Personal Shopper?

It's obvious I like food.
I'm passionate about good food.

I am also inquisitive and ask lots of questions. I see something new at the farmer's market & i start asking, learning, sampling, experimenting.

I also like to share said information. Knowledge is light, right?

A friend came over for dinner - it was a barter, if you will - handy-work in exchange for dinner.

unfortch, the drill which was necessary for said handy work wasn't available... but the fish would spoil otherwise, so dinner went on... modified from the chilean sea bass as the entree to the black cod w/miso. (sorry - no picture - totally forgot)

but an idea did come up: becoming a personal shopper for fresh produce. Or just plain good food. Many people complain that they don't have time to do their own grocery shopping - that it's such a chore.

I love shopping. I seek out the best items. Some are quite expensive though. I will pay more for quality. I will pay more for sustainably farmed foods. But will anyone else?

My friend Holly came over around dinnertime earlier in the week - she had some of that composed salad I threw together a few days ago (pictured in an earlier post). She loved it - she always likes my cooking. She says she doesn't have time to cook. She eats milk & cereal regularly. It's easy & convenient and she loves it. Due to my intolerance of dairy & disdain for soy & growing apprehension for grains... I can't eat milk & cereal... sigh... and to think that I used to eat the junkiest stuff when i was a kid. wow - ignorance was bliss.

My breakfasts don't take that much time to prepare. just a little thought and creativity... or working with what i have for the week. and since my foods are mostly perishable, i have to eat it or throw it out.

Now if I do this purchasing thing, for several people, then maybe i wouldn't have the problem of my bunches of herbs or cilantro going bad before the week is done. I could go to the market(s), buy a couple of cases of things (perhaps at a quantity price break), divide it up among the various clients/friends - then deliver the produce with some recipe cards? So I could split the bunch of cilantro, and not throw away food i didn't get time to prepare.

This would be great for people who really pay attention to the foods/ingredients. My dad loved the apples i brought him yesterday. But now i think he's faking his enthusiasm...

flashback 2 years ago:
me: I made these croissants from scratch! it took 2 days to make them!
dad - grabs one off the plate and mindlessly stuffs it in his mouth.
(i was horrified - it needed to be heated up and enjoyed with some jam or coffee)
me: so what do you think?
dad: it was dry.
me: DRY??? DRY??? that's all you have to say about it? it needed to be heated - but what about the taste or the texture?
dad: it was good.
me: how would you know? you downed it in one gulp - like a dog eating a treat. seriously, did you even taste it?
dad: oh i don't know - give me another one.
me: you don't deserve it if you're going to eat it that way. go back to your costco baked goods.

Ok - so i'm not that nasty - i'm paraphrasing, and peppering the dialogue with my cynical thoughts. He knows i scrutinize his reactions, so he plays it up. i'm not really buying it, so it's all an act with no objectivity, no real exchange of information. I'll never know if he really likes something or has a preference for one thing over another just because he's now telling me he likes everything i bring him. I have to catch him off guard or trick him to get something honest.

So how could I structure this? How much would i charge? How about if the clients don't know what to do with the items or don't have time to do any of the cooking and everything goes bad?

Thoughts?