Giving up organic

mauceddie

So, we've been eating primarily organic produce and local organic meat. Well, that's going to have to end when I SAH due to the costs. It makes me so sad :-(

I will still buy organic for the "dirty dozen" but not anything else. Especially not meat because it's 3x the price. Boo.

Any other advice?

 

Halo79RN

that's what we do... organic and locally grown when possible. but financially, it's not always doable.  you do what you can. 

shouldbworkin

For meat, try to buy "natural" at least.  I haven't found the price to be so different.  It's not certified organic, but I tend to think it's better than other meat b/c it doesn't have extra stuff added.  We eat very little red meat b/c it is harder to get that natural vs. poultry. 

mauceddie

I've seen  antibiotic free meat, but not "natural".

For example: fresh skinless boneless chicken breasts:

can get on sale for $3.99 or $4.99/lb,

regular price is $6.99/lb, 

antibiotic free is $7.99/lb, 

local/free run $8.50/lb,

local/organic/free run is $14.99/lb

 

veloelle

Can you buy less meat (but still organic) and supplement your diet w/ legumes?  Lentils and beans are a great substitute for meat. I make curry lentils w/ brown rice and veggies that's good.  A bag of dried beans is like $1, and you can make a LOT with it.

What about a garden in the yard, or if no room, a container garden? You could grow tomatoes, spinach, chard (great to throw in stir fry's, high in calcium) and herbs (too expensive at the store). That would cut down on your bills a lot. Or see what dirty dozen you can grow yourself.  I've found Early Girl tomatoes, cucumbers, Swiss Chard and basil are so easy to grow. Do you have farmer's markets? Many times you can find local growers who don't use chemicals and in season produce is fairly reasonable.

mauceddie

veloelle:

Can you buy less meat (but still organic) and supplement your diet w/ legumes?  Lentils and beans are a great substitute for meat. I make curry lentils w/ brown rice and veggies that's good.  A bag of dried beans is like $1, and you can make a LOT with it.

What about a garden in the yard, or if no room, a container garden? You could grow tomatoes, spinach, chard (great to throw in stir fry's, high in calcium) and herbs (too expensive at the store). That would cut down on your bills a lot. Or see what dirty dozen you can grow yourself.  I've found Early Girl tomatoes, cucumbers, Swiss Chard and basil are so easy to grow. Do you have farmer's markets? Many times you can find local growers who don't use chemicals and in season produce is fairly reasonable.

I will give gardening a shot. probably not this year while I am still working, but next year for sure.  That is actually a great idea.

The farmer's market around here is no cheaper than the supermarket for a lot of produce, unfortunately.

ETA: I will also definitely do more meatless meals.

shouldbworkin

"natural" varied by brand here.  I can buy a pound of 7% fat ground turkey that is "natural" no additives or antibiotics at Walmart for under $2.  No idea what they've been fed, though. 

If we weren't dairy free, I could cut my grocery budget down a lot by using more dairy for meals, like stuffed shells, lasagna, ravioli, etc.  So, I would add some more of that stuff into your menu.  And, I second the bean suggestion. 

CleoKitty

Consider buying meat directly from a small local farm. There are lots of farms around here that aren't technically certified organic, but they still are small family run farms with animals that are humanely treated and allowed to graze as nature intended. You can buy 1/4 cow and even though it is a good chunk of money up front it ends up being cheaper by the pound than grocery store meat.

Also keep an eye out for sales. I bought 7 lbs. of organic ground beef today for $1.99/lb. It was marked down because the sell-by date is two days from now. We'll eat some tonight and the rest can go into the freezer. I often luck out and find chicken at the grocery store the same way. Get to know when your preferred grocery stores tend to mark things down and try to shop at that time of day. 

Also learn how to "stretch" meat if you don't already do so.  For example, you can buy a whole chicken and roast it for dinner along with a couple of sides. The next day use the leftover chicken for making chicken salad for sandwiches. The third day make stock out of the carcass and have soup for dinner.

And yes, do eat less meat. Have meatless meals more often. Eat beans and lentils. Use meat as a seasoning more often instead of having a big slab of meat as the main dish (ie: a little bacon crumbled over a bowl of potato soup, one chicken breast in a large batch of fried rice, just 1/2 lb. of ground meat in meat sauce for spaghetti instead of a full pound, a small chunk of ham or sausage in a pot of beans, etc.) 

goodheartedmommy

Check out your local farmers market--you'll find that a lot of farms grow using organic methods, but cannot either afford to certify organic or have not been doing it long enough to be certified (there is a certain amount of time you must be growing organically before you can get certified).

We do not eat much meat--and I'm lucky to find the majority of our organic meat on managers special at a really cheap price--like organic beef near it's expiration date at $1.49/lb--I buy as many as they have at one time--usually 10 lbs or so. Same with butter, cream cheese, etc. Of course, some people may not have that at their store. Check local farms for meat, eggs, and dairy that may be organic, even if not certified. 

Mrs Manners

Ditto buying in bulk. I bought local, humanely raised non-certified pork from a neighboring farmer for under $2/lb. You can find grassfed beef for $4 or so if you buy 1/4 cow. Eggs aren't that expensive so supplement with local eggs. We don't eat many beans or grains but for most others they're a great way to bulk up the diet at a lower cost.

Question for the other posters, where are you finding this marked down meat in the supermarket? I'm buying grassfed ground for $7/lb and they NEVER put it on sale in the store. I'm wondering if you guys have different stores there than I have here or if I just don't know where to look?

goodheartedmommy

I buy it at Kroger. It varies from store to store, but the one I shop at now always has everything marked down--I never (or rarely) pay full price for milk, butter, meat, bread, yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, etc. Also, not every store keeps the same products. It happens that I live buy one that carries a ton of organic stuff, but it obviously doesn't sell because I always buy stuff on managers special.

AggieCouple

Read the "no antibiotic" label carefully.  There is usually a footnote that says something like "no antibiotics that has been shown to increase bacterial resistance in humans."

 Sneaky sneaky!  I was pretty excited when Tyson added the "no antibiotic" label to their chicken until I saw teensy weensy print  at the bottom.  B*stards!

AggieCouple

The one thing I won't give us is organic dairy.  The hormones they put in dairy is darned scary. Organic eggs are about $1 cheaper per dozen at Wal-mart, I've found (but their Organic milk prices are crazy).

I also try to stick to organic for the "dirty dozen" but there are others where it doesn't cost much more to grow organic, therefore it doesn't cost much more to buy them, such as carrots and celery.  I've also switched to frozen, as they are less expensive in general, but are actually more nutritious than fresh (they are frozen at peak, whereas "fresh" may have been sitting out for a while), and it's not that expensive for a large bag of frozen Organic corn, especially if you buy store brand (Whole Foods' 365 brand has a very good selection).  

Also, if I can't buy organic, I'll skin.  Apples, one the of dirty dozen, are actually easily rid of surface contaminants by skinning; of course you lose the nutrients in the skin. 

To mitigate the high cost of organic meats, I've also started cooking with organic beans 1-2 times a week.