Save Money With Organic Produce

Posted by Jamie McIntosh Aug 14, 2008

The press has made much ado lately about the decline of Whole Foods Market’s stock, likely due to the fragile economy. Critics jokingly refer to Whole Foods as “Whole Paycheck,” probably not very different from the truth for many families with limited incomes. In fact, this unfortunate downturn in Whole Foods’ business does not coincide with a decrease in Americans’ desire to include more unprocessed, natural, and organic foods in their diets.

While penny-pinching shoppers may have cut back on their wheat grass smoothies and fair trade chocolate, consumers everywhere are revisiting the notion of a victory garden to increase their food security. Seed sales are up, and food safety scares coupled with high food prices mean more people have turned their occasional gardening hobby into a utilitarian necessity.

Although some of the labor-intensive methods organic farmers use do drive up the cost of their produce at the market, home gardeners can still reap the environmental and monetary savings of organic gardening at home.

Whether you’re growing a few salad greens in containers on your deck, or you participate in a full scale community vegetable garden, implement the following money-saving ideas into your garden:

• Start as many plants as you can from seed.
• Keep a compost bin. Even a household of one can reap a significant amount of organic matter from an indoor worm bin.
• Recycle your plastic food containers as grow pots.
• Call your local public works department to see if they offer residents free compost or mulch.