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Farm Kitchen:  buying organic  |
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LenaSassafrass
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Leanne
Hamilton
Montana
USA
69 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 12 2014 : 07:36:11 AM
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Hey ladies!
I was wondering how many of you buy most all of your produce and try for your meats and dairy to be organic also? How do you keep a low budget when doing this?
I'm wanting to switch our family over to organic as much as possible and with a garden this summer that will help. I have 3 little ones to feed with a huge appetite and a husband whose appetite is large.
Thanks! Leanne
Maizy-brownswiss/jersey
Sassafrass-06/20/10 |
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churunga
True Blue Farmgirl
3957 Posts
Marie
Minneapolis
MN
USA
3957 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2014 : 12:41:33 PM
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My DH and I exclusively organic. We spend about $150 a week on groceries. This includes cleaning products, toiletries and herbal supplements. This may seem excessive and it probably is because we buy cookies, crackers and chips and some of the supplements cost $25.
My advice is to first, buy all your grains, rice, oats, pasta and flour in bulk (by the pound) and store it safely. This will save an enormous amount of money.
Second, buy as much as you can from farmers' markets. Be careful, though, of the farmers' stalls which sell out of region products and ask about their farming practices.
Third, consider investing in a CSA (community supported agriculture) share from a farm. The idea is you invest in the farm and the potential harvest. All through the early summer through fall you receive a share of the harvest. Depending on where you live the products will be a variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, eggs and even meat. I paid about $125 for a quarter share and I could not even eat it all. So, if you pay $400 for a full share, that would be $100 a month for a lot of food fresh from a local farm.
Fourth, consider changing the recipes you cook for the family. We steam rice and make stir fry vegetables. I make myself a crock pot soup out of the vegetables which are going limp which lasts for a week. Bakery bread is extremely expensive so consider making your own bread. At our coop, flour is only 20 cents a pound. Use the entire vegetable. I cut up carrot and radish greens to use in salads or in my soup.
Your local organic grocery store will have classes on sustainable shopping and cooking. Buy a membership to receive all the member discounts and deals. Once you are comfortable with the store and the membership, you can start to participate in the store governance and decision making. Our coop gives us discounts for bringing in our own bags.
Buying organic is worth paying for because you just feel better after eating the food.
Marie, Sister #5142
Try everything once and the fun things twice. |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2014 : 7:10:14 PM
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There is a book "Wildly Affordable Organic" that is available. I've tried a couple of their recipes and now I plan to get the book and I've joined the author's website. The recipes are all vegetarian as it's difficult to find organic meat that is inexpensive. I'm learning to fix beans in ways that make them taste good. I like to "experiment" when cooking but I get frustrated with recipes that call for exotic ingredients. I've also started buying locally made body care products, which are generally cheaper than store-bought and just as good. Check out antique malls that have booths where vendors sell their products. Lots of them also have home-made soaps, lotions, etc. for sell.
Cindy
"Vast floods can't quench love, no matter what love did/ Rivers can't drown love, no matter where love's hid"--Sinead O'Connor
"In many ways, you don't just live in the country, it lives inside you"--Ellen Eilers
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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Madinet85
True Blue Farmgirl
94 Posts
Elizabeth
Indiana
USA
94 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2014 : 11:40:35 AM
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Buying organic food for me has been a hard pill to swallow. I know its what is best, but right now my grocery budget can't handle it all. My advice is to do some research on what being organic means for each type of food, it means something different for milk than veggies etc. Then decide what is the most pressing thing to switch over and/or what is cheapest. We decided to get chickens for eggs, partially for the increased quality, partially my own personally issue with how chickens are treated on factory farms. Next step for us is like you, planting a garden and harvesting and storing as many of your own veggies as possible. My husband hunts each fall to get us at least two deer, so that I can limit the amount of beef I buy.
My personal next step is trying to find a good source of local farm raised beef and chicken. I know it will be more expensive, but I'm willing to eat meat one or two less times per week to have better quality beef. I also want to find a good source of local bulk organic flour, its much too expensive to buy organic in the store, and I use a lot of flour since I bake all of our bread/tortillas/etc myself.
