Buying organic food is the right choice – it’s healthier, it tastes better, and it’s better for the environment. Although the production costs of growing and transporting organic foods sometimes means that it’s more expensive at the grocery store than conventional food, it is BETTER for your health in the long-term. Think about it: doesn’t it make more sense to spend NOW and save yourself years of doctor’s bills then it is to keep a couple extra bucks to yourself and suffering the consequences LATER?
Nonetheless, who doesn’t like to save some money? To help you pinch a few pennies, here are some ways you can SAVE (in the short-term AND long-term!) when you buy organic food:
-Buy your most important purchases first. If you’re looking to try a new organic recipe this week, make a list of items you’ll need. You can try organic blueberries another time if you absolutely need organic bell peppers for a new dish.
-Remember that thin-skinned fruits and vegetables are the MOST susceptible to pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and so on. If you have to limit your purchases, be sure to buy the following foods ORGANIC: apples, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, lettuce, peppers, and spinach.
-Buy your fruits and vegetables in season when they’re both freshest and in plenty supply. For example, spring is a great time to buy asparagus, zucchini, and strawberries (did you know May is National Strawberry Month?)
-Shop at farmer’s markets and independent grocery stores, or join a food co-op. These places often offer a wider variety of organic foods, including fresher fruits and vegetables. Some food co-ops may require a membership fee or ask you to volunteer at the co-op for a few hours per month, but members usually get a discount when they shop. Use Organic Liaison’s Organic Network Locator to find grocery stores and farmer’s markets selling organic food nearest you.
-If you’re a meat-eater, eating organic meats is definitely better than eating meat that comes from factory farms, where animals have been fed nutritionally-empty grains and kept in tight spaces until they’re slaughtered. Since meat is often more expensive, try choosing one kind of meat (beef, chicken, lamb) and experimenting in the kitchen. Use your “meat of the week” as the centerpiece around which you create your meals, such as chicken pasta one night, followed by chicken tacos the next.
-Buy in bulk whenever possible. You can always freeze leftover portions you don’t use for next week.
-Search for coupons from organic food companies like Organic Valley, Amy’s, Stonyfield Farm, Health Valley, and more.
What are your tips for saving money on buying organic food? Share with us in the comments!
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Photo: alancleaver_2000’s Flickr photostream/Creative Commons
Tags: eating organic, farmer's markets, food co-op, grocery shopping, Organic Foods, organic fruits, Organic Liaison, organic meats, Organic Network Locator, organic recipes, organic vegetables
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Organic lasts longer. It may cost more upfront but in long run your not throwing away spoiled produce.
SHOP LOCAL!! THERE ARE LOTS OF RANCHES, FARMS, ROADSIDE STANDS AND JUST PLAIN OLD LOCAL FOLKS AROUND YOU WITH ORGANIC FOODS!! I BET THEY EVEN ADVERTISE SO SHOP LOCAL AND SUPPORT YOUR TOWN, CANDI
I totally agree with you Candi, shopping local whenever possible is the best policy.
I normally shop what is in season which seems to be the best priced. But the best by far is planting your own vegetable garden. You know everything that is put into it from a seed until it is ready to harvest.
BTW love your show Ms. Kirstie Alley!
Try buying a share in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Google this for your area. Shares are filling up now for this season. You purchase a “share” of a local farmers produce. Each week you get a box full of whatever is in season at the time. Some will deliver to your house, others you will need to pick-up at a common site. Some are just veggies, others offer fruit, eggs, meat and other ’stuff’. We have been CSA members for several years now and absolutely love it! It has pushed us to try things we never would have tried and to eat tons of good stuff all season long. Good for you, good for farmer and great for the environment!
Look for opportunities to participate in CSA’s (Community Sponsored Agriculture). Typically, to join one, you pay an amount of money up front (locally, it’s about $500 for a share that would be plenty for a family of four) and then you pick up/receive a portion of fresh produce every week during the growing season. It’s a great way to get to understand better what’s actually in season when, as well as providing quantities that will allow you to freeze, dry, or can produce to last you throughout the year!
You can look for “cow shares,” which function in a similar way, with the net result being fresh milk (and sometimes cheese), or meat CSA’s.
Sometimes you can find CSA’s that will accept labor instead of some or all of the cash. You agree to provide a certain number of hours of labor, negotiating to accommodate your schedule, abilities, and the grower’s need. For example, you might spend a few Saturdays helping the grower put up fences, or you might sign up to help harvest green beans.
Bear in mind, too, that when shopping at local farmer’s markets, there are other categories beyond strictly organic and strictly toxic. The organic certification process is expensive and time-consuming and some producers simply have neither the cash flow, nor the staffing, to undertake it. So, ask other questions: do you use pesticides? If so, when? (In order to prevent certain kinds of fungus, some fruit tree growers spray the early leaves but cease using any poisons on the tree once it blooms. Generally speaking, this results in fruit that does not carry a pesticide load.)
