(by 6 people)
Organic Food Getting Too Expensive?
And you're cutting back as your weekly food budget gets squeezed tighter and tighter?
It may seem like the only option. But for me, 'staying healthy' is worth the long-term investment in time, energy and money.
I believe that if I cut corners on food and a healthy home now, I'll probably spend more money in the future for medical treatments to fix the long-term damage done to me by farm pesticides, growth hormones, animal antibiotics, and other potentially dangerous chemicals. Not to mention the pain, discomfort and lost earning-power that bad health can lead to.
Fortunately, with a little ingenuity and practice, I've trimmed some serious costs from my monthly food bill. And discovered some remarkable skills I never knew I had.
Here's more than 40 ideas organized as 6 strategies for buying organic food on a budget.
Bon Appetit'
Why Is Organic Important?
A Quick Reminder of the Virtues of Organic Food
Why is ORGANIC important?
If you have kids, check out this video report from Stanford University's Packard Children's Hospital featuring Dr. Allen Greene, who shares his research into 'the impact of pesticide-laden food on children's young bodies.' For example...
- finding 200 industrial chemicals in the bloodstream of babies at the moment of birth!! (Discovery Home)
Organic-on-a-Budget Strategy #1: Comparison shop for the best prices.
However, in the last couple of years, a number of mainstream retailers -- such as Walmart, Target, Costco, etc. -- have started offering organic products, too.
I've put together a partial list (below) of these unexpected organic sellers. (Search their website on keyword: organic)
Buyer Beware
In some cases, increased competition has resulted in lower everyday prices. Or at least targeted promotions. In other cases, I've found it's not unusual for commercial grocers to charge prices that range from 20%-50% higher than the dedicated health food stores.
Shop Smarter
- Set up a price chart that helps you track and compare prices of the same items from store to store and from season to season.
- Look for store brands of organic food. Trader Joes (Trader Joes) and Whole Foods (365) are two examples.
- Ask about coupons, in-store promotions and discount booklets when visiting the store.
- Stock up on less-perishable (frozen, canned, dehydrated) sale items when available.
- Albertsons
- Features the Wild Harvest Organic and Natural Products brand, which are foods "produced without preservatives or manufactured enhancers" and includes meats, dairy, frozen foods, condiments, etc.
- BJ's Wholesale Club
- This Google search results page displays some of the organic products currently available from BJ's.
- Costco
- This Costco search results page displays some of the organic products currently available from Costco.
- Fresh & Easy
- A new chain of neighborhood mini-markets throughout California, Arizona and Nevada, launched by U.K powerhouse Tesco. Organic food options include F&E's own brand and some notables like Cascadian Farm and Amy's.
- Kroger
- One of the largest grocery chains in the U.S.; Kroger owns Smiths (see below), Ralphs, Dillons, Foods4Less and many more. Review their 'Wellness' section. Search website for 'organic.'
- Publix
- Publix has committed to a corporate sustainabily strategy that includes energy conservation, solar power, recyling, and local product sourcing. They're also opening up Greenwise Markets with their own line of organic products and a Greenwise Market Magazine offering tips for a Green & Organic lifestyle.
- Smiths
- The store near me has an organic section in the produce department. And small islands dedicated to natural foods on different aisles, like baking, soups, snacks, and frozen foods.
- Target
- Some of the organic products Target offers through their website.
- Walmart
- WalMart has jumped into the organic business with both feet, declaring major green/sustainability initiatives company wide. And placing organic products and locally grown food on shelves in their Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets.
- Wegmans
- Wegmans has what amounts to mini-health-food stores inside their gigantic superstores.
Organic-on-a-Budget Strategy #2: Modify your food preparation and eating habits.
Buy only seasonal fruits and vegetables when prices are lowest. Out-of-season produce usually gets harvested before it's ripe. And travels a long way, which means higher prices to cover transportation.Eat less meat and fish. Experiment with eating more creative vegetarian entrees and raw-food salads, featuring fresh fruits, vegetables, grains & nuts. Does your energy level go up or down?
Eat 6 small meals throughout the day. Studies suggest that this approach can lead to lower cholesterol levels and less weight gain (increased metabolism & more calories burned). (Cleveland Clinic)
Streamline food prep by making flexible mixes once a week. When it's time to prepare a meal, pull out some mix as a base, add some fresh items, and you have for a gourmet meal in minutes. The Make-a-Mix Cookbook (see below) has sold over a million copies. And contains great ideas. But some people may want to substitute ingredients here and there for a more 'organic' outcome. These articles might help.
Organic-on-a-Budget Reading Suggestions
Make-A-Mix
"...really two cookbooks in one. The cookbook begins with 67 make-ahead shortcut mixes for everything from all-purpose cake mix to meatball mix. The mixes are a key ingredient in one or more of the 306 recipes that follow, ...from breakfast dishes to after-dinner treats. ...home cooks can control the amount of sugar, salt, and preservatives in a recipe, and save money on store-bought mixes."
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 07/09/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking with Whole Foods
3rd edition (Jan, 2008) of very popular cookbook published in Jan 1998.
