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Local families team up to buy organic foods direct, at discount

02:16 PM PST on Wednesday, November 5, 2008

By STEPHANIE STRICKLEN, kgw.com Staff

PORTLAND -- Want to "go organic" but just don't like spending the extra money? What would you say if the organic food came right to you -- and typically cost less than at the grocery store?

Watch KGW special report

Across the metro area families are teaming up to buy organic goods direct from suppliers!

Just meet the minimum order-- in this case, supplier Azure Standard's minimum is $550 dollars-- and you can have a pallet of organic food dropped off in your neighborhood.

Jeff Stewart, who works for the company that delivers Azure Standard's goods says, "I see dozens and dozens of beautiful and healthy children and that's the main reason I'm still doing this."

"We have lentils, and white flour, and sea salt," says Reuben Deumling who uses the service, "it's been good!"

For this group of families, dry goods come on one day and organic produce comes on another.

"I haven't been to the grocery store since February," says Rebecca Andersson who started this club.

She says if you don't want to start one join one nearby by calling local farms or distributors. She thinks the savings are worth it.

"That's another big reason-- saving money, right? So we're cutting out the middle man and we're ordering directly from the distributors or the farms."

You can also purchase a share in small organic farms all over the metro area. It's called CSA, or Community Sustainable Agriculture. Prices vary but average $15 to $25 dollars a week. It's so popular many farms sell out.

Once a week during the growing season you pick up a bag full of just harvested veggies and fruits.

And if purchasing a farm share, or joining a buyers club doesn't seem like a good fit... how about your nearby farmer's market? Most are seasonal, but when they're running you can usually score deals on organic produce at a fraction of supermarket costs.

Bankrate dot com has 14 more tips for going organic we didn't cover:

Bankrate.com tips

And we have information about buyer's clubs, and CSA farm shares too!

Buyer's Club info

Farm info

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