Budget organic shopping

[illandBored]

Hi all,

I’m wondering for those of you who shop for organic and unprocessed food exclusively, how much do you end up having to spend per week/month? And do you have any tips ?

We are on a low/moderate food budget, I don’t spend on alcohol and cut down on meat as we eat vegetarian 4 days a week. We decided that I will stay at home for few years and so to accommodate my wishes to do that I’m cutting down on many luxuries such as holidays and so on and happy to cook from scratch/Male own sauces if it means healthier food.

Do you have tips for me ? Where to buy budget organic vegetables ?

I'm not really sure the words budget and organic go in the same sentence TBH!

Depending where you live you may find local farmer's markets are reasonable, and if not organic would certainly be low food miles.

We've used Riverford before and found their prices reasonable, particularly now you can swap stuff in and out of boxes to suit yourself.

Also I've found personally speaking that it's only things grown in the ground where the taste is appreciably better, fruits and salad etc don't really warrant the increase in price from good quality regular produce.

It is indeed a bit of an oxymoron. However, you're best bet is probably to try and find a local organic box scheme.

So what would that be like for a family of two adults and one toddler?

What’s a weekly budget like for an organic living?

As I said I’m willing to reduce our costs to the bare essentials.

How do you swap stuff in and out of Riverford boxes? I wasn’t aware you could do that?

Do you have any space to grow some of your own? Also second local organic box scheme.

No sadly we live in a flat. I considered renting an allotment but I think that works out more expensive than buying organic foods possibly

We are the same size family as you two adults one toddler. We use Abel and Cole and spend £80/£90 per week. We occasionally get a small meat box but generally eat vegetarian meals from scratch.

The major ongoing cost of an allotment is time, but if you have to get tools etc, then yes, the first year will be comparatively expensive.

Aldi do some organic bits and bobs - mushrooms, carrots and potatoes and onions if I recall. Not much of a choice tbh but some staple veg.
Have you looked at various supermarkets for Organic? Tescos have a small section and Waitrose have Duchy Organics.

We've got an allotment, it doesn't save us any money. It's time intensive.

I think if i went back to my Able & Cole box it work out financially but it's nice to get the kids outside and understand where their food is coming from.

Ocado does their own range of organics that are cheaper than duchy. Organic meat is expensive compared to factory farmed meat but meat should be expensive. There are things like oranges or anything with a thick skin that you peel that I wouldn't bother buying organic. Organic eggs are much cheaper than organic meat when thinking of protein. You can buy beans/pulses in bulk online or somewhere like planet organic if there's one near you.

I would do some research into which fruit and veg it is most important to get organic versions of. Apparently it makes little difference with bananas for example, but quite a difference in berries. That way you can prioritise.

What sort of budget are you looking at OP?

I started off slowly with organic and swapped out the things we eat a lot of - so milk, apples and bread flour at first. So you could try doing that to start with - think of the things you get through a lot of and buy organic.

All organic produce is expensive, as others have said. Try and use lentils instead of meat/to bulk out meat in meals (e.g. chili, spag vol etc)
Pasta is probably cheaper than potatoes per calorie
Look for shops where you can buy in bulk/by weight, as there are quite a few springing up now that offer better value and a good range of products

If you're more rural than I am you may have a decent farm shop available to you, which is usually better value.

If you live near Manchester, unicorn grocery is reasonably priced. Aldi have some organic produce too. Otherwise it's fairly Hair's to eat organic food on a budget unless you grow it yourself.

Establish why you’re wanting to eat organic and then select which organic things you buy based on the level of importance. For example, there’s little credible research which indicates organic produce is nutritionally better or that organic meat and dairy animals have better health outcomes, so it really isn’t worth blindly buying everything organic thinking otherwise. Go for key areas: if you’re focussed on e.g. better animal health then ensure all your meat comes from local organic high-welfare producers and if you’re focussed on environmental impact then only buy organic locally produced fruit and vegetables and only in season (and eating seasonally should also help your budget because it’s cheaper than flown-in exotic produce out of season.)

I’ve noticed that many ethnic grocers stock a surprising number of organic products from countries of origin where organic is more common, at decent prices.

If you are deciding which veggies to buy organic, I read somewhere that its best to buy organic root veggies because by being in the ground their increased contact with soil means the more contact with chemicals than say an apple which is grown above ground but I personally don't really know.

I am not sure if my budget really helps you as I am not in the UK. We are increasingly buying organic produce. 2 adults and 3 children. We get a local fruit and veg box delivered for €28 a week. This covers our fruit and veg for the week. I then spend roughly €25 in Aldi each week for dairy, tins, pasta, rice, cleaning stuff and €15 at the butchers for meat (organic mince, or cheap cuts) for two meals at the weekend. We have roughly 5 veggie meals and 2 meat meals each week.
If we don’t get the veg box we try to get the veggies from the weekly market.

I have to say that I am in a similar situation though and feel a bit torn. I am just about to go on maternity leave and will stay at home for a few years afterwards. So our finances will be stretched. It‘s about trying to find the compromise that you feel fits best - so my OH and I agree that meat should be high welfare so I guess that means we will be eating meat less often. The organic locally grown veg isn‘t quite as much of a priority so I am willing to compromise more.