Tips for shopping organic on a budget: Part 1

I'm not going to deny that the way I eat comes at a cost. Buying organic and chemical free produce, superfoods, and all the healthy goodies I have regularly stocked in my household costs me both money and time. But in the long-term, this is an investment I am willing to make for my health, the health of my growing baby,  my husband, and my environment. I believe that investing into top quality produce that is free from additives and pesticides, as well as those extra nutritional boosts through purchasing superfoods is going to pay off in the long run. If you are reluctant to enter the journey of organic living, particularly in the area of food; which lets face it, is a big chunk of money out of our week; then consider some of these tips that can help you prioritise and invest into the best quality food you possibly can within the frame of a tight budget:

1. Plan baby plan!

Having a meal plan for the week, and a matching shopping list is probably one of the most important things you can do for your wallet. Every week I sit down with my favourite recipe books/blogs, a pen and paper, and my schedule for the week ahead, and plan what we will need to buy within the boundaries of our budget. It's so important to look at the bigger picture of your week and ask the question: what nights will I be home this week and need a meal for dinner? What nights do I have time to cook a meal, and if not, what can I whip up quickly that will fill my body with nutrients and satisfy me?

Grant and I focus all our weekly shopping list around breakfasts, dinners, salads and fresh juices. We aren't big snackers, and lunches are usually just some leftovers from dinner the night before with a salad of seasonal raw veg. Breakfast is always a superfood smoothie or porridge, so we know we need to  keep stocked up on our basic smoothie ingredients, as well as oats, and nuts for nut milk. We also know we need to be stocked up on heaps of raw veg for juices, as well as fresh organic greens and salad ingredients like spinach, kale, cabbage and lettuces because we demolish them with lunch and dinner every day.

For dinners, I will always go by a recipe and write the exact ingredients I need to make them. When taking all the food we will need for the week into account, I will then write a specific list, and what shops/markets i'll need to go to in order to find them. Having my lists minimises impulse buys, and saves loads of time wandering aimlessly around the supermarket. It eliminates the need for last minute shopping trips, and it ensures that you actually eat everything you buy. No more waste putrefying at the bottom of the fridge, so its more bang for your buck.

2. Go by the clean fifteen and the dirty dozen

Organic produce can be very expensive. But in my eyes, its totally worth it to avoid pesticide residues wherever possible. The environmental working group has conducted extensive research into the particular fruit and veggies that carry the most pesticide residues and chemicals as a result of modern day, mass scale farming. Through all their research they have published the 'clean fifteen' and the 'dirty dozen'. The dirty dozen are the ones you definitely don't want to buy non-organic as they are going to contain the highest concentration of pesticides, where as the clean fifteen include fruit and veg that are the safest of the non-organic produce in terms of these undesirable toxins. Click here to see the EWGs website and to familiarise yourself with this simple, practical source. I will buy a majority of our produce organic and chemical free wherever I can, but if my wallet is seriously restricting me I'll just purchase non organic produce according to the clean fifteen guidelines. For example; I will never buy potatoes or spinach unless it's organic, because I know through the work of the EWG that it's not worth it for my health. But papaya's and avocados (my favourite food that can often cost a mint) I feel much better purchasing non organic if I don't have the cash.

3. Find your local farmers market 

Farmers markets are the bomb. Unlike supermarkets, you get to deal directly with the farmer. You can ask them questions about their produce and they can tell you the answer straight up, and are often more that happy to be honest about it. For example; my veggie lady Rita sells beautiful, affordable, chemical free produce straight from her farm that's only an hour from my house. It's not certified organic but I know she doesn't use any pesticides or chemicals whatsoever; which is good enough for me. However, some of her produce isn't chemical free, and she is honest with me about that. She knows I like the chemical free stuff and the organic stuff, so she is more than happy to distinguish for me each week what is or isn't chemical free. She has also given me her number and I can pre-order organic veg for her to bring down especially for me if I want something specific. This would never happen at the big supermarket.
Farmers will often throw in little extra freebies as you get to know them and build relationship with them too. The amount of times I've come home with a random giant organic prickly Asian cucumber for my juicer, or an extra bunch of chard for my salads, I can't even count.
Pasture raised eggs often accompany farmers stalls and go for so much cheaper than the ones you can buy in store, and I buy giant wild lemons for 30c each, and bag fulls of wild foraged saffron milk cap mushrooms for pennies. It's awesome! The variety, quality and price at farmers markets will beat the supermarkets every time.

4. Work with the seasons

When you understand whats in season, you'll save a lot of cash. Learning to buy what is seasonal allows you to meal plan and experiment with what your local area has on offer at specific times of the year; making food a much more enjoyable and cheaper experience.When I go to farmers markets, there are always some items that were $5 a kilo a few months ago, and are now $10 a kilo; because they are coming out of season. Load up on the seasonal veg, and avoid the stuff that's out of season and you will find that you will be able to buy much more with your money. Plan your meals based around the cheapest seasonal stuff and you have a recipe for both health, and money saving. Here is a great resource to see what is in season in the NSW area for each month. For the coming month of June; I'll be loading up and planning my meals on root vegetables like pumpkin, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes and kohlrabi! Yum! Sustainable Table is another brilliant group working to promote seasonal and ethical eating. This resource covers fruit, veg, and seafood.

5. Buy in bulk

While my husband Grant has a stable full time job, I'm a casual teacher and freelance writer; so the nature of my work means that some weeks we have extra cash, and some weeks we don't. In the weeks that I have extra money I will often prepare for the weeks ahead that I know I wont. I invest into a few specific superfoods for smoothies and wholefood supplements. My organic green powder, colloidal minerals, Inca Inchi oil (for essential fatty acids) and probiotic powders cost me a fair amount of money. So to save shipping costs, and prepare for the fact that I'm going to be out of work when my baby comes along in 7 weeks; I've invested into a hefty supply of these things that are important to me and my health; while I have extra money. Buying superfoods in bulk online will often save you money through shipping (often they will get rid of shipping costs if you spend a certain amount), and they are just cheaper in larger quantities. Keep your eyes out for sales on your favourite healthy (but expensive) staples. Loving earth is a website that I purchase many of my organic smoothie ingredients from, and they sell things in bulk, and often have sales during different months; so I'll stock up when things are cheapest.

When you have extra money it's also good to stock up on non-perishable organic staples like lentils, beans, brown rice, raw honey, oats, nuts, seeds and cold pressed plant oils that you know you can use to form a range of meals. This saves lots of time and money, as it influences future meal planning and takes that extra load off the grocery bill during weeks when things are tight.



These are just a few things I do to minimise the cost of buying quality foods. There are hundreds of other pieces of advice I could add, but I don't want this blog post to become a novel! I will have to do a follow up post in future. If you want to know more, or have any specific questions, please ask in the comments section and I'll be more than happy to help!