This past weekend I attended the FamilyFarmed local food expo. It was really fun and I met lots of great local producers and picked up tons of literature. I continue to enjoy buying my food from the people that grew it. There’s just something about being that close to the source of your food that feels really good. I also had the chance to attend a panel discussion called “Eating Organic on a Budget.”
Money has been one of my biggest concerns as I’ve started this process of trying to eat more locally, sustainably, and ethically. Often organic items carry higher price tags than conventionally grown produce. Money is important and we’re called to be good stewards of our resources. Personally, I’m beginning to place more value on the foods that I eat. It’s worth a little bit extra to me to know that my food was produced in an ethically responsible way. Americans spend less on food today than ever before in history. We want cheap food, often so we can buy more of other goods. It’s a problem of materialism. So part of the issue is that we just haven’t valued food enough to pay for high-quality and ethically grown food.
However, just because we decide that food is valuable doesn’t mean that we can’t find ways to be more frugal about how we purchase our organic food. The panel discussion I attended gave me some great tips on how to make eating organic a little more economically feasible.
- Buy Direct – There are lots of different ways of going about buying directly from local producers. One way is to participate in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). With a CSA, you pay a farmer a membership at the beginning of a growing season and then each week you receive a box of fresh produce from their farm. Prices, amounts, frequency of delivery/pick-up and duration of season vary between farms so do some homework before choosing one. A great place to find CSAs is localharvest.org. Another way to buy direct is to attend local farmers markets. Both of these are fun ways to meet the people growing your food. Food co-ops are also great options, but often hard to find. The Dill Pickle Co-op is in Logan Square. Anyone can shop at the Dill Pickle but members get special discounts. Members can also volunteer time working to get even deeper discounts. If you know of other local co-ops, post a comment and let us know!
- Buy Bulk - Ok, this doesn’t mean what I thought it meant here. In this case “bulk” doesn’t mean buying a ton of the same thing, though that can be a good way to save money also. By bulk, the panelists meant shopping at the bulk (dry foods/”grocery”) section in Whole Foods (or other markets). Whole Foods has an incredibly impressive section of whole grains and flours, nuts and seeds, beans, lentils, herbs, etc. Buying beans in bulk, for example, can save a ton of money over buying canned beans (plus you avoid cans that have lining with dangerous BPA). So instead of buying packaged or canned foods, buy them dry and prepare them yourself. Buying bulk allows you to buy exactly how much you need (take a measuring cup!) with minimal packaging. Plus there are no weird preservatives and artificial colorings, sweeteners, etc.
- Avoid the Dirty Dozen - If you are unable to buy all organic produce, cut back on the worst offenders. Some fruits and vegetables absorb more pesticides than others. Peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes, carrots and pears are the worst, so buy these things organic. See the full list here at Food News. Other items to buy organic would include dairy and meat products.
- Find the Best Price for Your Six Most Used Items – Figure out what items you use the most and then shop around to find the best prices on them. Finding a great price on an item you use a couple times a year won’t do you much good but if you find the best prices for your most used items, it can add up to big-time savings.
- Learn to Cook and Choose Recipes Well - Cooking your own food can help you save money. You pay for convenience. I have found eating to be much more enjoyable since I’ve started making my own food. Choose budget-friendly recipes. If an ingredient is too expensive, don’t toss out the whole recipe, google substitutes.
- Preserve Your Food – Learn how to can or dry your food. Or freeze it. This allows you to buy a large quantity of food when it’s in season (and cheaper) and be able to enjoy it year-round.
- Use What You Have - Don’t let food go to waste or let it become “a science experiment in the back of the fridge,” as one panelist said. Use it up. One panelist said that after Thanksgiving her family stops buying food. They go through all their preserved and packaged food and use it all up through the rest of the year. It becomes a fun game for the family. And it allows them to have a fresh start at the beginning of each year. In any case, be mindful of expiration dates and try to use up food before it goes bad.
- Plan - Plan your eating around what’s available locally and in-season. You’ll get the freshest and best-priced food this way.
- Grow Your Own – Nothing could be cheaper, fresher, or more local than your own backyard! Start a gardening group with friends and share the harvest. Or plant just a couple of containers of your most-used produce. Start a window box of lettuce. Grow your own herbs. Gardening is a great way to spend some time outside being active and to get the freshest food!
- Shop at Stanley’s - Stanley’s is a discount produce store in Chicago (1558 N Elston Ave), so if you’re near it, shop there! The produce at Stanley’s is nearer the end of it’s shelf life than at a place like Whole Foods, so you have to use it more quickly, but the prices are amazing! So if you’re making alot of something (you can always freeze extras!), it’s definitely worth it to shop at Stanley’s.
I hope these tips are helpful! If you have any to add please comment! Also, I haven’t forgotten about reviews for The Borrowed Earth Cafe or The Bleeding Heart Bakery. I have some pictures I wanted to post with them and I can’t find my computer cord to get the pictures! Anyways, those will be coming soon, pictures or not!
I love this Rachel. Thank you so much !!!