Friday, June 10, 2011

Smart Shopping: In-Season Fruits and Veggies

Shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables can be very expensive and frustrating. As college students, the salad bar selections on campus are typically insanely overpriced "fresh" fruits and vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and canned peaches. Let's face it: that gets old really, really quickly. But if you want to stay healthy (which you do, because doctor visits and medicine are all expensive!) the trick is to purchase your fresh produce while it's in-season. In-season means it doesn't have to travel from some remote sunny place or a temperature-controlled greenhouse to your local grocery store: it just grows outside nearby with no problems. The reduced transportation and other fees associated with growing produce off-season makes it WAY cheaper to buy produce when it actually grows naturally!

Luckily for us, it's summer! There are TONS of fruits and veggies growing like crazy in the summer, and that makes them dirt cheap at the grocery store. If you want to find even CHEAPER fruits and veggies, try searching for a local farmer's market! Just do a google search for "[Your City] Farmer's Market" to find a few near you. Farmer's markets are usually outdoor markets offering cheap produce grown by local farmers, as well as other products like natural beauty products, home-made pasta and sauces, and even baked goods. They're frequently open on weekends and some I've been to even have live entertainment, so they're tons of fun! At the peak of the season is when you'll get the lowest prices on each kind produce, so try to stay open to trying out new things even if you've never heard of it - if it's super cheap, you can surely find some recipes to make it worthwhile. (That is how I discovered Bok Choy - at $1.00/lb, it seemed low-risk enough to try, and it ended up being DELICIOUS!)

To find out what's in season in your area, visit this site! It has an interactive map where you can select your state and month to find out what's currently in season - and thus cheapest currently!

2 comments:

  1. Actually it's very hard to find fresh vegetables and fruits at cheap prices! So, thank you for your suggestion I will check the link :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good sharing. It is really very tiring moving out in the market for fresh fruits or vegetables. Transportation service for Fresh Vegetables & fruits can be more comfortable for anyone. if they guarantee it what they say.

    ReplyDelete

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