Healthy Begins Here: 7 Frugal Food Tips for the Farmers Market

by Janelle Sorensen

Feeding a family can be an expensive endeavor - especially if you're trying to avoid things like pesticides, genetically modified ingredients, synthetic hormones, or any of the other questionable contaminants or practices related to modern industrial farming. Good, pure food isn't cheap. Or is it?

Photo: Tiffany Washko / CC BY 2.0

It can be if you know where to look for it. Your local farmers market can be a treasure trove of affordable, organic fare. Even if it's not certified organic, many of the farmers who sell food at the farmers market often have relatively small scale operations and are more likely to use environmentally beneficial practices including using less synthetic inputs like toxic pesticides and sewage sludge fertilizers. Often the foods are cheaper than the grocery store because by buying directly from a farmer, you are avoiding the extra costs that are involved in commercial food production (processing, inspection, packing, shipping, etc.).

Here are 7 tips to get the most bang for your buck at the farmers market:

Shop around. Find your nearest farmers market, other nearby markets, and even farm stands. (Visit Local Harvest to get started). You'll only know where the deals are if you comparison shop. Check out each location and each vendor.

Make friends. Talk to the farmers (often the same people that grow the food, sell the food). Ask questions about the farm, the food, their business. Small farmers are usually very passionate about their work and will talk your ear off if you get them started. Befriend farmers to build a lasting relationship - then reap the rewards of the secret deals only loyal customers receive. Go the extra mile by bringing your favorite farmer a loaf of zucchini bread you made from his produce. And, remember, flattery will get you everywhere. If their berries make you go bananas, tell them! Everyone loves a compliment.

Be flexible. Skip the shopping list and look for what's cheap. Often, odd specialty foods (like heirloom, ethnic or rare vegetables) are at cut-rate prices due to their less than significant popularity. If you're flexible, you can save money as well as expand your palate - perhaps finding new favorites you never knew existed. If you're unsure about what something might taste like or how to prepare it, just ask! Oftentimes a farmer will have cooking secrets to share or even printed recipes for you to take home.

Barter. Money isn't everything. After you've established a relationship with a farmer, offer your time in exchange for food. If you have a certain skill - like accounting, web design, mechanics, carpentry, etc - your time may be a valuable asset to a farmer. Likewise, you can offer to be an extra farm hand - weeding, cleaning barns, whatever the two of you find mutually beneficial.

Bulk up. At the farmers market most produce is available based on seasonality. That's not to say you can't find certain foods out of season, but just like at the grocery store - you're going to pay a premium. So, bulk up on foods when it's the natural harvest time and there's a healthy surplus (which drives prices down). You might be able to get it even cheaper by offering to buy cases or crates of food. Save your seasonal food by canning, drying, or freezing. Or, share the savings and split bulk purchases with friends or family.

Volunteer. Find out if there's a community organization that coordinates your market. If so, they almost certainly need volunteers. Becoming a volunteer will help you get to know the farmers better and likely earn you discounts and free products for your benevolent service.

Go late. If you want the best selection, go early. If you want the best bargains, go late. Vendors would rather sell off their stock than haul it back to the farm (especially if it's something with a short shelf life like lettuce or herbs). Haggle a bit to get the price down (but don't be annoying or make disrespectful offers). Again, try to build a real relationship and offer to buy up the days-end goods on a regular basis. Then you'll be saving money by buying in bulk with the added savings of getting the rock bottom price.