January 7, 2010 — vol. 45, no 22
Angel Food Ministries offers bargain prices
Lines are a little longer these days at discount grocers and crowds a little thinner at restaurants.
Everyone is looking for opportunities to save; yet surprisingly few are aware of one of the simplest ways to substantially cut their food budget.
Angel Food Ministries began fifteen years ago in Georgia and now has two host sites in the Boston area, providing boxes of high quality food for significantly less than grocery stores – at least in comparison to their price shopping.
Several different boxes are available each month and are designed to assist a family of four for about one week or an individual for nearly a month.
Each month, the menu consists of a “Signature Box” for $30, which includes meats, produce, milk and other products; two different steak boxes; a poultry box; a box designed for seniors or people who need convenience foods; an allergen free box, as well as other offerings.
Mary Ciannavei, a teacher at St. Patrick’s School in Roxbury, began running the program out of the school early this year.
She heard about it from a friend and thought it would be great for Boston communities.
Ciannavei said that realistically, the “Signature Box” is plenty of food to provide seven solid dinners for a family of four. There are no criteria or qualifications to be eligible to purchase the food, and it can be paid for with food stamps.
“It’s really just to help people,”
Ciannavei said.
St. Patrick’s School partners with St. John’s Church in Jamaica Plain to bring the food to their customers. Volunteers from each location pick up the food from a distribution center in Hudson, usually on the last Saturday of the month, and then pass it out that same day at their respective sites.
Customers typically have until mid-month to order. The January deadline is Saturday, Jan. 23. Payment must be done upon ordering, and can be completed online with a debit or credit card, or in person at the school with cash, money order, food stamps and debit or credit.
Ciannavei said she has had a hard time getting the word out about Angel Food Ministries. She would like to see more people taking advantage of what the program has to offer, as well as see more local host sites spring up.
For more information about Angel Food Ministries, including menu selections or how to become a host site, visit www.angelfoodministries.com.
| Jan 25 14:43pm by 206.180.38.20 | |
My husband and I were looking for a way to lower our food budget and just picked up our first AFM order this past weekend. So far, so good. We ordered a Signature Box ($30), a 7 lb Premium Meat Grilling Box ($23), and the Produce Box ($22). I priced out the boxes at my local Kroger’s and found out that the Signature Box is by far the best deal (saved us about $12 over Kroger’s when compared to comparable off-brand items). Everything came as described and the produce was fresh and unbruised. We haven’t had any of the meat yet, but the fruit has been yummy (apples and oranges). The potatoes and carrots tasted great in a stew I made yesterday. The bread is really good too. I didn’t like the sweet tomato sauce in the Hamburger Helper-like dinner but it was fine after I added some Basil and Oregano. We are trying the hamburger patties tonight and the Rib-Eye steaks this week too. I will be sure to post again if they are not up to snuff…they looked well-sealed and were very frozen. My husband and I ate out at resturants and fast food joints 3-5 nights a week before trying out AFM, so we were just looking for something cheaper and better than what we were eating anyway. We are happy so far and will have cut our food budget to about $350 this month instead of our normal $600. My husband and I were trying to find something to motivate us to cook at home more often and the grab-bag mentality of AFM works for me. February 2010’s AFM Signature Box looks even better than January’s - saving us about $15 over Kroger’s. We will probably be ordering a couple of those this time around, if the meat we try this week is good, and will be ignoring the other types of boxes since I can get almost the same prices on produce locally. I'm a happy camper. |
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| Jan 12 10:14am by Andy [121.247.255.208] | |
They sure are a great service and I personally know a lot of people in the lower and middle groups who have benefited from Angel Food Ministries. |
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| Jan 7 15:11pm by 12.197.7.22 | |
Correction: The deadline to order this month is January 13th with a pickup date of January 23rd. |
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