’s why we have a buying club.

The buying club is a group of people who put their orders together. One reason they do this is to get things cheaper. The club gets together once every two months to put in their order. During the meeting, they split up the bulk items. For example, let’s say 4 people want lentils. One person wants 2lbs, another wants 5lbs and two others want 10lbs each. Since lentils are sold in a 25lb bag, one of the people who has 10lbs can say they’ll take 8lbs instead to make it work out right. This is just one example of what we do at the meeting.

We also talk about how to use products we’re not familiar with (like quinoa, millet, sprouted flour, and whole grains) and get new ideas for things we already use.

We have the meeting before the official order is put in. After the meeting, when we have the correct amounts, the order is submitted by the coordinator. On a certain date, the order is ready and a couple people from the club go pick it up. About six to eight people come to help pack up the correct things and amounts for each person who ordered.

Anyone can be in a buying club. All you have to do is learn how to order, and you can order from your own home via the Shop Natural web site! Email me if you want to join our club and we’ll get you a catalog. Our next order goes in on April 11.

If you don’t live in Tucson, you can still order from ShopNatural—they deliver all over the United States!