I got the following question from a reader today, and wanted to provide my thoughts and see what other readers have to say as well:
“I would love to know where you get your information and knowledge about green/organic products and produce. I live a relatively eco-friendly lifestyle in almost every department but grocery shopping. I’ve read so much contradictory information about what is “really” green/organic, plus I’ve read about how companies can be a little sneaky in labeling, including Whole Foods. I want to be able to buy something knowing that it is locally, sustainably produced, with as little packaging as possible, and ideally, still inexpensive. In the spring I will jump on the local CSAs and farmer’s markets, which are just now shutting down for the winter. I also plan to research urban gardening as we have an apartment w/ porches but no yard. But if you can offer any other hints or advice about this topic, I’d love to know!”
First, I have to say that I’m by no means an expert. Organic living, sustainability, and nutritious food are some of my favorite topics, so I read extensively about them. In general, I’ve found that mainstream media (tv, popular internet stories, magazines, etc.) often promote packaged “health” foods, so I tend to avoid those sort of sources. I read books about nutrition and sustainability, and I’ve recently become a fan of the magazine Mother Earth News, which frequently has food-related articles. In general, I try to buy food as close to whole as I can. My grocery cart is usually full of produce, brown rice, various dried legumes (which I cook in our solar oven), and staples like flour, olive oil, eggs, rice milk, baking powder, etc. If you look in my freezer, you’ll find large bags of organic fruits and vegetables, which is in my opinion the best thing about Costco. There are no frozen dinners, no ice cream, really not much of anything with more than two or three ingredients on the label. We used to buy Morningstar Farms frozen veggie patties at Costco. But they’re not organic, and I read that they use GMOs in their patties, so we no longer buy those – they were the only thing in our freezer I can think of that were processed. [edit – I just looked in the freezer, and we do also have a couple basic tomato/cheese pizzas that we use when we’re in a time crunch. We add veggies to them and throw them in the oven when we need a fast meal. We use one or two per month. They obviously have several ingredients, and are processed. But most of the time I make pizza from scratch]
I’m a fan of local as well, but I live in an area that is cold and snowy for five or six months a year, so during the winter there isn’t much local stuff available. We’re very excited about having our hydroponic garden this winter, as we’ll have homegrown – very local – produce all winter. And our greenhouse should keep our kale and swiss chard going most of the winter. But the veggie box that is delivered to our door every week goes from being local stuff in the summer to produce from the southwestern part of the US during the winter.
Basically, my favorite tip when it comes to food labels is that food without labels is best (an apple doesn’t have an ingredient list). For food with labels, I look for things that have the least amount of ingredients (ie, a container of cocoa that just says “organic cocoa” on the ingredient list), nothing I can’t pronounce, nothing that isn’t an actual food. That eliminates the vast majority of most grocery store products. I don’t eat meat, although my husband does. He buys free-range, grass fed, organic meat with no hormones or antibiotics used in the production. Because this meat is quite a bit more expensive than conventional meat, he doesn’t eat very much of it. We do eat eggs, and I admit to a bit of a confusion with regards to eggs. I only buy eggs that are cage free, and organic. But I believe eggs can be labeled “free range” as long as the birds have an open door leading to the outside. Even if they never go out that door (which apparently they won’t, if they’ve gotten used to living indoors). So while my ideal eggs would come from a chicken who scratches around in the dirt eating bugs and seeds all day, I don’t think that’s what’s going on – even on the “free range” farms that produce most of the eggs in our grocery stores. I am planning to look for a local farmer who sells truly free range eggs on a small scale, but I guess I’ve been procrastinating on this one and haven’t gotten to it yet.
We don’t eat much sugar or dairy products. We eliminated almost all sugar from our diet in 2005, which is incidentally the last time either of us was sick. In the last three+ years, neither of us has had a cold, flu, headache, infection of any kind. We make vegetables the main part of our diet, with whole grains, legumes, and fruit rounding out the mix. For us, the way we feel gives us an indication that our eating habits are working for us.
I make a green smoothie for us every day. I use greens from our garden, sprouts that we grow in the cupboard, and various fresh or frozen produce that I have on hand. This is the easiest way I know of to increase the amount of greens and veggies you eat. We also have vegetables with every meal, either cooked or in a salad.
We’re flexible when we’re at someone else’s house – we’ll eat whatever they serve. But for ourselves, we never buy anything with high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, or trans fats (labels that say hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil). And we almost never buy anything with food coloring or preservatives.
It’s true that there’s a lot of deception in packaging (a good reason to try to avoid packaged stuff if you can). Organic food in the US does have to meet the USDA organic standards. But companies can use words like “natural” without much in the way of regulation. And ingredient labels can be confusing, which is why I like foods that don’t have many ingredients.
I’m not the most savvy shopper out there. I don’t go from store to store searching for deals, and I rarely use coupons (but this is because coupons aren’t usually for single-ingredient items). But by eating virtually all of our meals at home, by avoiding processed food, and by limiting the amount of high-dollar foods like meat and dairy products, we’re able to eat organic food without completely breaking the bank. One example of how we save money on food is oatmeal. We buy organic oats in 50 pound bags, and that’s what we eat for breakfast, with a little cinnamon and some raisins mixed in. I cannot imagine how much higher our food bill would be if we ate organic boxed cereal every day.
So what do you think? I know that eating organic food and paying attention to what’s in our food is much more popular these days than it was even a few years ago. But I know a lot of people still find it a very confusing area. I’m still learning all the time (I just stopped buying Morningstar veggie patties last month). What ideas do you have for keeping the food bill reasonable while still protecting your health and the health of our planet?
