Eat Well, Spend Less: A Guide to Eating Healthy on a Budget

Enlarge Image Image Gallery CSAs and farmer’s markets often include produce grown outdoors or in greenhouses, baked goods, dairy, eggs and meat, offering variety throughout much of the year. Photo By Thomas Gibson

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The path to healthy, low-cost eating offers many entry points. We pilot you through the diverse options in our guide to shopping smart and eating well.

Buy in season. 

WHY? Like most goods and services, foods cost less when they are more abundant. Choose to eat foods during their peak season, and you’ll enjoy not only a happier price point, but amped-up nutrition and flavor, as well.

HOW? Choose your state and search by month or by vegetable to find out what’s in season where you live at the NRDC's Eat Local page.

WHAT’S NEXT? Eating seasonally is also the easiest way to...

Buy locally. 

WHY? When you spend $1 on food, not all that much of it goes to the actual food producer. Some of your dollar goes to the person who grew it, while some goes to the person who picked it; some goes to the company who processed, packaged and transported it; and some goes to the firm that designed the packaging and advertising. Some of your dollar ends up in the hands of the grocery store owner, and, hopefully, also in the hands of some of the store’s employees. If someone was involved with your food, they will need to profit from their involvement. The more food you purchase locally, the more pennies from your dollar stay in your own pocket, and in your community’s economy (of which you are a beneficiary).

HOW? Find farms, restaurants, food co-ops and other great local food resources through localharvest.org. Find farmer’s markets nationwide with the USDA's National Farmer's Market Search Engine.

WHAT’S NEXT? Money spent locally stays in your community, which is ripe with resources to...

Join forces. 

WHY? Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs used to be charming novelties in certain neighborhoods that enjoyed eco-abundance, but their huge surge in popularity in recent years means CSAs are available nationwide—more than 4,000 are listed in the Local Harvest database below. A CSA is essentially a local farm subscription service, in which a group directly pays the farmer for the food she delivers. You can save a bundle on high-quality produce, and many CSAs also offer meat, eggs, dairy, honey, flowers and herbs. Some offer free or lower-cost subscriptions to those who donate time or qualify for low-income shares.