It’s so much easier to shop zero waste at farmer’s markets than at traditional grocery stores. Here’s what I picked up at a nearby indoor farmer’s market on my way home this evening: bread in a brown paper bag (uncoated and no plastic window so it’s recyclable and compostable) and lots of yummy fruits and veggies without packaging! 😃
Where I live, outdoor farmer’s markets are only open on the weekends. I love that this market is open seven days a week, rain or shine, and has normal grocery store hours so I can get fresh, package-free food whenever I want. Plus, they carry more farm-fresh, local produce than the average grocery store 🙂
Check to see if there are any farmer’s markets in your area. You might be pleasantly surprised!
When you go, be sure to bring reusable cloth bags or mesh produce bags for small, loose veggies like beans. This makes it easier for the cashier to weigh the items at checkout. I put all the other fruits and vegetables loose in the grocery basket, then pack everything in a canvas bag to carry home.
Now that I know where to go, shopping package-free is easy. Training Milo not to jump on the kitchen table is another story … 😆
We live for the Farmer’s Market. We freeze a ton of fruit during the summer so we can have “fresh” local fruit all winter. In order to do this we will often buy two flats of berries each week. We reduce our waste by returning the cardboard berry flats to the farmers the next week. Unfortunately, because of Health Department rules the farmers can no longer take back the fruit baskets that held the fruit in the flats.
If we are only going to buy berries from several farmers that add up to a flat or less we will bring one of the old flats with us to hold the baskets. No need to put the pints in produce bags to protect the fruit.
Also, if I am going to buy a basket of less fragile vegetables like edible podded peas or small peppers or beans, I will transfer them to a produce bag and return the basket to the farmer when I pay for them.
We buy eggs at the farmer’s market and return the egg cartons to the farmer when we buy more. Same concept with the bulk feta cheese we buy in quart canning jars at the farmer’s market. In fact, the farmer charges a $1 deposit on the jars to encourage people to return them.
One final item to note is “seconds”. Sometime called field grade. This is fruit that is not “perfect” enough to sell at a grocery store but is still perfectly edible. We buy several 20 pound boxes of organic peaches from a local farmer each year. These peaches may be bruised or split or misshapen but are often less than half the cost of the store price and just as good. This farmer also sells us organic cherries that don’t have the stems (stores require cherries to have stems). These are just as good as the store bought ones. In fact, I like them better because I can just pop them in my mouth without having to bother with the stems. Of course, we save the boxes and return them to the farmer the next time we buy more fruit from him.
You are awesome! The planet thanks you, and so do I! 🙂