We all know what a drag traditional grocery shopping can be, and what a drain it is on what little free time we have. Just when you think you have wheeled your last cart, local markets and delivery services have come up with some alternative ways for you to get the goods.
1. Weis
If you live near a Weis market—with one on Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown and one located off of Route 512 North in Bethlehem, you probably do—you may be interested to learn about their online shopping option. No need to navigate the cereal aisle today, just go to Weis' website and follow a few easy steps to have the bulk of the procurement process done for you.
Once you create an account you can stock your shopping list with virtually everything you might pick up in the store: pasta, produce, canned goods, fresh bake shop breads and cakes, pet supplies and other home essentials like health and beauty products, over-the-counter medicines and soap, and office and school supplies. Weis' sale prices are represented in the online selection, and you can make a secure online payment with PayPal. A personal shopper collects everything for you, and all you have to do is swing by the pickup area and identify yourself to have your groceries loaded and be on your way.
The fee is waived for your first order, but after that it's $4.95, a small price to pay for the luxury of avoiding miles of aisles.
365 South Cedar Crest Blvd., Allentown | 610.821.4550
5580 Crawford Dr., Bethlehem | 610.954.8320 | weismarkets.com
2. Giant
Want even more convenience? Coopersburg's Giant is on the cusp of introducing Peapod to the Lehigh Valley, a delivery service that already provides over 350,000 customers in states across the East Coast and Midwest with super-fast and easy home delivery of all their supermarket needs. You'll be able to place an order any day of the week for delivery the very next day or order as much as two weeks in advance, and specify the two-hour delivery window that works best for you.
The more you spend on groceries, the cheaper the delivery fee, but it runs about $7-$10. Sign in on the website with your bonus card and you'll still get all the points you would on a regular shopping trip, plus a list of what you've bought in the past to help make snagging the staples a breeze. Check in at the Coopersburg Giant to see how plans to roll Peapod into the Lehigh Valley are progressing.
216 East Fairmount St., Coopersburg | 610.282.4200 | giantfoodstores.com
3. Meals on Wheels
Many of us find grocery shopping a hassle and a chore, but there are also those of us for whom driving out to the supermarket and pushing a cart around are next to impossible. Thankfully the kind souls at Meals on Wheels are striving to make sure every eligible senior and disabled adult in need is fed, whether with individual meals or the groceries to cook at home.
Northampton County's Meals on Wheels asks only $4 plus the price of groceries, while Lehigh County's operates on a sliding scale of $2-$5. Knowing how attached we can become to our supermarket of choice, Lehigh County's Meals on Wheels will send someone to shop at the store of your choice, while Northampton's works exclusively with a local Giant. Call to start the application process—one of Meals on Wheels' wonderful volunteers could be waiting in the wings to make your life a little easier!
Lehigh County | 4234 Dorney Park Rd., Allentown | 610.398.2563 | mealsonwheelslc.org
Northampton County | 4240 Fritch Dr., Bethlehem | 610.691.1030 | mealsonwheelspa.org
4. Bethlehem Food Co-Op
For Bethlehem residents, the prospect of an exciting new way to stock your kitchen is on the horizon. The Bethlehem Food Co-Op will offer a way to shop conveniently in downtown Bethlehem, supporting local farmers and re-circulating our food dollars into the Lehigh Valley.
Unlike your average supermarket, a food cooperative is owned by members in its community, who all have a say in how the store operates and what products it offers. The Bethlehem Food Co-Op has been building steam in hopes of opening next summer, and you can help by becoming a member-owner with a $300 investment, payable in installments. Members are rewarded with more than the satisfaction of empowering their community: perks will include special member prices and discount days. The co-op will also extend dividends to member-owners on years when it makes a profit, and while profit is welcome, the emphasis is on providing good, affordable, local food to an area that has limited access to it.
A food co-op is so much more than a place to buy food, though the Bethlehem Food Co-Op will offer all the average shopper's necessities. A quality grocery store will make downtown Bethlehem more walkable, offer employees a living wage and satisfying work, and provide a meeting place for educational programming about food and cooking, as well as a friendly community atmosphere.
Your personally selected bin of farm-fresh items is delivered on two delivery days a week.
5. Pure Sprouts
Perhaps the most sophisticated grocery shopping alternative in the Lehigh Valley is Pure Sprouts of Trexlertown, a delivery service specializing in organic and locally-grown food. Founder Lori Stansberry of Northampton launched this amazing family-operated company in 2009 after the birth of her first child got her wondering what kind of world he'd grow up in. Would local farms last? With Stansberry's unique business connecting farmers to families, they certainly stand a greater chance.
Your personally selected bin of farm-fresh items is delivered on two delivery days a week with no fee for purchases over $25, making it easy to provide your family with good, eco-conscious meals and snacks. With a master's degree in environmental chemistry, Stansberry has the chops to not only run a wildly successful organic business (with more than 4,000 customers), but also help customers learn more about striving for a local, organic lifestyle.
Pure Sprouts has recently introduced a meal kit program to help make it even simpler to put great dinners on the table. Similar to national services like Blue Apron, the kits come with all the ingredients necessary for three healthy meals, but you can be sure you're getting goods that are organic or from local farms. Choose from a selection of six different recipes every week, like Italian sausage soup with garlic toast or vegetarian stir fry, indicate the number of people you're feeding, and you'll get a kit that can be made in 45 minutes or less at $9-$10 per person, per meal.
You don't need to be a culinary whiz to make it work. Lead recipe designer Kelly Cartledge promises the techniques are easy to follow, and ingredients are carefully portioned so you won't have odd amounts left over and going to waste. Sound pretty simple? Well, if you hit any hurdles, the chefs behind the recipes are available through customer support to guide you along. It's never been easier to eat well with a conscience.
610.391.1952 | puresprouts.com
6. Heritage Farm
If you'd be content to supplement your ordinary grocery shopping with produce from local farms, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program like the one at Heritage Farm in Nazareth might fit the bill.
Based on what's available for harvest each week, your share of chemical-free seasonal fruits and vegetables is assembled for pickup. At Heritage Farm it can include staples like tomatoes, onions, carrots and lettuce along with more rare veggies like kohlrabi, fennel and shallots. The surprise items can inspire you to try new recipes and find new favorites, and kids have been known to overcome vegetable aversions when they have a connection to the farm their food comes from, especially when some farms invite customers to visit and help with the harvest!
This late in the growing season, few CSAs are likely to be open for sign-ups, and part of the reason members join in the fall and winter is to give their CSA farm up-front capital to plant and nurture the crops, as well as an idea how much produce will be needed to fulfill orders. It's yet another way to invest in your community and help sustain local agriculture.
Some farms' CSA programs allow you to choose what's in your share, or include natural products besides food. The Lehigh Valley is surrounded by farmland with plenty of CSAs to choose from. Just check localharvest.org to find out how you can get connected to your food and your farmers!
6029 Kesslersville Rd., Nazareth | 484.809.4237
