Anyone eating organic and non gmo

[njcarita]

Anyone else eating organic and non gmo and able to keep to a reasonable food budget?? I am a family of 5 ... 4 adults and 1 teenager and I budgeted 650 for this month. I am going to go a little over this month . I order fruit/veggies from door to door organics, purchase many organic/ non gmo items from walmart.com and amazong. I purchase all our meats from a local organic meat store and buyt locally grown farm fresh eggs . I cook every day and try to have as little food waste as possible. Ex. Turning last nights sausage and pasta into a italian veggie soup today. Any other ideas??? WE have seen such great health benefits eating this way, so there is no going back to our former way of eating ( it was really bad... I mean really bad)... So please sure any tips and ideas

 

[hsmamato2]

Costco is helpful... I like a lot of their OG choices....I can get a HUGE bag of OG brown rice for around 13.00- a giant bag of quinoa(like 20 pounds maybe?) for around 35.00- eggs are always 3.50 per dozen(OG) etc etc etc.... I stay away from whole foods and their obscene prices in general, Trader Joes, sometimes, and Aldi has a great selection of good foods for cheap.( I also buy a lot of gf foods there too) So my main stores are actually Aldi and Costco for prices. I don't buy everything OG, but I do if there are choices,and at Costco there usually are

 

[Arich01]

About a year and a half ago, we did the same and really felt the benefits as well!!! Sadly, we let convenience and budget take over and we were back to eating processed junk! The past couple of weeks ago we decided to go back to eating a mostly organic diet. I cook a lot anyway, so the change isn't a big deal to me- just swapping out ingredients. I am slowly going through our pantry and using what I can and tossing what I just don't think we need to be eating. We are just gradually getting back to it because I don't want to waste the food we've already bought. ( I hope that makes sense)

With that said, we made a trip to Costco yesterday (about an hour away for us) and stocked up on stuff we normally eat and were almost out of, but just switched it to organic products with real ingredients. We bought the ground beef, canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, coffee, 24 eggs, pasta, chicken broth, frozen veggies, apples, bananas, onions, and some other odds and ends. We spent about $270 and thought we did pretty well (also bought dog food). This should last us most of the month and was incredibly cheaper than buying these products at our local store. I will probably need a few odds and ends, but nothing major.

I'm glad you brought this up and would love to see what other folks do to keep costs down while eating a bit better

 

[Dakota731]

We live in the boonies and don't have any Costcos, Trader Joe's or Whole Foods near us. Aldi's has a very limited organic section that I try to use but we are lacking in choice around here. I will check out Walmart.com since I get my dog food there and need something to add for free shipping. Heck he
eats more healthy than us!

 

[Bree]

I live in Southeast Florida so grocery prices are insane no matter where I go. Whole Foods has the best prices when it comes to organic produce and meats. Publix is insane when it comes to those foods (organic apples @ WF are $1.99 and $3.99 at Publix. Ground turkey $3.99lb at WF and $5.99lb at Publix). I buy our organic dairy and pantry items at WF, Costco, Target & Publix based on who is having the best sale this week.

 

[Arich01]

I live in Southeast Florida so grocery prices are insane no matter where I go. Whole Foods has the best prices when it comes to organic produce and meats. Publix is insane when it comes to those foods (organic apples @ WF are $1.99 and $3.99 at Publix. Ground turkey $3.99lb at WF and $5.99lb at Publix). I buy our organic dairy and pantry items at WF, Costco, Target & Publix based on who is having the best sale this week.

OMG I totally agree about Publix!!! Their organic prices are insane! I live in NW Florida so our prices are similar. We don't have a Whole Foods here- a Fresh Market just opened up, but you really have to watch their prices too. We found it was worth the hour drive once a month to go to Costco to stock up on things we regularly use. I did the math on a couple items- regular Swanson chicken broth runs about $2.79 for a carton. Costco's ORGANIC chicken broth came to $1.80 per carton (granted you have to buy in bulk, but that's no biggie here). So it's cheaper and organic! Win!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Your soup sounds delicious! Because there are no health benefits to organic or non-GMO, it may help to keep your budget in line by subbing out foods that are neither and you can then enjoy all the health benefits at a lower cost. -- Suzanne

 

[ptlohmysoul]

I don't know where you live, but I think your budget is amazingly low for organic, non-GMO food. Perhaps because you are good at not wasting food and your family is not picky? We spend more for a family of 5 with only 2 adults and 3 children, 10 and under. We have bought 1/2 or 1/4 cow in the past to save on beef, but then we bought less chicken when we did that. My kids are super picky and my husband is picky, too, so we end up buying a lot of fruit out of season, especially strawberries (more $$$). My kids will, for the most part, only eat Pink Lady apples. We'd love for our state to legalize raw milk. Remember that what you spend on healthy eating will be more than worth it in lower health costs and having good health!

 

[Marionnette]

Anyone else eating organic and non gmo and able to keep to a reasonable food budget?? I am a family of 5 ... 4 adults and 1 teenager and I budgeted 650 for this month. I am going to go a little over this month . I order fruit/veggies from door to door organics, purchase many organic/ non gmo items from walmart.com and amazong. I purchase all our meats from a local organic meat store and buyt locally grown farm fresh eggs . I cook every day and try to have as little food waste as possible. Ex. Turning last nights sausage and pasta into a italian veggie soup today. Any other ideas??? WE have seen such great health benefits eating this way, so there is no going back to our former way of eating ( it was really bad... I mean really bad)... So please sure any tips and ideas

IMO, if you're feeding 5 adults (less face it, teenagers can out-eat a lot of fully grown men and women), and you're spending only $650/month on organics and non-GMO products, you're already doing great.

