Affordable Organic
While it could be said that feeding yourself top-quality food is about the best investment you could make, you may feel your food choices are distinctly limited by your finances. Fortunately, some measure of high-quality, organic food can fit into any budget. The following tips and ideas can help you do just that.
Quality Counts
Why organic? you may ask. While quantity (eating enough veggies, fruits, and nutrient-rich whole foods) is important for nutrition, we are also learning that quality is also critical. Not all apples are the same. Modern varieties are often bred for shelf life, travel, and surface beauty (think iceberg lettuce) rather than high nutrition. Conventionally-grown foods often contain measureable pesticide residues on or inside them. And more and more non-organic foods are genetically modified -- something you cannot determine from its appearance or label.
When it comes to meat, milk products, and eggs, “you are what your food has eaten.” Pesticides, hormones, and the consequences of low-quality or un-natural animal feed get passed up the food chain to you and may affect your health.
Prioritize
Some supermarket fruits and vegetables have a higher pesticide content than others. Try to buy these organic, and go conventional with less-sprayed produce. Check out the Dirty Dozen for a current list (click link and scroll down for Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen).
If you can’t afford organic, look for dairy and meat that advertise no hormones (or “BGH-free” in the case of milk).
Less Is More
When choosing food, the less processed it is, the better—better for your wallet, and better for your health. With rare exceptions, foods lose some of their nutritional value with processing. Yet you get charged more—often dramatically more—for this depleted food. Although processed foods may be thought of as more convenient because they require less preparation time before you can eat them, you may question if the trade-off is worth it. With a little advance planning, plus a programmable rice cooker or crockpot, preparing whole foods is simple.
· Buy organic brown rice, rolled or steel-cut oats, millet, quinoa, or buckwheat instead of “minute” rice, “quick” oats, pasta, or bread
· Buy organic dried beans, splits peas, and lentils instead of canned
· Bake from scratch instead of buying baked goods or mixes (not only will it cost substantially less, it will almost certainly be healthier)
Go For Bulk
Check out the bulk section of your local natural foods store or supermarket. Depending where you shop, you can find grains, dried legumes, nuts, herbs and spices, some dried fruits, and even breakfast cereal, snack foods and pasta (however, see Less Is More regarding these last three), all available in bulk bins at lower prices than if you bought them in a package.
If you can't find what you want, natural food stores will often allow you to order something if you commit to a large enough quantity. Plus, if you order a 10 lb, or 25 lb bag of grain, you may qualify for additional bulk price reductions. Dried grains and legumes will keep for months to years in a dry, not-too-warm location. (You will probably want to store the bag in a lidded plastic bucket or other mouse-proof container.)
For canned goods like soy-free tuna or organic tomatoes, buying a case at a time (preferably during a sale) will save you money.
If you don’t have a local store that sells bulk, you may be able to locate a buying co-op, or start your own.
Compare Prices:
Cheerios (8.9 oz): $2.39 $4.30/lb
bulk organic rolled oats (1 lb): $1.69 $1.69/lb
canned (cooked) kidney beans (16 oz): $1.49 $1.49/lb (cooked)
bulk dry organic kidney beans (these will make
2-3x as much when cooked) (16 oz): $2.73 $1.09/lb (cooked)
Minute Rice white rice (28 oz): $3.39 $1.94/lb
Uncle Ben’s instant brown rice (14 oz): $2.00 $2.29/lb
organic brown rice (32 oz): $2.73 $1.37/lb
Freeze It
Another way of buying bulk is to invest in a large quantity of a perishable food while it is in season and relatively cheap, and then freeze it for use all year. While the price of locally grown green beans at the farmers’ market might not strike you as cut-rate in August, it will be a bargain compared to buying packaged frozen organic green beans in January, and better for your health than non-organic brands.
Fill your freezer with berries from a no-spray pick-your-own farm, local corn, farm market specials, and the zucchini your coworker will almost pay you to take off their hands. I like to make up quarts of farm-stand stews in August that I pull out and reheat all year on days that we don’t have time to cook dinner.
Homegrown
While not everyone may have the space or energy to start a garden or a flock of chickens, it could be the best commitment you ever make to your health. Consider seriously what you might have space for, and give it a try.
I consider growing leafy greens to be the best bang for your buck—they are cold-tolerant, they keep producing all season (until buried by the snow), they are a high-quality food (I try to eat greens twice every day), they freeze well, and they can save you a lot of money compared to store prices.
ANYONE Can Sprout!
So you can’t handle a garden…..So you live in a tiny dark apartment….So you don’t exactly have a green thumb……That’s OK --- you can still grow sprouts!
