January food swap


Last weekend we joined nearly 30 others for the Northeast Indiana Food Swap.  I stumbled upon this group on Facebook earlier in the month and it sounded like just our thing.

If you know Dan and I well, you know that we dream of living in community with our friends and family and would love to live in a world without paper money but be able to barter/trade for all that we need with those family and friends.

photo credit : Mary Willems-Aker
The really neat thing about this swap is that you don't know what you will find.  Interested folks sign up for a ticket {you must have a ticket to attend}, but beyond that you're free to bring whatever you want in terms of food to trade.  However, all items must be homemade, homegrown, or foraged.

The swap lasts about 2 hours.  The first 20-30 minutes are for setting up your table with the items you hope to trade.  Dan and I brought some of our homemade vanilla extract, homemade almond energy bars, canned "just apples" sauce, and some spaghetti squash from our garden this past summer.

photo credit : Mary Willems-Aker
The second 30 minutes or so are for scoping out what items you'd like to trade for.  Swappers are encouraged to provide samples of their items when possible, so this time is for taste testing and bidding.  Each item is accompanied by a bid sheet similar to that of a silent auction.  If there is an item you're interested in, you make a bid, stating what you'd be willing to trade for said item.


Once everyone has had an opportunity to sample and bid, it's time to swap.  Dan and I's approach was to start with one item and seek out those who'd bid on it for something we wanted.  For example, a couple who brought homemade Kombucha had offered to trade a bottle of their Kombucha for our spaghetti squash.  Dan took the spaghetti squash to them and returned with a lovely bottle of Kombucha.  Once we'd traded all of our spaghetti squash we moved on to the vanilla, and so on.


It was a lot of fun to meet new people and try some new items.  It's a great feeling to know where your food comes from and to be able to have a conversation with the person who put their time, energy, and love into making it!!

Here's a peak at what we brought home...


  • 2 lbs. lard
  • 2 bottles Ginger Kombucha
  • 2 bottles homebrew beer
  • 1 jar picked carrots
  • 1 jar cherry chutney
  • 1 jar jalapeño jelly
  • 1 jar vanilla peach butter
  • 1 jar curried cauliflower
  • coconut lara bars
  • turkey, kale, and bean soup
  • crockpot daal packet
  • chocolate chip/cranberry scone
  • coconut chocolate spread
  • bag of salted caramel pretzel snack
  • bag of homemade granola
If you're local, I highly recommend joining us for the April swap.  'Like' the Notheast Indiana Food Swap Facebook page to learn more!
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