If it feels like all those fruits and veggies are costing you more at the grocery store, you aren’t imagining things.
Data from the USDA shows the price of fruit is up 11% compared to 2023. Veggies are up 33%.
The ABC15 Smart Shopper team is always looking for ways to save and we found some unique spots around town where you can get discounted produce.
Borderlands Produce Rescue rescues fruit from the border that would otherwise end up in landfills. The fruit isn’t purchased by big box retailers for a variety of reasons.
“They’re not pretty enough to be at Fry’s,” Brandon Kurz, a volunteer at one of their distribution sites said. “Or it’s excess. A lot of it’s excess and it’s exactly what you’d see at the store.”
The fruit is driven to sites across the Valley and on specific days of the month, anyone can get up to 70 pounds of produce for a $15 donation.
“I share a lot of it,” said one Valley resident picking up produce on a Saturday morning. “I do a lot of home cooking. I meal prep. I freeze some of it.”
For more information about Borderlands Produce Rescue and future pick-up events, click here.
At Superstition Ranch Farmers Market, which has locations in Mesa and Apache Junction, produce is also noticeably less expensive.
The ABC15 Smart Shopper Team found strawberries at two for $4 and cucumbers at four for $1. Here’s a look at their weekly specials.
Owner TJ McCuin says he’s been able to keep prices down because of the great relationships formed with farmers across the country over the years.
Check out more ways to save money at the grocery store below:
