Support Your Local Farmer and Save Money by Buying Local
January 21, 2008 by Deborah Ng
Filed under Eco Simplicity, Frugal Gourmet, Simple Pleasures, Simpler Thinking
I’m amazed by how many supermarkets there are within a five mile radius in my town. Two strip malls featuring major supermarket chains are even right next door to each other. While it’s nice to be able to see where the sales are, I’m not always impressed by the vegetables. Ideally I like to buy organic. The problem is organic is so expensive. My other issue is the supermarket’s vegetables look somewhat…less than fresh. Fortunately for me, there’s a farm market located in yet another strip mall and the veggies are fresher and cost substantially less money,
Best of Both Worlds
During the growing seasons most of the veggies come from farmers in this area. I like knowing the money I spend is supporting one of our local farms. We have many farms around here and some of them are struggling. Maybe if I buy my strawberries or green beans from them, they won’t be forced to sell to a McMansion developer like the farm across the street. Because I’m going with the home town grown I’m also saving money. Even for organic products. Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn’t it?
When I lived in New York City I used to walk a mile to the 14th Street farmers market. Many of the Upstate farmers go there to peddle their wares, it’s truly one of the best farm markets in the country. Every kind of veggie, herb or plant that could be locally grown is found there and it was worth lugging the heavy bags home on the hour long subway commute.
Worth the Trip
This time of year shows more imported goods, but the fruit is fresher and the prices are still cheaper than that of the supermarkets. Yeah. It’s an extra trip to an extra store, but I think my family, and my town, are worth it.
Image via Morgue File
This year I’ve bought a share in a farm co-op. I pay the farmers about $250 in the beginning of the year, and then I get fresh produce every week at our local farmer’s market. I think the season is 16 – 18 weeks. I can hardly wait for summer! I’m saving a fortune, feeding my family the best possible food, and supporting our local economy. I don’t think anyone has ever been as excited about veggies as I am about this!
I totally agree, we buy locally whenever possible. We purchase all our eggs, chicken, beef, etc from local farmers, or grow our own.
During the summer we purchase most of our vegetables locally (if it’s not growing in our garden). They’re often better tasting, and many are grown more naturally or organically.
Just thinking about how much fuel is spent flying grapes from across the world is enough to make me look for local options.
Before I moved back to the city, I was selling my free-range brown eggs. I was buying produce from the farmers I’d sit and have ice tea with at the diner. It was really great knowing where your food comes from. I am looking forward to Farmer’s Market Season here in the city. One thing to know is that a lot of those sellers are people who bought the produce at a produce auction and trucked it in. Ask the vendors if they’re the grower. I want to know. It’s important to me. I want to support the growers.