Also, think about scheduling your meat purchases in ways that minimize the impact of non-organic grain feed. You might buy a year’s worth of chicken in the summer, from someone who let’s her chickens roam her farm eating naturally. She may not call them organic, but if they are not being supplemented with commercial feed, it’s as good as. Winter chicken, on the other hand, is likely eating commercial feed alone, and is therefore, not organic.
Along the same lines, you can look to contract with farmers who employ non-toxic pasturing practices for other meat (e.g., lamb, pork, beef, etc.) that is not “over-wintered”–meaning, it’s born in the spring, and slaughtered in the fall after grazing naturally during the intervening period. The animals may be slightly smaller in hanging weight, but you will not be eating toxic meat.
The best deal on beef I’ve ever encountered personally came from contracting with a farmer who sells milk to Organic Valley. Dairying is his business, not beef. So, when the “girls” give birth to boys, he keeps them with their moms until they wean and then sells them at market if his family doesn’t need more beef. So, I gave him my name, saying I’d like a side (half a cow). He knew other people looking for a side or quarter, and so he kept more of the males that were born, and pastured them in his gorgeous fields, where they built amazing dark red muscle tissue. I found a processor that saved Thursday mornings to process organic meat, and when all was said and done, I had half a cow–butchered, packaged, and deep frozen–for $2.68/lb, including the processing charges! Imagine organic t-bone steaks for $2.68/lb! Right. Good deal!
Finally, it helps to think in terms of expanding the variety of foods you eat. Most of us eat a small number of the kinds of vegetables that exist, for example. When was the last time you ate parsnips, celeriac, fresh beets, or black kale? Root vegetables and fresh greens are often among the less expensive organic produce choices. Why? Partly because root veggies are less fragile than their above-ground cousins, and partly because greens grow rapidly and allow multiple harvests per plant. Root veggies are tremendously versatile. You can steam, roast, pickle, or saute them. They make wonderful pureed soups in less than an hour, start to finish. Greens can be steamed, boiled, baked till crisp and crumbled, minced and prepared as “fresh pickles” (an acid like lemon juice or vinegar on small pieces of greens will “cook” them chemically in about twenty minutes), or eaten raw.
Chow down!
One last thought: the page about food components to avoid should include GMO’s (genetically modified organisms); non-fermented soy (for environmental, toxicity, and hormonal reasons); and canola oil.
Peace,
A
I personally like growing my own fruits and vegetables. Initially, it is a bit of work but tends to be fun. Gardening is a workout! Plus, eating your own project is so satisfying.
Plant your own food… even if you are limited on space. If you are limited on space try container gardening, or straw bale gardening. Sunset magazine usually has great ideas, and they also point out what time of year to plow, plant and sow your harvest.
People often ask me if going vegetarian/vegan is more expensive, and I tell them that it *can* be, but it doesn’t have to be.
They’re right that vegan specialty foods, like prepared veggie burgers, etc., are sometimes more expensive than their nonvegan counterparts, but fortunately, they aren’t the only options. Prepared food will always be more expensive than food you make yourself, so buying the ingredients and making them at home will typically save you money. Veggie staples such as pasta, rice, tofu, and beans are much cheaper than meat. The money you save from not buying meat can go toward paying just a little extra for nondairy milk and other staples, like fruits and vegetables. Another suggestion is to buy food in bulk, either at the store, over the Internet, or through catalogs. You can find many vegan mail-order catalogs listed in the classified section in the back of Vegetarian Times magazine.
And as this article points out, people need to consider their health: Fresh, organic fruits and vegetables may cost more than some junk foods, but isn’t our health worth the extra couple of bucks? If you’re still not sure, given the health benefits of a vegan diet, you’ll likely save hundreds or thousands of dollars on health care, which will more than make up for the extra cost of soy milk.
[...] and seven surprising fruits and vegetables you may have never considered eating before! As always, buying ORGANIC fruits and vegetables is better for you, your health, and the environment. Take a look at these new fruits and veggies [...]
1) stock dry beans and pick a day to cook them in advance. Beans can be used same day because you cook them in advance and FREEZE them…yeah!
There is a process. Here is the link http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Basic-Dried-Beans-49960
2) purchase produce in the frozen dept. I hate running out of stuff for recipes.
3) There are some items I can get at BJs which is starting to carry more and more organic items….eggs, milk, yogurt, frozen berries, and chicken breasts!
4) I buy yogurt when it is on sale and freeze them. They freeze nicely and so does shredded cheese. Just put in the fridge overnight when ready for next day consumption. Buy these items when their on sale and freeze em!!!! Also I buy the big yogurts and add my own berries to make yogurt. Packaged yogurt in the little containers are more per pound. Are you looking at the price per unit?? It’s important.
5) Today, I was in Wegmans and picked up their free organic magazine they keep in their organic dept and used some coupons right then and there.
