organic food/snacks

[renae3]

Hey everyone. I am trying to eat more organic food lately and was wondering if anyone had any good ideas to get it cheaper. It seems it is always more expensive in the supermarket. Any good organic snack ideas also? Thanks so much!

 

[disneystacy]

We try to eat as much organic as the budget will allow. One thing we do is buy a 1/4 cow meat from a organic cow farm (grass feed, no antibiotics). It is soooo much cheaper going this route then buying organic meat from the supermarket. We get 120lbs of meat for 599.00. It lasts a little longer than 6 months.

 

[Ava]

Trader Joe's

FWIW though, I've read that there isn't much sense in spending more for organic processed foods (cookies, cereals, etc.). The processing makes the benefits of organic ingredients negligible. Processed foods containing all natural ingredients are good (i.e. cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup) but it's not really necessary to pay more for organic cookies/crackers/cereal. Put the extra money towards organic produce.

 

[HGD24]

We fed our DD organic jarred baby food and now that she's on table foods, we try to buy as many natural foods as possible, not necessarily organic, but natural. As a pp stated, we don't tend to buy organic processed foods. We try to buy foods that have no preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, etc. We are buying organic meat and yogurt and some organic fruits.

I would suggest going to a local farmer's market and watch your local grocery store flyer for sales. Our local store has some good sales on it's organic and natural lines of foods.

 

[melsherard]

Costco sells a lot of organic products and they are reasonably priced

 

[harpetj]

We really like the Annie's brand of bunny crackers, cookies, etc. They are pretty reasonably priced at Walmart and Target. I also agree that Costco has great options and Trader Joe's is by far my favorite, but we don't have one where we live now. I do stock up on a ton of stuff there when I get the chance!

 

[JLiz]

Look up if there are any community supported agriculture (CSA) farms in your area. You're basically an investor in a farm and buy a "share" of the farm's yield. Many of the farms that participate are organic. It's usually cheaper than the regular produce at a grocery store over the course of a season. I've heard some people complain about having to pay up-front and others say it's too much food. But, if you find it's too much for your family you can probably find another family with to split.

It's also nice to support a small, independent, local farmer instead of giant agri-business three states away!

 

[toledo13]

We do the same! We try to buy organic snacks... and everything else actually... as much as possible. We get Nature Valley CINNAMON (only) granola bars because there's hardly any fake stuff in there. They're not organic, but I recommend them. Meijer also has a good brand of 'natural' baked tortilla chips, with nothing artificial. Again, not organic but a GREAT snack food.

 

[jmac323]

We eat "whole" foods mostly. SO not necessarily organic but non-processed foods and whole grains. We've only just started eating this way (3 weeks now) and I must say so far it's been great. SOme things are bit more expensive but it's really not that much of a difference. NOw we're not buying "junk" to snack on but fruits, veggies and whole grain items. I go to: Costco, Trade Joe's, Whole Foods market (yes some things here are pricey) and Nugget markets. BTW- In 3 weeks I've lost 5 pounds and DH has lost 10. But we also cut WAY back on alcohol, soda, and red meats. DD now asks for fruit for snacks rather than high sugar items. NOt bad so far.

 

[PatriciaH]

Nuts like pecans, walnuts, almonds, raisins, baby food fruit purees (yes we eat them), apples, Kashi cereal as a snack, our Publix has pressed fruit strips (only fruit), sunflower seeds, trail mix.

 

[Justsyd2]

We shop at the local Farmer's Market, and I buy Kashi and Amy's products at the grocery store. We also buy only organic meats at the grocery store, too. It really isn't that much more expensive.

 

[crisi]

We are lucky enough to live in coop central:

http://www.ncga.coop/member-stores

 

[CLR4321]

Have you considered starting your own garden? I have had a lot of friends who did this...they were always giving me great fresh veggies out of the garden! There are a decent amount of veggies that do grow very well and with little care.
Like a PP said, Trader Joes is great for organics at very good prices. If you have a local food co-op, try there.

