Shopping at a farmer’s market can be great for both your health and the earth. Where else can you get organic locally grown food, homemade baked goods, fresh juices and more? The only problem with farmer’s markets is that they are usually a bit pricey. Without the bulk power of the supermarkets, and with less processing of the food, you can generally expect higher prices.
The good news is that there are ways to save money at the farmers market, so the food you buy there is not any more expensive than the food you buy at your chain grocery store. In some cases, you can get it for even less. Here are my tips.
Just as you can save when buying in bulk at a warehouse store, you can also save buy buying in bulk at the farmers market. Ask for a discount if you buy up a larger quantity. Obviously, with produce, you will need to make a consideration for spoilage, but often you can work around this. A large amount of bananas or zucchini can be made into quick bread and frozen, blueberries can be frozen, tomatoes can be made into sauce and frozen, etc.
Offer to purchase Grade B items. Produce that has slight bruising, eggs that are speckled or of various sizes, a pumpkin pie that is has a dented box can all be purchased for less than the regular price when you ask.
Stop by the farmers market at the end of the day. If your market is only open in weekends, then this is even better. Sellers would usually rather sell their leftover items to you at a discount instead of carting it back home. You can strike up your best deals at the end of the day. Ask if they will throw something extra in as well.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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