How to Buy Local and Organic Food

Buying healthy and organic food can be difficult to do on a shoestring budget. Most national chain stores mark up organic produce a great deal, and it can be difficult to find easily accessible alternatives. Organic grains, beans, and prepared foods also present an expense problem for the consumer. How does one eat healthily without spending enormous amounts of cash?

Luckily there are alternatives that you may not have thought of, and which are available in most communities. Eating healthy, delicious food does not have to be a burden on your wallet, and can actually be cheaper than eating a lot of the mostly unnecessary prepared products and pesticide-filled produce at the nearest big grocery store.

In this article, I hope to provide with a few ideas on how to make your life healthier, your food more palatable, and your wallet heavier, all at the same time.

1. Eating: The Slow Way

Eating in the modern age has become a flurry of prepared foods and fast foods. So much of our food is prepared for us, frozen for us, and made to order, that it is easy to forget even basic kitchen techniques. If you want to eat healthier and more cheaply, you need to learn how to cook. Cooking for yourself can be rewarding, calming, and pleasant. You can provide hundreds of fabulous dishes to yourself, friends and family using simple techniques and a few good ingredients. There are hundreds of books out there that can give you great ideas, guidelines, and techniques. If you aren't into book research, then you can watch one of the hundreds of cooking shows out there. Shows that offer a basic understanding of kitchen techniques, use accessible ingredients, and make food that you want to be able to make in your own home are the best. If you can cook for yourself, then you aren't paying someone else to do it for you, and you are saving lots of money. After a while, you may find that you like the lifestyle that cooking for yourself affords you. You don't need fancy cookware either; you just need a little time.

2. Buying Local: Farmers Market

Almost every community has a farmers market. When you buy food at a farmers market, the produce is almost always fresh, in season, and inexpensive. When you buy at a farmers market, you are buying direct from the grower, instead of through a chain of distributors. This way you and the farmer both get the best deal for the produce. Often these farmers will be smaller farmers growing organic food in environmentally sustainable ways. That's also good for you in the long run, because the more of these farmers you support, the cheaper organic food will become.

You can find a lot of other things besides produce at the farmers market. Dairy and meat producers are sometimes represented here, and therefore fresh cheeses, free-range meats, and milk products abound. The prices on these can be variable, but produce is almost always the cheapest.

3. Buying Local: Food Clubs

In many areas there are also buyers clubs for organic food that you can join to get fresh produce on the cheap. You will pay a nominal fee (per month, week, or year) for a certain amount of produce that you get each week (or bi-weekly). The food will typically come direct from local farmers and therefore will always be in season. The only difference between this and a farmers market is that through a buyers club you increase your buying power by teaming up with other folks to buy produce in bulk. This is where learning to cook really comes into play, because you will need to find good recipes for all the various types of produce you will get each season. This can be a lot of fun, and very, very yummy.

There can be many types of buyers clubs in your area that may have nothing to do with produce and which instead focus on artisanal cheese or local meats. These will be more expensive, but again will be very tasty.

4: Buying Local: Cooperatives

In some places, there are stores that are run by cooperatives that share profits with members by giving them company shares, discounts, or special bulk deals. These are a little like buyers clubs, but often will sell a broad variety of healthy and prepared food as you might find in your local chain grocery store. Weighing and comparing prices is important, because sometimes foods here can be more expensive than the regular grocery store. Buy the food that is marked with the best deals, and stay away from the expensive stuff you don't need. If you aren't a member of the cooperative, try to work out whether becoming a member will really help your wallet in the long run. How much do you shop there? How much would save? How much is membership? These are all good things to consider.

5: Growing Local: Your Own Garden

In most locales you can grow food in your own produce garden. You don't have enough room in your yard? Live in an apartment? Then find a friend with a good-sized yard and team up with them to build a produce garden.

Even if you can't build a garden, you can still grow your own fresh herbs in small pots. With a little care you can have fresh herbs for all the new meals you'll be cooking, at less than a fraction of the grocery store price!

While a garden can mean a lot of work, it is by far the best way to save money. You need seeds, fertilizer, a few tools, and a little know-how. There is a lot of information out there for the home gardener, and most of it is free on the internet.

6. Beans, Grains, and etc.

The best way to buy beans and other grains is dry and in bulk. If kept well, dried beans will last a year, and they are great sources of protein. Dried beans cost less than canned varieties, and take only slightly more planning to prepare, as most must be soaked before using. You can often buy these at the cooperative or farmers market in your area, and you can almost always get them organic. Buying dry goods in the bulk section will save you money, and it will help you to stock your pantry with a vast variety of grains and beans useful for cooking any type of dish.

I hope that this brief guide will help you find your way towards making great organic foods while also supporting local farming. For more specific information about organic food in your area, head to the closest health food store, and they will almost always have folks who are in the know about co-ops, farmers market, and buyers clubs. Bon appetit!