Food prices in NC for May 2009: spring & summer are a great time to support your local farmers

The spring crops are filling the markets and the early summer crops are on their way. Cows and chickens produce more in the spring too. Prices for organic and sustainably raised food continue to drop as people cut back on their grocery bills. It's a better time than ever to support farmers who produce organic and sustainably raised food: they need your business and the prices are comparatively low.

Look below the fold for the monthly food-price report.

Organic, Sustainable Food Prices Drop Again in May — Using the Cook for Good spring menu, the average meal cost per person is only $1.73 per meal using "green" ingredients and May 2009 prices. That's down 7 cents a meal from April. The regular cost is up a penny to $1.17 a meal. A week's worth of food for four people costs just $98 regular and $146 green.

The cart cost for the green ingredients comes out to just $1.91 a meal, 8 cents less per meal than the food-stamp allowance in North Carolina. The cart cost shows how much you'd actually have to spend at the grocery store buying everything on the shopping lists, even though you will have some ingredients left over, such as part of a bottle of oil.

Bargains in May — Speaking of oil, the organic olive oil was this month's best organic bargain in the Cook for Good Top 20 list, which tracks the difference between the regular and green versions of each item, so you can easily see where going green will cost you the least. In May, a well-known national chain was having a terrific special on two new organic olive oils, one from Italy and one from Greece. The one from Italy was only $5.99 a liter (33.8 ounces), making it much less expensive than the conventional olive oil at the regular grocery. (OK, it was Whole Foods. I have no affiliation with them.)

A serving of organic diced tomatoes or carrots would cost a fraction of a a penny more than conventionally grown ones. So you could go green on a serving of potatoes for 35 cents or for the same price go green on a serving each of olive oil, carrots, onions, rice, tea, kidney beans, raisins, apples, and peanut butter ... and still have four cents left over.

During the spring and summer, take time to put up or freeze some ripe produce. You'll be glad you did in October when you are weary from canvassing or in February when produce is so expensive. You may be helping a good local farmer make it through the economic downturn too. (Although I'm glad to know that's over, Betsy!)