Blog Site Discontinued June 23, 2017

Welcome. This blog site, healthy eating and food safety, has been discontinued as of June 23, 2017. I look forward to your comments and feedback regarding use of this tool to disseminate educational information.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Shopping for Organic Food on a Budget

Shopping for Organic Food on a Budget

As a food shopper, you may have seen or considered the purchase of organic foods. More food outlets now carry organic foods, and there are greater varieties and amounts of organic food products on the market.

   You may have also noticed that foods certified as organic have a higher price tag. This is due to higher production costs and a limited supply compared with demand. In addition, most organic farmers do not receive farm subsidies and generally have smaller farms.

Although costs are higher, eating organic on a budget is possible. If having some organic foods in your diet is important to you, here are some ways to save money when making organic food purchases. First, prioritize why it is important for you to buy organic versus nonorganic. Consider what you eat regularly and what health gains you want to achieve. Secondly, choose organic for items consumed most often so you are most likely to meet your health goals. Third, buy in bulk. As with nonconventional foods, buying larger amounts is a common way to save money because the unit purchase of the item is less.

Another way to save money is to buy according to seasonal availability of fruits and vegetables. When items are purchased in season they are less expensive. Consider making purchases from local farmers or at farmer markets.
With the popularity of organic foods increasing, stores are developing their own organic brands and carrying other private labels that are often lower-priced than national brands.

Check websites for your favorite organic food brands for special deals and note many have social networking pages and apps for newer technologies that offer special deals.

In addition, consider what you can give up or do differently, such as preparing more meals at home and eating out less, or relying less on convenience foods. These decisions can help make more available for organic food purchases.
Source: Shelly King-Curry, UW-Extension

1 comment:

  1. Very nice recommendations, this new year is going to be a base-on-budget year.

    ReplyDelete