To the editor,
With grocery prices soaring and container and can sixers shrinking, it makes it hard on some families to buy food. I have a suggestion to help alleviate some of these high costs and stretch your food dollar. My recommendation is to head to southeast Iowa to Davis and Van Buren counties, where Mennonite stores are located.
At the Hiway 2 Discount Store, two miles west of Bloomfield, you can save a bundle of money. They feature dented and out of date items for sale. The have banana boxes 9 inches high, 24 inches long and 15 inches wide filled with odds and ends for a total of $3. Cereal and chip ‘banana boxes’ are $5 each. Twenty nutrition bars in a bag are $2.50 per bag. Campbell’s soup is 85 cents per can. Liver cheese is 99 cents per pound. Fully cooked pork ribs, ready to eat, are $1 per pound. Lots of bulk nuts, pasta and beans are very reasonably priced. All their meats are frozen. Restructured beef patties fully cooked are 99 cents per pound. And large banana creme and apple pies are $2.50 each. Hall’s cough drops, a box of 20 sticks with 10 drops in each stick cost $1 per box.
They accept cash only.
Then on east 25 miles on Hiway 2 is Cantril and the Dutchman’s Store. I call it a “Mennonite Walmart.” It covers one square block in a town of 230 people. I have been there many times and find it hard to secure a parking spot in front of the store. You see cars from three states and a dozen Iowa counties. Last time I was there I bought 14 ounce Little Sizzlers for $1.19, turkey wings for 49 cents per pound, T-bones for $4.99 per pound, and laundry detergent one gallon in size for $7.50. Four pounds of pasta cost $2.25 total. I got three bags of sliced beef that was marked $6.50 each for $1.50 each. They carry lots of bulk items and spices along with reasonably priced fruits and vegetables grown by the Mennonites. They will accept credit cards.
I know I’m not scoring any points with our local Chamber of Commerce, but let the chips fall where they may. If your family is long on time and short on money, I suggest you make the trip. Sure, it takes three hours each way and $35 in gas. But $100 worth spent down there equals $270 spent at the stores around here. Make it a road trip and enjoy the scenery.
P.S. Another way to save on your food bill is to use your leftovers. Leftovers have more flavor. Remember, 40 percent of purchased food ends up in the trash and landfill.
Denny Lautner, Jefferson
