Having a backyard bursting with organically grown fruits and vegetables sometimes seems like it’s the holy grail of eco-friendly living. Besides the Instagram-worthy picture potential of those sweet little raised garden beds overflowing with leafy greens, growing your own produce is often touted as an easy way to reduce emissions and pesticides, log some more outdoor time, and even convince your family to eat more fresh food.

If you’re hoping to achieve this goal and grow your own, there is a wealth of helpful how-to information you can find both online and in books, including how to create a veggie garden in a small space, with low light, or even indoors! But very rarely do you find information about what to do if you just, um, don’t want to grow your own.

What to Do If You Don’t Want to Grow Your Own Vegetables

It feels almost shameful to admit, but I know that there are thousands of you out there who love the idea in theory. But you know that your busy schedule, your black thumb, or your simple lack of interest in gardening would mean catastrophic failure for this particular venture.

And you know what? That’s OK! Environmentally friendly living isn’t an exclusive club to which a pristine vegetable garden is the membership card. You’re no less green without a green thumb; there are many ways to support fresh, local, organic produce without getting your hands dirty! Here are three of the best.

Alternatives to Growing Your Own Produce

1. Support Your Local CSA

Just Food explains the concept behind your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): “When you become a member of a CSA, you’re purchasing a ‘share’ of vegetables from a regional farmer. Weekly or bi-weekly, from June until October or November, your farmer will deliver that share of produce to a convenient drop-off location in your neighborhood.”

Supporting a CSA means that even though you’re not growing your own fruits and veggies, you’re choosing to support someone who makes a living doing just that. CSA programs allow farmers to sell directly to their customers (that’s you!) without pricey middlemen taking a cut of the profits. It also means you get your veggies as fresh as can be, often within a day or two of harvesting, rather than losing a week or more between transport and sitting on supermarket shelves.

CSAs also offer an incredibly convenient shopping set-up—no more dawdling in the produce aisle as you debate over sweet potatoes or parsnips. Each box is a new adventure, pre-picked, sorted, and packed just for you!

2. Find a Farmer’s Market

Farmer’s markets have gained in popularity over the past few years as awareness of the importance of eating locally grown food has increased. Beyond offering oodles of fresh food, farmer’s markets also provide a great sense of community.

I always appreciate being able to meet and get to know the people growing the food I buy. They are always happy to answer any questions I have about their growing methods. They give me tips on storing and preparing the produce they sell and often carry unique heritage strains of popular favorites (romanesco broccoli, anyone?).

Farmer’s markets, like CSA programs, also have the advantage of reminding you to eat seasonally, something that’s easy to forget if you shop in a grocery store. I often find myself wandering around mid-spring, frustrated that I can’t find any strawberries before realizing duh, they aren’t ripe yet!

Nowadays, when I take that first bite into fresh farmer’s market strawberries it marks the official start of summer.

3. Barter with a Friend

If you have any gung-ho gardeners in your life, you’ve likely been offered overflow from their gardens—and probably more than a few zucchini!

Why not make it official? Approach your green-thumbed friend in early spring and ask if you can have a share of their produce for an agreed upon dollar amount, or even better, an exchange of services.

Figure out where your skills lie. Perhaps you can do their taxes, shovel their walk in the winter, or give fantastic haircuts. Whatever the trade, it’s worth it to ask!

Setting up a mini-CSA like this allows you to access a steady supply of fresh produce. It also enables your friend to indulge their passion for gardening. Often the only limiting factor in homegrown farms is how much they can reasonably eat on their own! With your support, their garden can grow and they can reap the benefits, too.

Admitting that you don’t want to grow your own fruits and vegetables doesn’t mean you’re a bad environmentalist; it means you’re an honest one! Let your passions fuel other eco-friendly projects instead and use these three tips to support those who truly do love to reap what they sow.

Madeleine Somerville is a writer, author, and blogger. Her first book All You Need Is Less was published in April 2014. Her writing has appeared in both print and online outlets, including The Guardian, Earth911, Yahoo!Shine, TreeHugger, and Alternet. She lives in Calgary, Canada with her four-year-old daughter and writes at SweetMadeleine.ca.

How do you eat local produce? Do you grow it yourself or buy it? Let us know below and on Facebook and Twitter.