6) But the biggest savings by far is when I buy the meats at whole foods on sale and store them in the freezer. Sometimes I will ask the butcher to separate and wrap things individually for easier storage.
7) make your own organic vegetable broth. It is just too expensive at the store. (At least for me because I use stock like crazy) I like to make a lot of soups and I am tired of paying supermarket prices. Basically all those vegetable ends, cut-offs and fresh vegetable pieces that get discarded in the trash…I freeze them and when I have enough stored up I will make my own stock out of them. Plus I control the sodium being added.
We have a garden of all varieties of veggies and herbs. We also added blueberry and blackberry bushes. We do not have the best dirt for growing. Last year we tried planting a few items in 5 gallon paint buckets. To our amazement, everything in the buckets grew like wildfire! We now have all our plants in buckets using a mixture of organic cow manure and potting mix. We have also planted bug repellent flowers around the buckets! Everything is looking beautiful and we expect a lovely harvest that will take us through the new year! We don’t have much space, so the buckets have been great!
To prepare the buckets we cleaned them, drilled drainage holes on the sides close to the bottom, filled the bottom (approx. 1/4 inch) with pebbles ( to help with drainage), added the 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of manure and potting soil, and plant food (which lasts for 4 months). Once the buckets were ready, we planted the plants! We are enjoying the blackberries and can not wait for the rest!
This is a great way to save money on the grocery bill!
Ooohh, It’s a rare find for a nice web site like this. I enjoyed it. Kudos to you. Have a very nice day!
Hello thanks lots,I have to comment that your site is amazing!
Look for opportunities to participate in CSA’s (Community Sponsored Agriculture). Typically, to join one, you pay an amount of money up front (locally, it’s about $500 for a share that would be plenty for a family of four) and then you pick up/receive a portion of fresh produce every week during the growing season. It’s a great way to get to understand better what’s actually in season when, as well as providing quantities that will allow you to freeze, dry, or can produce to last you throughout the year!
You can look for “cow shares,” which function in a similar way, with the net result being fresh milk (and sometimes cheese), or meat CSA’s.
Sometimes you can find CSA’s that will accept labor instead of some or all of the cash. You agree to provide a certain number of hours of labor, negotiating to accommodate your schedule, abilities, and the grower’s need. For example, you might spend a few Saturdays helping the grower put up fences, or you might sign up to help harvest green beans.
Bear in mind, too, that when shopping at local farmer’s markets, there are other categories beyond strictly organic and strictly toxic. The organic certification process is expensive and time-consuming and some producers simply have neither the cash flow, nor the staffing, to undertake it. So, ask other questions: do you use pesticides? If so, when? (In order to prevent certain kinds of fungus, some fruit tree growers spray the early leaves but cease using any poisons on the tree once it blooms. Generally speaking, this results in fruit that does not carry a pesticide load.)
Also, think about scheduling your meat purchases in ways that minimize the impact of non-organic grain feed. You might buy a year’s worth of chicken in the summer, from someone who let’s her chickens roam her farm eating naturally. She may not call them organic, but if they are not being supplemented with commercial feed, it’s as good as. Winter chicken, on the other hand, is likely eating commercial feed alone, and is therefore, not organic.
Along the same lines, you can look to contract with farmers who employ non-toxic pasturing practices for other meat (e.g., lamb, pork, beef, etc.) that is not “over-wintered”–meaning, it’s born in the spring, and slaughtered in the fall after grazing naturally during the intervening period. The animals may be slightly smaller in hanging weight, but you will not be eating toxic meat.
The best deal on beef I’ve ever encountered personally came from contracting with a farmer who sells milk to Organic Valley. Dairying is his business, not beef. So, when the “girls” give birth to boys, he keeps them with their moms until they wean and then sells them at market if his family doesn’t need more beef. So, I gave him my name, saying I’d like a side (half a cow). He knew other people looking for a side or quarter, and so he kept more of the males that were born, and pastured them in his gorgeous fields, where they built amazing dark red muscle tissue. I found a processor that saved Thursday mornings to process organic meat, and when all was said and done, I had half a cow–butchered, packaged, and deep frozen–for $2.68/lb, including the processing charges! Imagine organic t-bone steaks for $2.68/lb! Right. Good deal!
Finally, it helps to think in terms of expanding the variety of foods you eat. Most of us eat a small number of the kinds of vegetables that exist, for example. When was the last time you ate parsnips, celeriac, fresh beets, or black kale? Root vegetables and fresh greens are often among the less expensive organic produce choices. Why? Partly because root veggies are less fragile than their above-ground cousins, and partly because greens grow rapidly and allow multiple harvests per plant. Root veggies are tremendously versatile. You can steam, roast, pickle, or saute them. They make wonderful pureed soups in less than an hour, start to finish. Greens can be steamed, boiled, baked till crisp and crumbled, minced and prepared as “fresh pickles” (an acid like lemon juice or vinegar on small pieces of greens will “cook” them chemically in about twenty minutes), or eaten raw.
Chow down!