It may seem easy to ditch healthy meals to save money, but fresh fall food staples don’t have to exceed your Colonial Cash budget or your dwindling bank account. Check out price and quality comparisons for healthy produce and main courses across farmers’ markets in Penn Quarter, Foggy Bottom and Dupont.

PASTA
The market: Penn Quarter, 8th St. NW, Thursdays, 3 – 7 p.m.
The deal: One pound of pesto-gorgonzola gnocchi will set you back $7 at Penn Quarter – more than twice the Trader Joe’s cost for 8.8 ounces of squash triangoli for about double the amount of food. The farmers’ market serving can feed multiple people, but even the charm of the Penn Quarter vendor who sold me an arrangement of 10 pepper samples for just $1.50 isn’t enough to justify a trip here for pricey pasta.
The verdict: Trader Joe’s

APPLES
The markets: Dupont, 20th St. NW, Sundays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Foggy Bottom Metro, 23rd and I St. NW Walkway, Wednesdays, 3 – 7 p.m.
The deal: Apples might as well be synonymous with autumn, but of course District residents can’t readily pick their own. Cue the Dupont and Foggy Bottom farmers’ markets, which offer a variety of apples for $2.99 per pound. It’s comparable to Whole Foods, which sells Honeycrisp apples for $2.99 per pound. Plus, the fresh taste quality is supreme. Foggy and Dupont markets both accept GWorld; head to the information tent to exchange GWorld money for tokens. Still, Trader Joe’s McIntosh apple deal can’t be beat: $3.99 for a four-pound bag.
The verdict: If you’re limited to Colonial Cash, head to Dupont or Foggy Bottom. Otherwise, venture to Trader Joe’s.

BREAD
The markets: Dupont, 20th St. NW, Sundays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Foggy Bottom Metro, 23rd and I St. NW Walkway, Wednesdays, 3 – 7 p.m.
The deal: The Atwater vendor makes appearances at both the Dupont and Foggy Bottom farmers markets, but it’s best avoided. Its country white bread goes sells at $5 for 24 ounces and $2 for eight ounces, outrageously higher than the Rudi’s Bakery organic sweet honey whole wheat bread sold at Whole foods at $2.79 for 20 ounces. The organic quality bread will last longer than an 8 ounce purchase, and won’t set you back the rest of the month.
The verdict: Whole Foods

TOMATOES
The markets: Dupont, 20th St. NW, Sundays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Foggy Bottom Metro, 23rd and I St. NW Walkway, Wednesdays, 3 – 7 p.m.
The deal: You could be stingy and pour Whole Foods’ salad bar tomatoes into a box and pay by the weight, or you could support local farmers for comparable prices to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Whole Foods’ organic vine tomatoes and mini heirloom cost $1.50 more than Trader Joe’s, where a box goes for $3.49. But at the Foggy Bottom market, a box of regular tomatoes goes for $2 per pound, and classic cherry tomatoes run for $3.50 a box. Dupont offers more specialty varieties, like Mountain Magic and Black Velvet Hybrid tomatoes – a quart will set you back up to $6.50 for each – but charges 50 cents more for basic cherry tomatoes.
The verdict: Foggy Bottom