Produce Costs

armaretta

Hello! I'm wondering how my fellow MFPers are handling the rising cost of fresh produce. I try very hard to have fresh produce over canned types with the added salt, sugars, and preservatives, but, my god, produce is expensive! Fresh meats, fish, and dairy are getting ridiculous too.

I have a black thumb of death, so growing my own is pretty much out of the question (I've kill multiple rose bushes, bonsai, bamboo, and even cactus. That's just talent, ha ha). I've found canned varieties that are less processed, but they too tend to be more expensive. What do YOU do?

SassyStef

have you tried searching out some farmers markets in your area, or finding a local produce co-opt. Try and find some local farms, most of the time they are begging plp to buy their over stock of produce!! I love to shop at Sprouts, I dont know if they have one in your area, but their produce prices beat every store ive been too, even there organic are about the same price at the local albertsons!!

Do some internet searching and see what you can find

CountryDevil

Have you looked into your local farmer's market. Sometimes you can find better prices there and find produce that is fresher.

maab_connor

this time of year it's not hard in my area, there are farm stands everywhere! i would say find out if you have a coworker who enjoys gardening and offer to cover some of the costs to get the bounty; most will agree pretty quickly. that way you can have the lowered cost of garden-fresh.

if you have an Aldi foods near you, i would suggest going there - they have fresh stuff for not a lot of money.

CaptainMFP

The best place to buy produce in my town (outside of farmer's markets) is a store called WinCo (not to be confused with Winn Dixie) which is a low-cost grocer. They don't take credit cards (debit, cash, food stamps only) and their prices are low. Their produce is also the best in the city because they have very high turnover because so many people shop there. If you can find a grocer in your area that caters to low incomes you should be able to find some relatively cheap (and high quality) fresh produce. In our area, they even undercut WalMart prices!

bethdris

We buy only in season produce, grow some of our own(mainly for fun), and go to farmer's markets. The money is worth our health!

dayzeerock

I'd look at getting started with a CSA Farm Share in your area. I paid $350 for mine in March, and from March-November, I get a large box of fresh produce delivered to my office every two weeks. It's a super great deal, all organic, and literally fresh off the farm! You can google your city and CSA to see what your area offers!

LifesPilgrim

Frozen is the next best thing to fresh and always better than canned.

deadliftdavie1918

I buy a lot of frozen veggies.

armaretta

Thanks for your responses. I should have mentioned, there are many farmer's markets in my area, but for some reason, they still charge pretty high prices and are usually marginally competitive with the grocery stores. I think this is mostly because the local grocery stores sell a lot of local produce. I'm fine with that. I have no problem supporting local farmers in any way. I'd go directly to a farmer's market most of the time, but I work pretty long hours all week long, and all the farmer's markets close up by the time I get off, and the ones I can find open, are usually picked pretty clean!

Thankfully, my city will be getting an aldi's soon! I love aldi's but the closest one is about 30 minutes drive, not really worth the $$save when you take into account rising fuel costs too!