Sprouted seeds are about the most nutrient-dense form of plant food there is—and they are easy and dirt-cheap to grow yourself. Your local natural food store can sell you sprouting seeds (don’t use garden seeds, as they may be treated with chemicals). Alfalfa and mung bean are classic, but any seed can be sprouted – try radish, broccoli, peas, garbanzos or any other dried bean, wheatgrass, sunflower seeds, any raw nut….
Here’s how:
Put seeds into a wide-mouth quart jar (maximum 1/3 full), fill it with water, and screw the cover on, replacing the solid lid insert with a piece of cheesecloth or clean screen material. Let soak overnight, then pour the water out and let it rest at an angle in the dish rack so that water drips out and air can get in. Rinse and re-drain at least twice a day until your sprouts are ready (in less than a week).
Sprouts can be eaten raw in salads and sandwiches, lightly cooked, or munched as a snack (beans and nuts).
Go Wild
Wild plants and game are often extra-nutritious compared to their farm-raised relatives, and may cost you only your time. Foraging does require a commitment to educating yourself – you’ll need some good field guides from the library, at the very least. It must also be done responsibly (don’t take more than your share). Once you know your plants and know your territory (don’t pick from contaminated areas such as along main roads or playgrounds that may use pesticides), you may find that your daily walk is an opportunity to supplement your supper with fresh wild foods that are as organic as it gets.
I like to freeze pounds of wild berries, and have made gallons of applesauce from wild and neglected trees. One year I pulled out a field guide and discovered that many of the “weeds” I was pulling out of my garden while waiting for my lettuce to grow were at least as wholesome as the lettuce, so I’ve been adding them to my salads. The root of burdock, a common field “weed,” sells for at least $18 a pound in specialty stores.
Use extra caution if considering wild mushrooms—a mistake could be deadly.
Invest In Quality
Use the same dollars to buy quality instead of quantity.
Most of us would do well to decrease the amount of animal products in our diets and add in more veggies, whole grains, and legumes. Consider eating two or more vegan meals per week, featuring cheap organic beans, lentils, nuts, and cooked grains along with your vegetables. The money you save can be used toward buying small amounts of high-quality organic or local free-range meats. For the same total amount of money, you will be eating significantly healthier all week.
Good For You, Good For the Planet
Every pinch of organic food you buy, grow, or gather is an investment in a healthier way of producing food. This has wide-ranging effects on the environment. Supporting your local organic farmer – or better yet, becoming one!—helps create healthier soil, water, air, wildlife, and food for your whole community.
While it could be said that feeding yourself top-quality food is about the best investment you could make, you may feel your food choices are distinctly limited by your finances. Fortunately, some measure of high-quality, organic food can fit into any budget. The following tips and ideas can help you do just that.
Quality Counts
Why organic? you may ask. While quantity (eating enough veggies, fruits, and nutrient-rich whole foods) is important for nutrition, we are also learning that quality is also critical. Not all apples are the same. Modern varieties are often bred for shelf life, travel, and surface beauty (think iceberg lettuce) rather than high nutrition. Conventionally-grown foods often contain measureable pesticide residues on or inside them. And more and more non-organic foods are genetically modified -- something you cannot determine from its appearance or label.
When it comes to meat, milk products, and eggs, “you are what your food has eaten.” Pesticides, hormones, and the consequences of low-quality or un-natural animal feed get passed up the food chain to you and may affect your health.
Prioritize
Some supermarket fruits and vegetables have a higher pesticide content than others. Try to buy these organic, and go conventional with less-sprayed produce. Check out the Dirty Dozen for a current list (click link and scroll down for Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen).
If you can’t afford organic, look for dairy and meat that advertise no hormones (or “BGH-free” in the case of milk).
Less Is More
When choosing food, the less processed it is, the better—better for your wallet, and better for your health. With rare exceptions, foods lose some of their nutritional value with processing. Yet you get charged more—often dramatically more—for this depleted food. Although processed foods may be thought of as more convenient because they require less preparation time before you can eat them, you may question if the trade-off is worth it. With a little advance planning, plus a programmable rice cooker or crockpot, preparing whole foods is simple.
· Buy organic brown rice, rolled or steel-cut oats, millet, quinoa, or buckwheat instead of “minute” rice, “quick” oats, pasta, or bread
· Buy organic dried beans, splits peas, and lentils instead of canned
· Bake from scratch instead of buying baked goods or mixes (not only will it cost substantially less, it will almost certainly be healthier)
Go For Bulk
Check out the bulk section of your local natural foods store or supermarket. Depending where you shop, you can find grains, dried legumes, nuts, herbs and spices, some dried fruits, and even breakfast cereal, snack foods and pasta (however, see Less Is More regarding these last three), all available in bulk bins at lower prices than if you bought them in a package.
If you can't find what you want, natural food stores will often allow you to order something if you commit to a large enough quantity. Plus, if you order a 10 lb, or 25 lb bag of grain, you may qualify for additional bulk price reductions. Dried grains and legumes will keep for months to years in a dry, not-too-warm location. (You will probably want to store the bag in a lidded plastic bucket or other mouse-proof container.)