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Your soup sounds delicious! Because there are no health benefits to organic or non-GMO, it may help to keep your budget in line by subbing out foods that are neither and you can then enjoy all the health benefits at a lower cost. -- Suzanne

What, do you work for Monsanto? If not, I hope you are posting this purely out of ignorance and not from malicious intent.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Suzanne- thats debatable. There are current and future benefits to organic, non-gmo produce. I, for one, do my best to avoid filling my plate with toxins. Corn thats been genetically altered to kill bugs? No thanks, I'd rather sacrifice in other areas to eat more healthy foods.

OP, I make a lot of things from scratch, and I buy nonperishables when on sale. Bags of frozen organic vegetables are great. I don't eat much meat, and if I do its fresh wild caught fish, which can add up. Lots of soups, salads, beans, etc. Sometimes pasta. Veggies burgers.

We keep our budget for a family of 3 around $800/month though, so it isn't exactly cheap. I do shop at Aldi for what I can. I also try to buy whats on sale/in season.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I wanted to add that I try to use coupons/sales combos to save in other areas (toilet paper, laundry soap, toiletries, non-edibles), so that the shopping budget doesn't send us bankrupt.

 

[njcarita]

Your soup sounds delicious! Because there are no health benefits to organic or non-GMO, it may help to keep your budget in line by subbing out foods that are neither and you can then enjoy all the health benefits at a lower cost. -- Suzanne

Not even entertaining that thought as I stated before not going back to eating the stuff we us to eat.... the safety of gmos have nott been studied..and since the USA is not labeling food that has gmos....I am going with only organic and non gmo verified foods.....gmos are banned in most countries and the ones that do allow most require labeling....... and as a biochemist...until I see the research showing it's safety....me or my family will not be guinea pigs to prove they are....I am going to err on the side of caution

 

[njcarita]

IMO, if you're feeding 5 adults (less face it, teenagers can out-eat a lot of fully grown men and women), and you're spending only $650/month on organics and non-GMO products, you're already doing great.

Thanks when I first started eating this way we were at over a $1000 month....so I have made great strides....just always think there is room for improvement

 

[SuzanneSLO]

What, do you work for Monsanto? If not, I hope you are posting this purely out of ignorance and not from malicious intent.

Nope. Just someone who likes to see evidence before I ban whole categories of food from my table.

And if the choice is between a snack of a chocolate bar made from organically grown non-GMO cocoa beans and a non-organically grown apple, do you really believe that the chocolate bar is the "healthier" choice? Or if your family doesn't post on a Disney message board and can't afford fresh organic produce, do you really think they are better off not eating any fresh fruits and vegetables? - Suzanne

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Nope. Just someone who likes to see evidence before I ban whole categories of food from my table.

And if the choice is between a snack of a chocolate bar made from organically grown non-GMO cocoa beans and a non-organically grown apple, do you really believe that the chocolate bar is the "healthier" choice? Or if your family doesn't post on a Disney message board and can't afford fresh organic produce, do you really think they are better off not eating any fresh fruits and vegetables? - Suzanne

GMO food and non-organic foods are not whole categories of food.

No, of course, processed food is way worse than non-processed food - whether organic or not. So, if someone was poor and could not afford a cell phone or TV nor organic food, then sure, non-organic, fresh fruit and veggies, washed to remove the poison sprayed on it is far better than boxed or canned food made with preservatives and white sugar or iodized salt.

And I should add, that despite how we eat at home, we do eat Disney food when at Disney.

 

[njcarita]

Nope. Just someone who likes to see evidence before I ban whole categories of food from my table.

- Suzanne

Than please continue eating anything you want. .. I also want evidence.....evidence that it s Safe before I feed it to myself and my family....not eat it than find out later on it wasn't safe.....not sure why you are turning this into a gmo safety debate.....if you want to consume gmos it's a free country please do.....this thread was not started to turn into a debate ...it was to ask others who choose a organic gmo lifestyle to share ways to save money.....not to debate it's safety or lack of...not sure why it would concern you if some of us decide to feed our families differently....

 

[njcarita]

I wanted to add that I try to use coupons/sales combos to save in other areas (toilet paper, laundry soap, toiletries, non-edibles), so that the shopping budget doesn't send us bankrupt.

Great idea....I gave up compounding when I gave up the ramen noodles and portrays....my have to revisit coupouning for toilet paper and non food items

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Also, if you live in the country near any organic farms, you could potentially save lots of money by buying through them. They may even give away food that is "damaged in some way" or over ripe. And, if you can find an organic farm near you that is not certified (but yet uses only organic methods), you may get organic meats and produce more cheaply.

 

[pocomom]

I don't know where you live, but I think your budget is amazingly low for organic, non-GMO food. !

I agree!!!

You are doing better than I because we are only organic on some things and I have a younger household and we still spend more.

The one thing that made a big difference for me was growing things at home, even a few pots in the winter. Then I KNOW what is in it, and the quality is great compared to the hit or miss of our grocery store.