Retail Food Price Inflation

submitted by Bearcat22 from self.WayOfTheBern

Most of us are suffering the effects of inflation, particularly food price inflation. I'm posting to make people aware of a potential alternative to retail food buying, called SHARE.

I am not an authorized representative or employee of SHARE, just a volunteer and a customer. I'm not trying to sell anyone anything.

SHARE is not a charity, not a government program, and not for profit. It's really pretty simple. Think of it as Costco without the membership fees and commitment.

SHARE purchases food in bulk, then volunteers pack it and transport it to distribution centers. Anyone can elect to opt in any month to purchase a variety of packs. There is never any fee and never any obligation to buy a pack. The upcoming offering is posted each month on the internet. The food is pretty steeply discounted. Fresh produce, fresh fruit, and frozen meat.

Most SHARE centers require both a modest amount of money, and also requires that each customer provide proof of having put in a certain number of hours volunteering with a group of the customer's choice. Some SHARE centers don't enforce the volunteer aspect.

SHARE itself relies heavily on volunteers, such as myself.

Now, there may not be a SHARE group near you. I urge you, then, to reach out and find a way to create such an outlet near you. Make a phone call to your elected representatives, get some momentum going.

If there is a grocery store near you, there is also a Wholesale Warehouse that sells to grocery stores near you. It just takes someone to coordinate things and get it running.

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[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Thank you for this post. I hadn't heard of SHARE and it sounds like a resource many people could benefit from.

[–]Bearcat22[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

What I like about SHARE is that it is NOT a charity, it asks participants to step up and contribute some work hours. It is not a hand out. Just people pooling money to gain wholesale prices, with no commitment, and hopefully less parasite bureaucracy than a government program or typical charity. Lets not forget the MILLIONS stolen by the woman who ran the Black Lives Matter charity. Administrators are often parasites.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I think the contribution part (work hours) is important, it's my belief you can never fully appreciate something you didn't have to invest in that just gets handed to you.

[–]Bearcat22[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Someone is always going to say that some people can't contribute any work hours. If you can't lift a box, you can sweep a floor. If you can't sweep a floor, you can answer the phones. The trouble with the "donate some volunteer hours" thing is that it can discourage participation. The volunteer hours can be with any organization, you don't have to only give hours directly at SHARE.***************************************

I don't know when it happened that everyone suddenly became totally self centered and "busy" ALL of the time. I think it began with cell phones, the rampant narcissism. I began to notice that people would accept invitations, then simply never show up as promised. Not even the courtesy of a message, and absolutely never any apology.******************** A lot of people appear to be spoiled rotten. They want the best of everything, and they are deluded that they have the capacity to judge what's good. They don't want anything they did not hand select from the grocery store themselves, even if it's half price. SHARE food is not "seconds" it's just as good as anything you'd get in a store. But unless you hammer people over the head with childish pandering advertising, they're unwilling to trust it. This is unfortunate, because if some of the people who shop at Whole Foods would participate, SHARE could leverage even better wholesale rates.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Seems to be limited geographically....?

[–]Bearcat22[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, which is why I ended the message as I did:

Now, there may not be a SHARE group near you. I urge you, then, to reach out and find a way to create such an outlet near you. Make a phone call to your elected representatives, get some momentum going.

If there is a grocery store near you, there is also a Wholesale Warehouse that sells to grocery stores near you. It just takes someone to coordinate things and get it running.