5 Tips for Living Organic on a Budget
Living organic on a budget isn’t impossible – and it doesn’t even have to be all that difficult. Here are a few helpful tips for buying organic without spending a lot of extra money…
Organic food has a reputation for being expensive, even though in recent years, increasing supply has led to lower prices that often aren’t much higher than “conventionally” grown produce. In fact, it has become easier than ever to starting living organic, even when on a budget.
You can actually live a very healthy and organic lifestyle without spending much more money than you normally do – you just need to know how and where to find the best prices on organic food.
Here are just a few of the ways you can live organic while on a budget.
1. Grow your own
This should be your first step in living organic – if you have the space for it. Growing your own food gives you the most control over your food supply. You can determine exactly how you want your food to be grown, and which foods you want to grow for yourself. You might not have a large garden or space for a greenhouse, and most people don’t have enough space or time to grow all their own food. However, there are plenty of things that you can grow at home quite easily even with a minimum amount of space, such as fresh herbs or tomatoes. You can consider this option depending on how much space and time you have available, but it is definitely a great place to start. (Learn more about sustainable and organic gardening here.)
2. Check out local farms
Not everybody lives within easy traveling distance of a farm, but if there is one nearby, check it out and see what is up for sale. Many small farms have eggs and vegetables as a minimum, while other more advanced and larger farms will have meat and milk or cheese for sale too.
3. Ask farmers at the local market
There are farmer’s markets all over the world, and these days, most major cities and even small towns have several of them. If the market is only running during one day of the week, chat with the sellers there and see if you can purchase from them during other days of the week on the farm or at another location. Speak to the farmers to ask how their animals are kept and what they are fed if you are going to be buying meat.
4. Shop around for comparison
If you’ve only ever shopped in one supermarket and organic produce seems too expensive, it might be time to shop around a little bit and see if there are any savings to be had elsewhere. Some grocery stores have much better sales on organic produce than others. You may be able to spread your shopping out over 2-3 different supermarkets to maximize the deals and offers available across all of them.
5. Opt out of plastic packaging
While this doesn’t mean the produce is organic, you can definitely cut down on your planetary impact (and maybe even save some money) by buying in bulk and skipping the plastic packaging. Bring reusable shopping bags and put your loose fruits and vegetables in them, and bring your own containers to fill with bulk dried fruit, nuts, flour, and other items. You’ll cut down on your plastic usage, which is largely unnecessary anyway, and perhaps even save a bit of money since you won’t be paying for the packaging.
