If money wasn’t an issue, most of us would choose to feed our family organically grown food. During these tough economic times, the reality is that our ideal of an all organic diet is harder to come by. Here are some tips for eating organic without breaking the bank.

• Shop at your local farmer’s market. Not only will you find many organic food stands, but you will also be supporting local farms. Farmer’s markets are a great place to find affordable organic produce, as well as a greater variety of produce than at your local supermarket. Many times stands will not be advertising that they are organic or may not be officially certified as organic but still use organic practices. Ask the people working at the stands. Towards the close of the market, many stands at Farmer’s Markets will start marking down their goods in order to get rid of inventory, a great time to find some good deals!


• When you find a great deal on fresh produce, buy in bulk and freeze. Is there a stand selling organic tomatoes at a bargain price? Buy a bunch and make some pasta sauce to jar or freeze. Strawberries can be frozen for use in smoothies later, straight from the freezer.


• Browse the frozen section in your local organic food market. Oftentimes frozen organic fruits and vegetables will be cheaper than their fresh counterparts. And the bonus is that you won’t have to worry about it spoiling as fast.


• When you are at your local supermarket, look for the store brand organics. Many stores including Whole Foods, Vons and even Target (with their Archer Farms brand) sells organic food under their own label that is more affordable.


• If you can’t buy all organic, set priorities. Certain produce has more pesticide residues than others. Eating organic for the produce that is on the top of this list can significantly lower your pesticide ingestion. You can go to the Environmental Working Group’s "Food News" website to see their data on the pesticide load of various produce. And check out this handy PDF pocket guide created by the Organic Center.


• Although organic food can be more expensive than conventional produce, eating out is also much more expensive than cooking your own food. Choose to eat out less and instead put that money towards quality organic food. You will probably still end up saving money.


• Grow your own organic food! You don’t need a huge yard to grow a little food. Even a small balcony can be plenty of space to grow some cherry tomatoes or some herbs.


• Take a family trip to a you-pick organic farm and load up on fresh produce straight from the land!

Do you have any tips to add? Share them here!