grocery poll (clicky)

EmmieB · September 2011

how important is cost when you're grocery shopping?

I found myself riled up this morning when my BFF referred to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck. And it's been brought to my attention on more than one occasion that we are in the minority re: foodstuffs, so I thought I'd throw this out there and see what you guys thought.

ETA - not the first time I've heard "Whole paycheck" - it was the context of the entire conversation, not to be c&p'd here because it would bore you - more an attitude from her other friends than the phrase itself. :-)

[Poll]

mcunningham · September 2011

how funny! i just posted about this same thing. now that i have kids - it is so much more important to me than before. we shop the farmers market every weekend and my kids love it. they love being able to sample the fruits and veggies and i love the sense of community and supporting the local farmers.

i would love to do all organic but it is so darn expensive. we are gradually making changes and the next thing is organic chicken since my husband and kids eat a ton of it, i just wish it didnt cost an arm and a leg!

abvernon · September 2011

To each its own. I am definitely more aware of what I am buying and I am leaning more towards the quality of food and paying extra $$ for it.

Celyn · September 2011

One of the nice things about eating mostly raw or unprocessed whole foods is that in the long run it's cheaper than eating packaged and processed foods. On the surface, my $4lb organic fruit is more expensive than non-organic, but when I'm paring it in a meal with a meal of dried legumes, sprouts and veggies from my garden rolled in tortillas I milled and made myself, it's a lot cheaper. There was a time when I paid $150 a week in groceries. Now it's down to $45-60 (and that's even with trips to Whole Foods). The only drawback is that there are never coupons for the things I buy.

This winter I've promised myself I'll start making my own nut milks (I can't drink regular milk) and yogurt. My mom used to do both when I was little, so I should be able to pull it off.

futrkingsley · September 2011

Lots of people on here refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck. But I know many of us bought the living social deal anyway!

I am a bizarre shopper and anyone who tried to track my preferences would be lost, including DH. I only buy DS organic milk and I don't really care where it's from but cost is an issues so I rarely get it at Whole Foods. I buy mostly organic produce either at the farmer's market or TJ's. I refuse to pay more for things at Safeway if they are cheaper at Target and vice versa, even if we are completely out of something and I won't be at the other store soon. Hubby and I have many items where we only like one brand of a particular item so we'll make multiple stops to get it if necessary. It can be stupid and silly and we don't even "cook" that much.

EmmieB · September 2011

Celyn:
One of the nice things about eating mostly raw or unprocessed whole foods is that in the long run it's cheaper than eating packaged and processed foods. On the surface, my $4lb organic fruit is more expensive than non-organic, but when I'm paring it in a meal with a meal of dried legumes, sprouts and veggies from my garden rolled in tortillas I milled and made myself, it's a lot cheaper. There was a time when I paid $150 a week in groceries. Now it's down to $45-60 (and that's even with trips to Whole Foods). The only drawback is that there are never coupons for the things I buy.
This winter I've promised myself I'll start making my own nut milks (I can't drink regular milk) and yogurt. My mom used to do both when I was little, so I should be able to pull it off.

..and now I feel like a slacker ;-)

how does one mill their own flour?

Celyn · September 2011

One buys a Vitamix with the mill feature

So that part didn't really save me any money, but I was buying the Vitamix anyway, so I splurged for the whole schbang. Buy spelt, millet, amaranth, rye, wheat, rice, whathaveyou in bulk and make your own flour. It only takes a few minutes. I even did lentil flour for papadums. Yummy stuff.

EmmieB · September 2011

Celyn:
One buys a Vitamix with the mill feature So that part didn't really save me any money, but I was buying the Vitamix anyway, so I splurged for the whole schbang. Buy spelt, millet, amaranth, rye, wheat, rice, whathaveyou in bulk and make your own flour. It only takes a few minutes. I even did lentil flour for papadums. Yummy stuff.

interesting...

EmmieB · September 2011

Celyn:
One buys a Vitamix with the mill feature So that part didn't really save me any money, but I was buying the Vitamix anyway, so I splurged for the whole schbang. Buy spelt, millet, amaranth, rye, wheat, rice, whathaveyou in bulk and make your own flour. It only takes a few minutes. I even did lentil flour for papadums. Yummy stuff.

interesting...

jsugrin · September 2011

My feelings and my practice are pretty different. In my ideal world I'd buy all organic, local and make all my own bread, peanut butter, yogurt, tortillas, pasta ect. My reality is that I've got a strict grocery budget and to make it work it means that I buy as much organic as possible for the kids and we're lucky to be within walking distance to a weekly farmer's market but I shop more with my eye on the $$$ than anything else.

In some ways I feel like it's easier not to stress about the local/fresh component because I live in the middle of farm country and simply being in CA it's not hard to shop local.

We also don't have a Whole Foods so I have no idea how the prices compare Major Retailers like Safeway, Save Mart, Albertsons ect.

ladipale · September 2011

My priorities are twofold: health of my family and health of the planet. We don't buy very much processed food at all, only eat meat (chicken or fish) a few times/week, buy our grains at the food coop in the bulk bin (and some, including the rice I buy is local) Its a balancing act and as we advance in our career we find ourselves being able to make more changes. For example, we buy only Clover milk and would prefer it to be Organic, but for now we just buy the non Organic. Our monthly food budget would probably shock some people. But we don't eat out very much.

