Friday, May 17, 2024
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The Zooks Society barters in Duluth
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The table is loaded with home-grown and home-processed foods of all kinds. After a potluck dinner, members of the Zook Society will barter for the food. (MPR photo/Stephanie Hemphill)
How would you like to come home to a dinner of homemade pasta with a spinach and pesto sauce, with homemade squash soup and homemade applesauce? Without making any of it yourself, of course. A Duluth group makes this possible through bartering.

Duluth, Minn. — In the morning there's pancakes made with locally grown wheat flour, ground by hand, and maple syrup lovingly harvested by a friend and neighbor.

That's what's on the table for a group of people in Duluth, the Zooks Society, who get together every so often to trade what they grow and make at home.

Next time the Zooks Society gets together, they'll all bring garden seeds to trade, as well as things from the kitchen.

We should note that people who barter are required to report the value of what they receive on their federal income tax return. In Minnesota, food is not subject to sales tax.

You can hear more about a recent meeting of the Zooks Society by choosing the audio link in the right column.

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