Can You Afford to Go Organic?

When I started to research the benefits of organic eating I was hesitant to throw myself right into it because of the high cost associated with organic food. At first it was more costly, but once I started to discover where the best deals were on organic food and understand that organic shopping is different than what I was used to doing I find myself spending the same, if not less on groceries each week. One thing I quickly discovered is that prepackaged, frozen or ready-to-serve organic meals are VERY pricey, so plan on cooking most meals from scratch. (I do keep a couple Healthy Choice frozen entrees in the freezer for days I can't find time to pack Charles a lunch. I figure it's better than fast food.) Organic meat is also very expensive, but remember vegetables, whole grains, and legumes should be making up the majority of your diet, not meat, so cut back your meat intake and supplement your protein intake with beans and nuts. Here are some other quick tips that will help you go 100% organic at a reasonable price.

1) Don't throw out your entire pantry and go buy all organic the first week. Instead, slowly replace one or two non-organic items each week, or wait until you run out of a non-organic item and replace it with an organic item on your next shopping trip.

2) Find a natural or organic food store that has a bulk section (big bins of flours and other pantry items that you put as much as you want into a container yourself). You get the low prices but can also buy in smaller quantities to save your wallet and buy more often to ensure you have fresh ingredients.

3) Connect with local farmers who have extra produce. Even though they may not be "USDA certified" organic, you can find out which ones follow organic methods and buy from them usually at lower prices than the store. Check out www.localharvest.com for CSAs and Farmers.

4) Shop farmer's markets to ensure the freshest possible produce

5) Plant your own garden with produce that you eat a lot of or that is the most expensive to buy in the store ($7.99/lb for bell peppers? Yikes!)

6) Buy produce that's in season because that is usually what is the cheapest

7) Practice "Meatless Monday"  

8) Shop around to see where you can find the best prices on different organic items and brands you like to buy. It takes time and effort in the beginning, but once you know where things are the cheapest at you can purchase certain items there or at least the more expensive ones (if you don't want to make more than 1 trip to a grocery store). Costco is selling more and more bulk organic items and even some Wal-Marts carry organic Agave Nectar, Sugar, and Flour and very cheap prices.

Lastly, if you still feel you can't take the plunge for 100% organic eating, do some research and decide what food purchases are the most important to have be organic.