EmmieB · September 2011

I guess I could share what we do, right?

We get a CSA box twice a month, I buy our meat from Prather (at the Campbell farmer's market) or Whole Foods ONLY. And we're getting so that when we eat out, we're eating vegetarian unless we know how they sourced their meat. (The more food memoirs I read, the more adamant I become.)

We cook almost everything from scratch - including some of our condiments (thanks, Husband!) and buy as much organic as possible. Part of that is ethical, and part of that is an insensitivity on my part to a lot of the preservatives that go into non-organic foods.

We're starting to skew towards having meat be a side (or not included at all) in our dishes, which is actually lowering our bill...

our grains and rice we buy bulk. Pasta I buy fresh when I'm feeling splurgy and dried when I'm not. I'd love to learn how to make it.

In a perfect world, I'd make our bread (not sure about the milling the flour part) and pasta and can/preserve from our trees and the farm box...

but man if I'm not a sucker for something that makes your taste buds sing.

I love food. And anyone who's wanting a nudge in the direction of treading more lightly and kindly on the planet is welcome to the ethical information regarding our food choices, but I bite my tongue daily to keep from spewing it at my friends who say things like "so what if it's loaded with nitrites? its was TWO DOLLAR BACON!" Sigh.

MeggyO · September 2011

It's definitely a consideration. Honestly, we can't afford Whole Foods on a regular basis. We shop primarily at #1 Farmer's Market for produce, eggs and fish, #2 Trader Joe's for meat, juice, dairy and most dry goods, #3 Safeway for the random things we just can't get at TJ's or the Farmer's Market.

MadameD517 · September 2011

Special snowflake: Since I live in an area with a locally owned grocery I am happy to pay just a bit more to support a local business, and most of the time we are paying less than you would at somewhere like Safeway.

And I definitely call WF Whole Paycheck, I love the store but just can't justify buying all of our groceries there.

ZoeMay06 · September 2011

Eating quality food even if I have to pay a little more for it has always been very important to me, even when I was barely scraping by. I feel even more strongly about it now that I'm a mom. There are a few things that I will only buy organic (and local if possible) - milk, eggs, chicken, and most of our produce - especially the "dirty dozen". I shop for the majority of those things at WF and I don't feel that it's all that expensive. Shopping at WF can be very reasonable if you only buy certain things and don't do all of your grocery shopping there, so I get a little annoyed at the Whole Paycheck thing too sometimes. I shop at TJs for pantry staples, cheese, bread, coffee/tea, wine/beer, most canned goods, snacks and convenience foods, etc. and once in a great while I'll go to Safeway for random odds and ends that I can't get at WF or TJs or pick them up at Target when I'm there for other things. Costco is getting better and better and I stock up on certain things there once every month or two, but I try not to go often because that's where I can REALLY do some major damage.

EmmieB · September 2011

MadameD517:
Special snowflake: Since I live in an area with a locally owned grocery I am happy to pay just a bit more to support a local business, and most of the time we are paying less than you would at somewhere like Safeway.

jealous. I was really hoping the grocery store that went in would be locally owned/a co-op, but it's a fresh and easy....not bad, but not spectacular.

emeraldwednesda · September 2011

The only things I regularly pay extra for are organic strawberries and cage free eggs. The rest of the dirty dozen are either things we have in our yard or that we don't eat anyway. We don't eat much red meat so that lowers our food bill and avoids all the angst. Fish-wise, we generally eat tilapia which is both cheap and sustainable. I'd say that while these considerations do matter a little, and when we do eat meat we get the best available, cost and convenience matter too- at least as much.

Roni.Cedra · September 2011

ZoeMay06:
Eating quality food even if I have to pay a little more for it has always been very important to me, even when I was barely scraping by. I feel even more strongly about it now that I'm a mom. There are a few things that I will only buy organic (and local if possible) - milk, eggs, chicken, and most of our produce - especially the "dirty dozen". I shop for the majority of those things at WF and I don't feel that it's all that expensive. Shopping at WF can be very reasonable if you only buy certain things and don't do all of your grocery shopping there, so I get a little annoyed at the Whole Paycheck thing too sometimes. I shop at TJs for pantry staples, cheese, bread, coffee/tea, wine/beer, most canned goods, snacks and convenience foods, etc. and once in a great while I'll go to Safeway for random odds and ends that I can't get at WF or TJs or pick them up at Target when I'm there for other things. Costco is getting better and better and I stock up on certain things there once every month or two, but I try not to go often because that's where I can REALLY do some major damage.

THIS. There are items there cheaper than safeway, and a lot of their soda and cereal are cheaper than our local grocery--Mollie Stones. I like to think I am informed shopper so if I know I can get x cheaper at TJ or somewhere else, I do. But in my opinion, it isn't that unreasonable.

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