Among the Green Community, there are great proponents of organic, fair-trade, locally grown produce. But the reality is not everyone can afford to pay the organic prices at the large-chain grocery markets, not to mention the fair-trade mark-ups.

First let’s set up the order of importance in purchasing these items.

1. Local always surpasses organic -there’s less tax on the environment as a whole. Plus with local foods, most of them are from smaller farms that don’t douse their produce with ridiculous amounts of chemicals so a good washing in a plant-based produce wash will do fine.
2. Next comes organic. This means you are eliminating the pesticides and chemicals you are not only ingesting but voting for use with your dollar. And if you can get local and organic, then double-kudos to you!
3. Now comes fair-trade. For those of you new to the lingo, fair-trade items are part of “an organized social movement and market-based model of international trade which promotes the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods” (thank you, Wikipedia). This comes third because you want to try and stay as local as possible to minimize the shipping, etc.

Knowing these priorities, how is one supposed to eat well and still be green? Here are a few tips to help you along your way.

Newbie
Cost: will generally save you money
Time: a longer trip to your local “health food” store versus the corner market
Energy to do this: minimal to moderate

Shop at your local health food store. I’m a big fan of Henry’s and Trader Joe’s (I hail from Southern California so these are my local stores) but you can definitely find your local stores by searching in your area. Not only are organic and local produce offered at these stores, but I found when I started shopping at Trader Joe’s that my grocery bill was easily cut by 40% though I was buying the same amount of stuff. At Henry’s, I search their weekly flyer (available by email!) for sales on bulk items and such so I can stock up and save.

Amateur Environmentalist
Cost: you’ll save money on produce and spend a bit extra on gas depending on location
Time: an extra half hour to hour a week
Energy to do this: minimal to moderate

Get to know your local farmer’s market! Most cities have them once a week where you can purchase locally grown, in-season foods. In-season is important because for one, it really means it’s local and for two, you are reducing the need to ship in out of season foods from tropical locations like Chile and Ecuador. We have a local grower that has stands all over the city by his crops and he has the best organic strawberries I’ve ever tasted!

Certified Tree-Hugger
Cost: $20-50 a week according to my quick research
Time: ranges from minutes to pick up the produce from your front door (for the delivery-based CSA’s) to 1-3 hours a week to go and harvest your produce
Energy to do this: minimal to significant

So you are dedicated, REALLY dedicated to locally-grown, organic produce. Good for you! Join a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture project. Basically, you pay a certain amount per month or growing season to have your share of the produce grown on that patch of land either boxed for pick-up, delivered to your door or for you really green-thumb types, to harvest yourselves! To find out where you can participate, check out sites like Local Harvest and the US Department of Agriculture’s site on CSAs.

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Like the tips but have an even better one? Leave it in a comment!