If you’re an avid supporter of organics, it’s not uncommon to feel a little bit of sticker shock at check-out. Thankfully, organics don’t have to be out of reach. There are ways to save on healthy organic food:
A new way to save!
You can save even more money on organics if you shop your local farmers’ market. Older research shows that the typical consumer perception assumes that farmers’ markets are more expensive, but that’s not actually true. According to a new report, Vermont Farmers’ Markets and Grocery Stores: A Price Comparison (pdf), most organic produce is more expensive at grocery stores than it is at the typical farmers’ market.
Photo © Flickr user NatalieMaynor
This new report notes that organics on average, cost 40% less than the same items at grocery stores and some farmers’ market items, such as melons and lettuce only cost half as much as their regular grocery store counterparts.
Luckily, it’s not that hard to find a good farmers’ market anymore. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 15 years ago there were just 1,755 farmers’ markets across the country, but currently we’ve got 5,274 farmers’ markets to choose from.
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See, I struggle w/this one…I have a hard time believing that it’s all organic. If I knew the farmer, if they spoke English (many here do not – they speak Hmong), etc…then maybe. I still do buy many things at the farmer’s market, but I don’t put much stock in their hand-written signs. I have been to the farmer’s market in Madison, WI and I know many of the farms are certified organic, so there it might be an option. But in a smaller town like mine, there are no farms like that represented at the market. I have used the farm fresh atlas to find better ones in my area, so that’s been effective. =) Either way – I can’t wait ’til the market season begins! Only a few more weeks to go here!
I can’t believe your market season is starting in a few weeks! Our market season kicked off a while a ago. Most markets aren’t all organic, but the report showed that when the items are organic they’re less than organics at the store. Getting into the whole local vs. non-certified organic vs. certified organic vs. sustainable is a big debate. Obviously it’s best to be able to visit a farm to see what’s actually going on, but, of course, that’s not always possible.