How did you get so much produce.?
@@MeepBeep has connections with their local grocers had me inspired to connect with ours so we get occasional produce too but not in that magnitude!
Yep, I started going grocery store to grocery store in my area (best to stick to ma/pa or independent ones not national chains), talking to their managers about the possibly of taking away some of their 'day old' stuff that was pulled from the shelves and destined for the dumpster... And after a lot of "no" responses I finally found one that said "yes"... It helps if you make it abundantly clear that it's for non-human consumption and you are using it for your chickens and/or other livestock and that it might actually save them money since they are actually paying to have it taken away now by the garbage company now and it's all going to waste...
I also have a fellow chicken keeper that has a hook up at a local micro brewery so I also get some free spent grains each week...
All in all I have really cut down my out of pocket food cost, but it can be a hassle chasing the food down, and making an appearance at the grocery store to pickup your stuff at a time that is convenient for them can be a hassle... But, you don't want to make it inconvenient and get cut off so it's the price you pay, but in the end it's a small price for the amount of free and fresh food the birds get every day...
And BTW the store I got the hook up at is a larger store, I only take a small portion of the stuff they toss out, I only take the best of the stuff, they still regularly toss out about a full pickup bed or more of stuff each day that I don't take... So even a small corner grocery store probably tosses out enough to fill the needs of a small backyard flock...
On that note I was just talking with a family member a few weeks back that lives down south, they informed me that their neighbor that raises hogs worked out a deal with the local food bank to remove all the left over 'perishable' stuff each day from the food bank as they have very limited storage facilities to keep it and they get new donations every day... It'a a win win, the food bank doesn't have to clean up all the left overs in the donation area every night (this guy does it for them) they save on dumpster space/cost and the food still goes to use... Of course this is dependent on the food bank having excess, I'm sure many don't but I'm also sure some do...
