Fare for All – a low-cost option for buying groceries in the Twin Cities
Fare for All is a unique, low-cost option for buying groceries in the Twin Cities area. A cooperative purchasing program, they buy fruits, vegetables and meat in bulk to save you up to 40% off grocery store prices. Open to everyone (no income restrictions), Fare for All supports the Emergency Foodshelf Network and the more people who use it, the more people save! Check out their website HERE.
Groceries are sold in “packs” – produce only ($10), meat only ($11), or a combination of the two ($20). There is a monthly special “pack” as well, such as mega meat packs or holiday packs.
There are three options for buying groceries:
1) Traditional Fare for All – Pre-order and pre-pay by phone. Pick up at distribution site, available once per month.
2) Fare for All Express – No pre-ordering necessary. Cash and carry. Distributions held throughout the month at various sites in the Twin Cities area.
3) Shop at their Warehouse in New Hope, open every other Monday. All “packs” available for purchase plus individual items which can vary.
I checked them out for the first time last week by shopping at their warehouse in New Hope. I was curious about what was available and how much $$ I could save.
The warehouse is located at 8501 54th Avenue North in New Hope, MN 55428. (Check out their site for directions.) The building is a huge warehouse with offices, but to access the Fare for All sales you have to go to the side of the building as pictured here.
There’s plenty of parking and shopping carts are available. I saw about a dozen other shoppers of all ages.
One area of the warehouse is sectioned off for Fare for All sales. It was smaller than I expected but you could fill up a cart with plenty of nutritious food. There some freezers with all kinds of meats – pork loin, Jennie-O ground turkey ($3 for 3 pounds), and whole chickens ($5 each) for example. There were boxes of the various “packs” available. There was a wall of pantry staples such as pasta and canned vegetables. I didn’t recognize most of the brand names but I’m sure they were as good as other brands. There were also tables with some produce such as oranges (5 for $1.00), apples ($4 for $1.00), onions ($.50 for a small bag), plus potatoes, rice, beans and more.
I DID buy some frozen meats – three packages of Gold’n Plump chicken breasts ($3 each, that I usually buy at stores for at least $4 each), two packages of bone-in chicken breasts ($4.50 for two or “Buy one get one free” with a Fare for All coupon I received by subscribing to their email list), a bag of frozen sole fillets ($3) and celery ($.75). It totaled $17.25, plus I got a free 1/2 gallon of lactose-free milk (with an ALDI brand label, not pictured) as they were giving them away – one per household.