Although organic food doesn’t contain any more nutrients than non-organic food, it’s still a better choice than more traditional options in the grocery store. It isn’t covered in chemicals and pesticides, which is better for your health. Not to mention, the process of growing and harvesting organic food is a lot easier on the planet. There are a lot more options when it comes to organic food too!
It’s a great choice to go organic in your home, but you may quickly change your mind as soon as you go to the grocery store and discover how much organic food costs.
Don’t get discouraged! There are ways to integrate organic food into your diet without breaking the bank.
Use More Expensive Ingredients in Recipes
Organic food can be expensive, especially if you decide to go organic overnight. There’s no reason to quit traditional food cold turkey! Instead, use more expensive ingredients in recipes.
For example, buying organic milk for a family that drinks gallon after gallon all week long can get expensive fast. Instead, look for organic creamers to put in your coffee or heavy cream to put in your recipes.
By integrating items into recipes this way, you can also try new foods more easily. If you want to try organic cashew products, use a cashew yogurt the next time you’re looking to make a quick yogurt recipe for breakfast.
Don’t Throw Anything Out
No matter how much the food you buy costs, it’s money wasted if you just end up throwing away what you bought. The sting of throwing that money away can be even more painful if you’re throwing away organic items.
Get every cent out of the food you bought by making sure you don’t throw anything out. That includes using up ingredients before they go bad, but it also means eating your leftovers.
That includes popping them in the microwave and eating them just as they are, but it also means getting creative by repurposing your leftovers.
A few examples include:
- Use leftover vegetables in salads or broths
- Preserves, condiments, and vegetables can be blended into a dip or spread
- Meat and tofu can be used in other recipes, like casseroles
- Bread and grains can be sprinkled on yogurt, or dried into croutons for a salad
Buy Items You like in Bulk
Buying items in bulk is a great way to save money. If you know you like something, buy more of it, and you’ll end up saving more money than if you purchased a smaller quantity in a prepackaged amount.
There are other benefits of buying in bulk! You are also able to use reusable containers, which means less packaging that ends up in the garbage.
You’ll save money buying a lot of one item at once, but it isn’t the only way you can save when buying in bulk. Since you aren’t paying for packaging, you can actually save money if you buy smaller amounts. It also helps you ensure you don’t end up having to throw anything out because it goes bad before you can use it.
Join a CSA
You can find organic food items in every grocery store, but that doesn’t mean your local grocery store has the freshest items available. If you want the freshest organic produce, and you don’t want to pay a lot, skip the store and join a CSA.
Because you’re going directly to the farmer, you’ll get fruit, vegetables, and other items that are in-season, and without the middle men in distribution and at the grocery store, you won’t have to pay as much to get those items either.
Grow Your Own Food
You’ll always end up paying a little bit more if you purchase your food from someone else. That’s because the people growing that food deserve to be paid for the time it takes to tend to the crops and harvest them. If you grow your own food, all you have to do is pay for the seed or the plant.
By growing your own food, you have complete control over how they are grown, ensuring they are grown in an organic and ethical way.
You don’t have to have a green thumb either! There are quite a few vegetables that are easy for even the beginning gardener to grow.
Don’t think organic food is wrong for you when you see how much it costs at the grocery store. There are many ways you can integrate organic food into your diet without breaking the bank.