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 07/09/2008)
List Price: $21.95
Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People
No-cook recipes in smaller quantities and full of gourmet flavor. Surprisingly simple. Uses common equipment and ingredients found in any well-stocked grocery store. Jennifer is a nationally recognized raw food chef and instructor. Her company, Learn Raw Food (changed from: Raw-Food Cuisine), offers lectures, classes, hands-on workshops, and consultations.
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $15.83 (as of 07/09/2008)
List Price: $17.95
How to Buy Green Produce
Organic-on-a-Budget Strategy #3: Buy in bulk.
Buying in bulk can often get you a lower per-unit price. Which works particularly well, when combined with the 'make-a-mix' strategy discussed above.Go it alone. Purchase in modest quantities from the bulk bins at the local health food store. Or order larger quantities of less-perishable foods (frozen, canned, dehydrated) direct from companies like...
- Jaffee Brothers
- Frontier Natural Products Co-op.
- Or find another option from this list. (TheGreenGuide.com)
Form a buying club, where two or more people/families order in bulk, split the food among the various participants, and share in the savings. Adjust the food quantities per person/family, so everyone runs out of food at the same time, and you can establish a regular ordering schedule.
Open a co-op. If the buying club really takes off, you might consider forming a formal co-op, which could include a central storefront with regular staff and business hours.
Organic-on-a-Budget Strategy #4: Develop a relationship with local farmers.
Visit local farmers markets. While they may not be certified organic, ask about their farming methods. They might be pesticide-free, and happy to sell direct to you at below-supermarket prices.- Find a Farmers Market close to you, complements of Chef2Chef.net.
- OrganicToBe.org offers some tips for shopping at farmers markets.
- Seasonal Chef presents seasonal recipes for people buying produce at local farmers markets.
- If you do not have access to a local Farmers Market, you might like Farmers Market Online, which bills itself as "an inexpensive opportunity for small-scale and home-based entrepreneurs to sell their homemade, home grown and self-produced products to shoppers worldwide."
Drive to the actual farm(s) and buy direct.
- LocalHarvest.org maintains "a definitive and reliable 'living' public nationwide directory of small farms" as well as farmers markets and other local food sources.
- Ask the farm manager if they work with a person or company that may deliver local produce direct from the farm to your home. (Sometimes the overall cost is less than driving to the farm yourself.)
- And ask about a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which is kind of an on-going partnership with the farmer.
VIDEO: Think of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a holistic approach to the production of sustainable food grown in urban areas. This video presents the perspective of one urban farmer, why she got into this type of business, and the benefits to her farm and her 'partners.' (Food Network)
Organic-on-a-Budget Strategy #5: Grow you own organic food.
Some people may think this idea absurd. "I live in the city with a small backyard. What can I do?"Actually, it's not as crazy as it seems, because you can start small and expand as your confidence grows.
Organic Gardening Magazine has a wealth of resources and a search function to find articles on a variety of topics. Some other options:
- Window Box Organic Gardening -- Perfect for growing organic herbs.
- CreativeHomemaking.com explains how to set up an indoor organic herb garden.
- eHow.com gives step-by-step instructions for setting up a hanging windowbox outside your kitchen window.
- eHow.com also offers easy instructions for planting a herb pot.
- Savvy-Cafe.com emphasizes the importance of organic seeds in Why Use Organic Herb Seeds. (Applies to fruits & vegetables, too.)
- An EarthBox Garden Kit provides all you need as a beginner to grow an organic garden indoors. (According to the developer, substitute 3 cups of dry granulated organic fertilizer -- Plant Right, Fertrell, etc. -- for the 2 cups of chemical fertilizer that comes with the kit.)
- Backyard Organic Gardening -- You might think of gardens as requiring lots of land. Wrong! See video below.
- Community Plot Rental Organic Gardening -- If you live in an apartment or have a very small yard around your house, call your city hall and ask about community garden plots. Some communities set aside plots of public land that can be divided up and rented out for small personal gardens.
VIDEO: Urban Homestead looks at the possibilities for growing organic in the backyard (1/10 acre is planted) of a home in Pasadena, California. The Dervaes family raises a mind-blowing 6000 pounds of food per year. They also use solar panels to generate electricity and reduce their power consumption by 2/3. They've built their own solar oven and shower. And generate their own biodiesel fuel. (TreeHuggerTV)
Organic-on-a-Budget Strategy #6: Recycle, repurpose & recipe to slash costs around the house.
How about skin care and personal hygiene?
Suppose you could slash 50%-80% of your cost for these things out of your budget? You'd have more money to feed your family more wholesome foods. And you'd remove some potentially harmful chemicals from your home. A big win all around !!
Here's two segments from my 12 Easy Eco-Steps to a Green(er) Home article on Squidoo.
- Experiment with recycling and other green options -- books that cost less than $10 each, and explain how to use common household products (plastic bags, baking soda, vinegar & salt) to do everyday tasks around the house without the cost of commercial products.
- Expand your experiments to using or even making your own green household products -- simple recipes for making chemical-free soaps, personal care products, cleaning products and more.
Related Lenses
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Las Vegas Organic Food: Sin City Travel Guide Series
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