sweet mother of cheap eats!

During this magical holiday season everyone i know is looking for a way to stretch a buck. Now, I'm all about eating local. I'm also notoriously frugal. How do i best combine these lovely attributes? 4 words: Capital City Public Market ! Yes dear friends, the market is STILL open...for  3 more Saturdays. Every Saturday till December 18 you can brave the horrid weather and save some cash while supporting local businesses .Everything from Apple Lucy's Bakery to ZuCru Creations art line the corners of 8th street and Bannock street in downtown Boise.

 I know what your saying : " but Bob! how is paying $5 a dozen for organic, free range, vegan fed, omega 3, Buddhist, free trade, free Tibet, no blood for oil, chicken eggs a good deal?". Simple my economically impaired friend!: They accept Food stamps! ( Idaho Quest Card)
Here's the lo-down:

1. Come to the red canopy with your card
2. Tell the volunteer at the booth how much money you would like to withdraw
3. Enter your PIN, or sign your receipt
4. Receive the wooden SCRIPT the volunteer hands you
5. Spend your wooden SCRIPT at participating booths, just like you would cash. You even get cash change!
The wooden SCRIPT are just wooden nickels in $1 and $5 increments. $1 is reserved for the EBT/Food Stamp program, while the $5 tokens are for Credit/Debit transactions.

Now i did a little comparing and the rocktastic yummies at the  market are ALLOT CHEAPER than the exact same items at our local health food store...if they have them at all. Plus, the nutritional content of about 99% of the products there far exceeds, dollar for dollar, the "cheap eats" your accustomed to. You cant look at everything based on $$ per pound, gallon, whatever. Raman noodles are one of the lowest cost foods you can buy. Its also HORRIBLE for you and has ZERO nutritional value. Bad food = bad health = medical bills.
n't1 2 AM trip to the ER because your sick can run over $1000. You have any idea how many organic carrots you can buy with a grand?? Allot!What if  5 lbs of Oranges a month can give u vitamin boost needed to keep you from getting sick and loosing your job? Good food isn't cheap, and cheap food isn't good. Its a sad fact of life. I only hope you read this and if nothing else, next time your at your local grocery store reaching for the beef-a-roni, you remember what I said.

Eat well my friends

Bob