Alissa says
This is an area that we are definitely struggling with right now. With food costs rising, I’m having difficulty keeping up with buying organic. A bag of organic apples right now is $6.49. The last time I went to buy a bag of organic flour it was $2.00 more than the last time I bought it. So I started slacking our standards, and buying some non-organic foods, in order to be able to live within our budget (you can’t spend it if you don’t have it!). But I felt horrible buying non-organic food. I hated supporting companies that were not environmentally conscious. I hated the thought of what we might be putting into our bodies. So I decided to reduce our debt repayment budget so that we could increase our grocery budget. What good is being debt-free if you don’t have your health? That being said, I still need to find ways to keep the budget as low as possible, while still eating healthy and organic. So thanks for all your wonderful tips! Like you, we eat mostly whole foods. I would love to find a source of bulk organic food in order to get it cheaper. Places like Azure Standard don’t deliver to Canada. I also plan to start growing some of our own produce and freezing it for winter. I want to start growing sprouts (to replace lettuce in the winter!). I do shop the Farmer’s Market when it’s in season. I buy organic spices in bulk at our local health food store for a fraction of the cost of the grocery store.
Do you guys take any vitamins or supplements? I just bought some organic/natural liquid multivitamins for the kids. And we use Udo’s Oil mixed in our smoothies to get our Omega 3,6, and 9 (we’re vegetarian). I find those to be the HUGE budget busters. Those two things alone cost me $50.00.
Something I do struggle with (and I’m always curious how others handle it) is the local vs. organic debate. For instance, where I live (Nova Scotia), we are known for our abundance of apples. Yet they’re not organic. So I’m never sure if I should buy local, non-organic apples, or if I should buy organic apples shipped here from halfway across the continent. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks for this great post! It’s very timely!
April says
This is very similar to how my husband and I eat, but since we live in Texas, our farmer’s market is open year-round. I buy 75 percent of our groceries from the market, and only buy the staples at the grocery store. People balk at the expense, but I’d argue that most people I know could afford it if it were really a priority. It is the true cost of food.
We have a fish monger who brings in fresh seafood (not frozen, just iced), and several vendors for various types of meat. I only eat fish, husband eats all kinds of meat, though I’m considering adding some meat back into my diet every so often, since I don’t have to worry about factory farming with the meat from the market. Like FB, we don’t buy meat/fish very often, maybe one item per week.
It is hard eating at someone else’s house, but of course I stay flexible and would never say anything about what is served. Last weekend we were at my MIL and had eggs, and I couldn’t help but to think about where the eggs came from, knowing (from the carton) that they weren’t free range or organic. I feel much better about eating our eggs from the market. But my MIL and SIL are very interested in how we eat, and they ask questions all of the time, which I’m very happy to answer. I think they are going to start looking for a farmer’s market nearby.
If you couldn’t tell, I’m all about the farmer’s market. I love getting to know the vendors, and there’s a real trust that develops. It’s great to talk to the people who made the butter or grew the squash you’re about to eat.
I don’t know that we’ll ever give up sugar. I subscribe to a European way of eating–real foods, in moderation. Plus, I enjoy baking from our French cookbook too much! Though from what I’ve made so far, there isn’t a great deal of sugar…they sort of let the breads and fruit fillings speak for themselves.
I could ramble on forever about organic food and cooking!!
On tip I do have for staying on budget is to make a list of desirables (likely to be there). Since most markets deal in cash, I only take the amount of cash I want to spend. Then I try to get the items from the list, leaving room to be flexible and to pick up new things that might be popping up this week.
Finally, if your health food store has a e-newsletter, sign up for it. Last week I received a coupon for $5 off of a $25 purchase at Whole Foods. I had a few items I knew I’d only be able to find at WF, so it came in handy.
Frugal Babe says
Thanks Alissa and April, for the great comments!
We do use some supplements, although in the last few months I’ve been reconsidering and looking for other alternatives. I take a whole food supplement called Blood Builder, because I have a tendency towards anemia, which became more pronounced while I was pregnant. It’s not cheap, but especially as a nursing mom, I need to make sure I’m not anemic (and since I don’t eat meat, I need all the help I can get).
I add a variety of “superfoods” to our meals and green smoothies every day. Things like fresh ginger, goji berries, turmeric, acai juice, flax seed, kelp powder and hemp protein powder. Some of these things are not cheap (hemp protein, for example) but I always stretch them by using less than a serving size (the protein powder says to add 4 Tbsp, whereas I might add 2 Tbsp to a green smoothie).
I’m debating buying an organic, whole food vitamin supplement online, but it’s super expensive, and I’m really not sure that I need it. With a diet based mainly on plants, including nuts, seeds, greens, and all the superfoods we eat, I feel like I might just be creating expensive pee by adding an additional vitamin supplement. Still thinking about this one…
NorCalRN says
Hi FB-
I am just wondering where you buy your Organic Oats in bulk from?? We have been thinking about stocking up on organic bulk items like flour, oats, etc but I don’t know quite where to look….
Thanks for all the info- I also have been curious about your family’s eating/shopping habits. :) You’re a great role model so far….
Frugal Babe says
Hi NorCalRN,
We’ve bought our oats at Wild Oats/Whole Foods, and also at a small local health food store. They always have to special order it for us, but we’ve been doing it for years without any problems. We do the same thing with quinoa.
over the cubicle wall says
It usually try and keep food buying as simple as possible, i.e. the less ingredients the better the better they probably are for me. As a bonus, they tend to be less expensive than highly proocessed or prepared foods.
Brenna Kater, the Ocean Skater says
I’ve realized coupons aren’t just about getting food for my family; they’re about making money! I’ve made about $10 this week buying stuff. It’s pretty cool :)