I hear it over and over again, people talking about how they'd eat locally and organic if it wasn't so expensive. Eating organic doesn't mean blowing the budget. We've found a great guide to help you eat green without spending all of your cash.
New Greener Family has put together a great guide to eating inexpensively in a sustainable way:
As the cost of food continues to rise, many people find themselves needing to choose more carefully what they will buy. Buying organic foods is often the choice that we want to make, yet the higher costs make it seem impossible. However, with a willingness to make a few simple changes anyone on a tight budget can enjoy organic foods in their kitchen.
If you want to find organic foods at lower costs, the first step is to stop shopping at your local grocery stores. Many of the foods found grocery stores, even in the organic sections, have been imported from around the world. This is how they can offer fruits and vegetables out of season all year long. The cost of shipping and transporting adds to the cost that customers must pay. Instead, look for local producers who will more likely have a lower price.
• Find out more: Read the full guide at New Greener Family
(Image: New Greener Family)
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Great tips!
Buying local is nice, but when I did the research I was surprised to find that there's no reason to buy organic! It isn't healthier for you, and it isn't healthier for the environment. It requires much more land to grow and they use much larger quantities of pesticides. Also the pesticides are less well regulated and less well tested. Overall you're better off spending that extra money in other ways and growing what you can at home. Here's a clear article on what has and has not been shown:
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/1567/organic-food-exposed?page=0%2C0
Sorry, but I think articles like this are not based on fact, but on someone's ideal. The "local" grocery stores here don't sell local food. The local markets do, and it's way more expensive than mass-produced organic stuff (Earthbound Farms, etc.) The farmer's markets are no cheaper than the local markets. Personally I buy at the local markets what I don't grow myself, but I can afford to because of other things I give up--but that doesn't mean local is cheaper.
The best way I've found to buy organic (about half local) is by signing up with a CSA. I get all the produce I need for two people for $30 a week. It's not as cheap as buying the cheapest things at the grocery store, but it's much, much cheaper than buying organic produce piecemeal. And I get seasonal local produce when it's available (i.e., not so much in February), and other times it's supplemented by stuff from smaller organic farms in other places. It's a good deal if you live in Boston.
I think it is important to note that certified organic produce is not the only option. Becoming certified is expensive and not all farmers can afford it. Those who can afford to become certified pass the cost onto you by charging higher prices for their produce but if you ask your local growers, you will often find that produce which is not labeled certifed organic has actually been grown without sprays or chemicals according to organic methods.
I disagree, as I do with all the articles I've read about eating locally and sustainably on a budget: buying from farmers and farmer's markets is NOT cheaper!!!!!! In fact, it's quite the opposite. I can easily come away from the weekly market having spent $40 or more on just a few things before I know it - and I live alone! The only exception to this rule is if you shop right before they pack up for the day and buy in bulk, or take the wilted remnants of their stock. But for me, the food spoils either way: because it wasn't fresh to begin with, or because I can't finish it all before it goes bad.
The other points in this article, however, such as cooking and growing from scratch and buying in bulk are accurate. Seeds are dirt cheap (haha), and often stores will give discounts on whole cases of things. But again, not practical for me as a solo dweller. Food is just too expensive, and there's no way around that lest I resort to dumpster diving!
We try and buy everything organic, but in a price conscious way. Pretty easy to buy well priced local and organic if I shop at the right places. That means NEVER going into a regular supermarket which offers imported and industrial organics at high prices.
Goods at the better farmer's markets are cheaper, competitive, or slightly more expensive depending on season, number of growers, and availability. To eat really well AND support our local farmers/growers/fisherman AND do it on a budget requires knowledge, weekly shopping, and skill.
To make it work we also eat veg or semi-veg a few days a week, when we buy pastured meat it is treated with respect and served in small portions, and our diet is influenced by a lot of different cultures.
I try to buy organically grown produce for the most part, but local is just as important to me. Food loses so much of its nutrient profile within a short time of being picked, so that suspiciously perfect Certified Organic Kale from Brazil is probably doing less for you than the slightly imperfect bunch at the local co-op.
(If your greens have wilted a bit, trim the stems and put them in a glass of water, just like flowers - they'll usually perk up right away.)
Real, quality food will cost more, and I don't think there's a way around that. It's a matter of priorities for most (not all, but most). We don't buy beverages, snacks, premade foods of any kinds...to have room in our budget for grass-fed meats, local eggs, and organically grown produce. You can be creative, sure (like buying things on Amazon with your card points)...but you have to make food a priority. Oh, and you have to cook from scratch too!
I buy my produce only at the nearby farmers market and I love how fresh it looks. This particular farmer is not officially certified due to the cost and paperwork involved, but he grows using organic methods. His food looks so much better than the stuff you find at the natural food store because it's not been shipped a long distance and stored. This costs me less than $20 each week, and as a vegan I'm eating a heavy dose of veggies.
I'm so excited to go to a wholesale distributor in mcallen tx that sells all organic and fresh produce. With summer fading it's hard to get some good produce and I use it all the time. I'm glad I've been able to find somewhere to still get what I need.
A lot of resources goes into shipping food long distances.