Posted by Snow in 
Farmer's Markets
What kind of differences can your reduced waste output per household make? Plenty. Review your bill and add up those additional fees for waste water and sewage treatment. It costs money to build more landfills and incinerate ash. Your money. Saving money and the life cycle of many nonrenewable plants, energies, foods, trees, and stones means something to those with intentionally green lifestyles. Shopping organic or locally produced farm products can mean encouraging more people and other households to shop naturally grown foods too.
Instead that money could be building more schools and making better highways. Heavier traffic comes from industrial mass manufactured goods being distributed nationwide. But local farmers need only make one market trip: to the market. Being a regular at your local farmer’s market can mean getting odds and ends for your soup kettle or salad. Don’t be afraid to negotiate for bruised fruit or less than sterling quality or shape vegetables.
Plastic wrapped supermarket produce is likely sprayed to look fresh, probably has its appeal heightened with artificial colors or fertilizers, and has been shipped by railcar or big rig hundreds of miles to sit and wilt. Organic produce more likely has better agricultural attributes. Learning to eat food raised without artificial means of growth and industrial “norm” production methods like pharmaceuticals for animals is better for your body.
A lot of green advocates and sustainable living visionaries posit that the chemicals and additives, fertilizers and pesticides that make up modern foods are what is causing unexplainable cancer growth rates and medical illnesses later in life. If you feel organic shopping is too expensive, start to get a feel for what whole foods and organic vegetables might cost in more ethnic parts of town or in competitive natural foods grocery stores.
Meat if often an expensive part of a meal, yet many organic eaters and shoppers are vegetarian. They find soy, protein and peanut alternatives to animal proteins in their diets. If you must shop in a neighborhood chain grocery store, ask you store manager why organic foods should be more expensive. Direct feedback from green food consumers should alert grocery retail personnel that sustainable diet green living advocates shouldn’t pay a surcharge.
To really keep a sustainable household, cruise the farmer’s market even if the fridge at home is full. Keeping your neighborhood farmer’s market in business is good business sense and better health for you and your family. Drop by and check out the closing stalls and see what green organic produce they have left over. Eating green can save you green if you know where to look.
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