Market shopping for success

Good morning fruit munching friends! Today I want to talk a little bit about market shopping for success. As you know I love my local market and usually get the largest amounts on Saturdays. I get a lot of people asking me how expensive it is to shop at a market, and so I though I'd share with you a few tips and tricks I follow to get the best bang for my buck.

My first tip is bring a strong pair of arms, and a car ( or if you're like me and don't have one a shopping cart) I have a medium sized shopping cart/bag ( you know those delightful ones that old ladies cart around their groceries in ) and I always bring Nick as an extra set of muscly arms. The reason is that you can get QUALITY and QUANTITY and it's way more affordable. Buying fruits and veggies by the case is always more economical than buying individually. You may notice this if you go to a grocery store and you pick up a few potatoes and then pass by a 10lb bag which is significantly less expensive than buying a few. Buying in larger quantities is always more affordable and if you are living a lifestyle like mine, or looking to add a lot more fruits and veggies into your diet they will not spoil and go to waste (also market produce tends to last longer as it is fresh as can be!). Secondly many farmers will offer you a deal on larger quantities which brings me to my second tip :

Get to know your local farmers! When you go to the grocery store and you pick up an orange from the stand, it means virtually nothing. The store could really care less that you purchased that orange. When you become a familiar face to farmers at your local market you can almost always expect a friendly face, a smile, and gratitude. My family owns a small business and what i've learned from them is they always encourage customer loyalty. When you build rapport with your local farmers they are often more than happy to offer you a deal. Usually when I purchase a case of fruit I am offered some sort of discount, even if at times it's only 2 dollars of here or there it really adds up! Especially when the markets are tax free! That's right, the local weekend markets are tax free in my neighbourhood, and probably in yours as well.

My third tip is to shop in season. If you are unsure of which fruits and veggies are in season currently do a little google search before heading to the market, or don't be afraid to ask the local farmers there, they are more than happy to tell you what's in season and usually you can tell by having a look around. When foods are in season they are usually very accessible and because farmer's have an abundance they usually will have great deals on them.

Those are my top three market tips. Don't forget to leave a comment if you have any topics you'd like to see covered in my blog, or if you have questions. I'm here for you!

My next post will be a personal progress post. How i'm doing with my lifestyle change, what has worked and what hasn't.

Stay healthy, stay positive, eat fruit!

xoxo