wellness
Centrum Residents Save Money Buying Seasonal Produce and Bulk Staples
Centrum residents are stretching grocery dollars with seasonal produce and bulk staples from neighborhood sources.
How we reported this
Centrum households spent an average of $87 per person on groceries last month, according to city health department tracking, as shoppers seek ways to maintain balanced meals without overspending.
Rising staple prices have pushed more people toward planning around what is available at lower cost in local outlets. The shift comes as produce stands and bulk bins remain steady options even when packaged goods climb.
Neighborhood sources in Riverbend and Old Town
Shoppers in the Riverbend district head to the weekly stand at the corner of Oak and Third streets run by the Centrum Community Garden, where kale bunches sell for $1.25 and carrots go for $2 per pound. In Old Town, the Fresh Start Pantry on Elm Street stocks dry lentils and oats in bulk bins at 79 cents per pound through its Budget Bites program, which began in March 2025 and serves 320 households each week.
These two spots operate alongside the larger Riverfront Health Center on Park Boulevard, which offers free meal-planning sheets that pair the garden greens with pantry grains for complete plates under $3 per serving.
A city survey released in June 2026 found that 47 percent of Centrum adults reported skipping produce in the prior month due to cost, down from 61 percent in the same period two years earlier after more residents started using the garden stand and pantry bins.
Building plates from available items
Residents report success by checking the garden stand on Tuesdays for discounted seconds and then filling out the rest at the pantry on Thursdays. One common approach combines the kale with lentils simmered in water and a splash of oil, topped with whatever root vegetables remain from the weekly pickup.
Those steps keep daily intake near the 2,000-calorie mark while holding weekly food costs below $45 for a single adult. The Riverfront Health Center will hold its next free cooking demonstration on July 15 at 6 p.m. on the center lawn, showing how to stretch the same ingredients across three meals.