For canned goods like soy-free tuna or organic tomatoes, buying a case at a time (preferably during a sale) will save you money.
If you don’t have a local store that sells bulk, you may be able to locate a buying co-op, or start your own.
Compare Prices:
Cheerios (8.9 oz): $2.39 $4.30/lb
bulk organic rolled oats (1 lb): $1.69 $1.69/lb
canned (cooked) kidney beans (16 oz): $1.49 $1.49/lb (cooked)
bulk dry organic kidney beans (these will make
2-3x as much when cooked) (16 oz): $2.73 $1.09/lb (cooked)
Minute Rice white rice (28 oz): $3.39 $1.94/lb
Uncle Ben’s instant brown rice (14 oz): $2.00 $2.29/lb
organic brown rice (32 oz): $2.73 $1.37/lb
Freeze It
Another way of buying bulk is to invest in a large quantity of a perishable food while it is in season and relatively cheap, and then freeze it for use all year. While the price of locally grown green beans at the farmers’ market might not strike you as cut-rate in August, it will be a bargain compared to buying packaged frozen organic green beans in January, and better for your health than non-organic brands.
Fill your freezer with berries from a no-spray pick-your-own farm, local corn, farm market specials, and the zucchini your coworker will almost pay you to take off their hands. I like to make up quarts of farm-stand stews in August that I pull out and reheat all year on days that we don’t have time to cook dinner.
Homegrown
While not everyone may have the space or energy to start a garden or a flock of chickens, it could be the best commitment you ever make to your health. Consider seriously what you might have space for, and give it a try.
I consider growing leafy greens to be the best bang for your buck—they are cold-tolerant, they keep producing all season (until buried by the snow), they are a high-quality food (I try to eat greens twice every day), they freeze well, and they can save you a lot of money compared to store prices.
ANYONE Can Sprout!
So you can’t handle a garden…..So you live in a tiny dark apartment….So you don’t exactly have a green thumb……That’s OK --- you can still grow sprouts!
Sprouted seeds are about the most nutrient-dense form of plant food there is—and they are easy and dirt-cheap to grow yourself. Your local natural food store can sell you sprouting seeds (don’t use garden seeds, as they may be treated with chemicals). Alfalfa and mung bean are classic, but any seed can be sprouted – try radish, broccoli, peas, garbanzos or any other dried bean, wheatgrass, sunflower seeds, any raw nut….
Here’s how:
Put seeds into a wide-mouth quart jar (maximum 1/3 full), fill it with water, and screw the cover on, replacing the solid lid insert with a piece of cheesecloth or clean screen material. Let soak overnight, then pour the water out and let it rest at an angle in the dish rack so that water drips out and air can get in. Rinse and re-drain at least twice a day until your sprouts are ready (in less than a week).
Sprouts can be eaten raw in salads and sandwiches, lightly cooked, or munched as a snack (beans and nuts).
Go Wild
Wild plants and game are often extra-nutritious compared to their farm-raised relatives, and may cost you only your time. Foraging does require a commitment to educating yourself – you’ll need some good field guides from the library, at the very least. It must also be done responsibly (don’t take more than your share). Once you know your plants and know your territory (don’t pick from contaminated areas such as along main roads or playgrounds that may use pesticides), you may find that your daily walk is an opportunity to supplement your supper with fresh wild foods that are as organic as it gets.
I like to freeze pounds of wild berries, and have made gallons of applesauce from wild and neglected trees. One year I pulled out a field guide and discovered that many of the “weeds” I was pulling out of my garden while waiting for my lettuce to grow were at least as wholesome as the lettuce, so I’ve been adding them to my salads. The root of burdock, a common field “weed,” sells for at least $18 a pound in specialty stores.
Use extra caution if considering wild mushrooms—a mistake could be deadly.
Invest In Quality
Use the same dollars to buy quality instead of quantity.
Most of us would do well to decrease the amount of animal products in our diets and add in more veggies, whole grains, and legumes. Consider eating two or more vegan meals per week, featuring cheap organic beans, lentils, nuts, and cooked grains along with your vegetables. The money you save can be used toward buying small amounts of high-quality organic or local free-range meats. For the same total amount of money, you will be eating significantly healthier all week.
Good For You, Good For the Planet
Every pinch of organic food you buy, grow, or gather is an investment in a healthier way of producing food. This has wide-ranging effects on the environment. Supporting your local organic farmer – or better yet, becoming one!—helps create healthier soil, water, air, wildlife, and food for your whole community.
Jennifer L. Highland, DO
59 Cummings Hill Rd.
Plymouth, NH 03264
(603) 536-4300
59 Cummings Hill Rd.
Plymouth, NH 03264
(603) 536-4300