 

[westcliffemom]

Not to hijack, but I'm wondering about where to find relatively cheap organic chicken. I'm thinking of switching over, because we eat alot of chicken. It's like $6.99 a lb at Whole Foods, is that about what I should expect to pay?

 

[disneystacy]

Not to hijack, but I'm wondering about where to find relatively cheap organic chicken. I'm thinking of switching over, because we eat alot of chicken. It's like $6.99 a lb at Whole Foods, is that about what I should expect to pay?

It is my understanding that all chicken is organic. They don't feed them hormones or steriods, like beef. The feed they feed them is organic though if that matters to you.
I know the treatment of free range chickens are better than the ones in cages, but as far as human health I don't think its any better than regular chicken.

We buy regular chicken and pork and spend extra on beef and wild caught fish.

 

[crisi]

It is my understanding that all chicken is organic. They don't feed them hormones or steriods, like beef. The feed they feed them is organic though if that matters to you.
I know the treatment of free range chickens are better than the ones in cages, but as far as human health I don't think its any better than regular chicken.

We buy regular chicken and pork and spend extra on beef and wild caught fish.

No, all chicken is not organic. Organic chicken is actually somewhat hard to find, as it requires organic feed. And they do give them antibiotics (in fact, like crazy). Free range chickens may not be in cages - but that doesn't mean they live happy carefree lives frolicking in the meadow. Many 'free range' chickens have never been outside their shed - they have a door to go outside, but being chickens, if they've been raised inside, they really don't want to go outside.

The best source for chicken, if you really care about your chickens, is to find a chicken farmer that raises his chickens the way you agree with and buy direct. You can often do this at the farmers market. We buy our chicken through a variety of sources (including the occasional $.99/lb chicken from the cheap grocer), but when its farmers market season, much of it comes from a farmer 20 miles into Wisconsin (we are in St. Paul) who runs a family farm of beef cattle, sheep, pigs, chicken and turkeys that are raised like farm animals were a hundred years ago (he does use antibiotics when his animals are sick, but not prophylacticly, this makes his food not organic). I bought a freezer just for Bob's meat.

A really good book on this is The Omnivore's Dilemma - which goes through four ways of food creation - industrial, industrial-organic, small farm and hunter-gatherer. Its a fascinating book.

 

[westcliffemom]

I was more concerned with the arsenic that they put in chicken feed. I've done research on it, and was trying to avoid that specific part of regular store chicken.

Crisi, thanks for the info. I'm planning on reading the Omnivore's Dilemma as soon as I can get to the library.

 

[Justsyd2]

We buy organic chicken at Target. They like to put it on sale for around $2.00 per package. We stock up when they do.

 

[missysid]

westcliffmom the best place to find organic chicken is direct from the farmer. I am not sure where you live but here in central IL it is easy to find. We have chickens for our sons 4H project and have both layers and meat birds. Their is such a demand for them we take orders before ordering the birds. We feed out 100 at a time and they are on all organic diet. Fresh greens from our garden and free range on our alfalfa field. The birds are very good and we sell them for 3.20 per lb dressed weight. I can not keep them in stock! Our eggs are also organic and we sell them for $2.50 per dozen. We just doubled our flock size this year to try and keep up.

Call your local extension office and find out who has chickens in your area - or check with your high school if you have a FFA program in your area.

Mel

 

[magik]

Depending on how much of an issue cost is, you can also take into account which foods are the worst "offenders" when it comes to chemicals, hormones, etc, and only buy those organic.

You can find lists all over the internet of the worst offenders that you really should buy organic or the foods that really don't make sense to spend more to buy organic. For example, meat, dairy and certain fruits and vegetables make sense to buy the organic versions to avoid hormones, pesticides, etc, but other fruits and vegetables are generally fine to buy the non-organic variety.