INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. -- Every other Thursday, a tiny room apart from the main building of the Sardis Baptist Church in Indian Trail is transformed into a produce market.
There are blue plastic baskets and bins, brimming with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. This is one of 10 locations of "Your Neighborhood Produce.”
On a whiteboard at the front of the room there is a rundown of the day’s goods. It includes everything from kale to apples and cantaloupes to potatoes. There are 13 different varieties of produce, and between 40-50 pieces in each basket. Each basket sells for just $21.50.
“I was shocked. This would be much more at the grocery store. It makes sense. It just makes sense. It’s cheaper than the grocery store and it just make sense. A friend of mine does it and tells me how much she saves,” said customer Sarah Hawk as she loaded a cucumber into a bag for transport home.
Christina Nelson, a single mom of four, is the brains behind "Your Neighborhood Produce". A California native, Nelson is used to eating copious amounts of fresh local produce. She just couldn’t afford to pay supermarket prices, and wasn’t pleased with the quality at some farmer's markets and at the store.
“I couldn’t justify paying $1.50 for an orange at the grocery store. It’s sad when the junk food aisle is cheaper than buying produce,” said Nelson.
Customers like mom Mary Brown agree.
“Before we did this, we never ate produce," Brown said. "We ate a lot of processed foods.”
The idea of this “modern-day food co-op” started three years ago with Christina and 17 friends. Together, they purchased fruit directly from wholesalers who supply to restaurants, public schools and country clubs.
“Chances are, if you’ve eaten out at a restaurant locally, you’re eating produce from my wholesalers,” beamed Nelson.
To keep costs low, there are no paid employees, just volunteers and friends who are paid for their time with free baskets and discounted produce. Pickup locations are usually churches, and schools that let Nelson set up shop for free. And the baskets are all the same. For those not in the market for yellow squash or just don’t like tomatoes, those items can be placed in a special “trade bin” at the front of the room.
Also, at the front of the room there is a rundown comparing the same exact product you’ll get in "Your Neighborhood Produce" basket to Harris Teeter, Lowe’s Foods, or another similar competitor. The cost is easily two or three times more. But we wanted to check ourselves. At a nearby Bi-Lo location, the same 13 varieties of fruits and vegetables cost just over $38. Much of it was on sale, but add tax, and the price is still about twice as much as "Your Neighborhood Produce".
As for what’s next, Nelson isn’t sure. She’s had multiple requests to expand her business to not only other parts of the Carolinas, but even nationwide.
“We’re just trying to focus growing our numbers in the Carolinas…I’d like to see where it goes," Nelson said.
For more information on locations and the "Your Neighborhood Produce" program, check out www.yourneighborhoodproduce.net.