Farmgirl Sister #4915 |
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Cissik
True Blue Farmgirl
582 Posts
Sylvia
Kent
WA
USA
582 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2014 : 08:31:13 AM
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Are you near a Costco? They have started to increase their organic goods. I buy their organic flour and it is dirt cheap. Also, start canning. Raised my little ones by canning. I could get fruit that had fallen from trees in a nearby orchard free. Yes, I had to cut a lot of bruised areas off, but the good part of the fruit was canned and so good the next winter. Nothing's wrong with free. I think starting small and finding your way to bargains will help.
Sylvia
Kent, WA
Farm Girl #5389
http://vintagehousegoods.blogspot.com |
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2014 : 12:11:07 PM
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My family is primarily organic. Here are the "tricks" we have learned.
Buy your meat in bulk. We buy grass-fed beef a cow at a time. With so many of us, we have found that a jersey cow lasts us a little over a year. If you go to www.eatwild.com you can search for a local farmer in your area. We generally buy ours around tax return time, and then start budgeting it in for the following year. You can also find good sources for chicken and pork.
Buy into a CSA. Many times your smaller local farmers actually use organic practices, but do not pay to be certified organic. You can search for a CSA by going to www.localharvest.org We are part of a CSA that is year round. You can also talk to the farmers at your local farmer's market.
Join co-ops. Frontier and Azure Standard both have great prices. Unfortunately Azure Standard is only on the west coast, so I cannot participate, but you may be able to.
Shop Costco. They have some really good prices!!!
Garden yourself, if you can. You are in charge of what goes in your garden :)
Shop online. Amazon surprisingly has some good buys.
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
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CurlysQuilts
True Blue Farmgirl
569 Posts
Sarah
Northeast Kingdom
VT
USA
569 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2014 : 11:44:18 AM
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Fantastic advice Marie! I hardily second it. I'd also add for the organic meats find a local farmer who sells sides or shares of cows, pigs, whatever you would eat. Sometimes people go into this together to save as well. My mom has a group of people that all invest in chickens and feed and she raises them for butchering every year. We get yummy chicken at a fraction of the cost. But I do fill up my freezer. :)
You do really have to rethink how you grocery shop. You can't just run up to the store for everything. Buying in bulk, CSAs, and buying meats in sides requires careful budgeting, planning, and good storage set-up. But once you are there it will be just as easy as before, and really even easier since you have so many ingredients on hand, you almost never have 'nothing' to eat.
quote:
Originally posted by churunga
My DH and I exclusively organic. We spend about $150 a week on groceries. This includes cleaning products, toiletries and herbal supplements. This may seem excessive and it probably is because we buy cookies, crackers and chips and some of the supplements cost $25.
My advice is to first, buy all your grains, rice, oats, pasta and flour in bulk (by the pound) and store it safely. This will save an enormous amount of money.
Second, buy as much as you can from farmers' markets. Be careful, though, of the farmers' stalls which sell out of region products and ask about their farming practices.
Third, consider investing in a CSA (community supported agriculture) share from a farm. The idea is you invest in the farm and the potential harvest. All through the early summer through fall you receive a share of the harvest. Depending on where you live the products will be a variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, eggs and even meat. I paid about $125 for a quarter share and I could not even eat it all. So, if you pay $400 for a full share, that would be $100 a month for a lot of food fresh from a local farm.
Fourth, consider changing the recipes you cook for the family. We steam rice and make stir fry vegetables. I make myself a crock pot soup out of the vegetables which are going limp which lasts for a week. Bakery bread is extremely expensive so consider making your own bread. At our coop, flour is only 20 cents a pound. Use the entire vegetable. I cut up carrot and radish greens to use in salads or in my soup.
Your local organic grocery store will have classes on sustainable shopping and cooking. Buy a membership to receive all the member discounts and deals. Once you are comfortable with the store and the membership, you can start to participate in the store governance and decision making. Our coop gives us discounts for bringing in our own bags.
Buying organic is worth paying for because you just feel better after eating the food.
Marie, Sister #5142
Try everything once and the fun things twice.
Curly's Quilts
My website:
www.curlysquilts.weebly.com
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Farmgirl #5076
I am a recyclin, home schoolin', home grown, hand sewn kinda farmgirl! |
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Farm Kitchen: buying organic |
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buying organic
