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Lisa our resident fine living expert answers your questions each Thursday.
If you are a blogger, this is a great chance to have us feature and link to your blog!
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I’ve heard that organic food is best but, it is so expensive. How can I add more organic food to our diet without busting our budget in the process?
Melissa, Dallas
Organic foods get a bad rap for being expensive or more costly than non organic staples. Fortunately there are several things that you can do limit the impact on your budget.
Go Slow
It’s a good idea, if you are new to organic eating to start by incorporating organic fruits and vegetables into your diet first. This will minimize the impact on your wallet. You don’t have to do it all at once either. You can simply start by making sure that fruits and veggies like apples, strawberries and bell peppers are organic. These are just of a few items on the “Dirty Dozen” list. The Dirty Dozen is a group of fruits and vegetables that have consistently been found to have the highest pesticide residues.
You may even opt to start by buying just one organic fruit or vegetable every quarter then, continue to buy other non-organic produce until you can commit to making the switch. After you’ve transitioned to buying organic fruits and vegetables, then you and your family can selectively add in organic meats and other items.
Until then, wash all produce with a commercial vegetable wash or make your own by combining apple cider and water and letting the vegetables soak for about 5-10 minutes. Rinse well and pat dry. There are several different produce wash recipes out there. Do a quick internet search and find the one that you like best.
Eat Seasonably
Eating fruits and vegetables in season is cost effective, tastier and more nutritious too. The transition to eating fruits and vegetables that are in season may afford you too eat more organically too.
Grow It
Even if you don’t have a “green thumb”, trying your hand at growing fruits and vegetables can’t hurt. Fruits and veggies like tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers are easy to grow and don’t necessarily need a lot of space. Depending on the brand, most seed packets just cost a few bucks and you can get several plants from one packet.
Meat Department
Meats and poultry tend to have the biggest impact on the grocery shopping budget so leave this for last if you plan on making the switch. Until then, it’s a good idea to trim the fat from meat and poultry before consuming.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start to transitioning into a lifestyle that will ultimately be healthier for you and your family.
Come back on Thursday for another edition of “Ask The Domestic Life Stylist”.
You can also tweet a question to Dlifestylist on Twitter or email me at ask{at}thedomesticlifestylist{dot}com. I will select one question to answer every Thursday.
If you are a blogger, this is a great chance to have us feature and link to your blog.
Lisa is a pharmacist turned fine living/travel writer & founder of The Domestic Life Stylist, following her passion for all things food, family and travel. Read more of her lifestyle tips on her blog, learn effective fine living strategies, family travel tips and expand your culinary horizons.
Jhoei says
Indeed, going organic is quite expensive so I suggest that you minimize your expenses on unnecessary things so you spend it on buying organic foods instead.
katklaw777 says
Grow it…sooooooooooooooooo true…we have had bad luck in the past with uninvited bunnies to our garden, but this year has been a bumper year with tomatoes and zucchini coming out of our ears.
We jut kept trying every year and this year we got it right!
Christina G. says
I have a hard time financing organic food, so thanks so much for these tips.
Janice Crespo says
Thanks for the money saving tips! I will have to incorporate more of these into our household so that we can eat better without killing our wallet. We will start with the “Dirty Dozen” lol (Great name)
Benita says
We do eat a lot of organic food. These tips are helpful.
Rebecca Parsons says
great tips, grow your own! My oldest daughter lives in an apartment and has a super small deck, she uses a couple of pots to grow her stuff. I love to go to farmers markets where i get the organic stuff a lot cheaper than a grocery store.
Barbara Platt says
I eat some organic things, others I don’t see are needed, such as tough skin veggies
Lisa says
Yes, it is so easy too. A simple search on Pinterest or any search engine will give you lots of options.
DEBIJOT says
Great tips. We have been growing our own vegetables for years.
mrsshukra says
We have been eating more organic foods, appreciate these tips!
Angela Saver says
Great tips to help it more affordable to eat organic! Thanks for the help with it as every little bit helps!
[email protected]
Vicky says
It is simply said and easy to follow. It is bookmarked for me
vickie couturier says
some good points,I don’t eat organic but my son and his family do
Linda Bradshaw says
I am new to the whole organic thing. I tried to start growing my garden before I moved but now, my new house does not have room to grow my own. I would love to eat organic all the time.
Fiona N says
I love using and eating organic products but they are still expensive. I agree with Your review that we need to go slow and eat seasonably when we start to eat organics!
Thank You for sharing these great tips!
Kate - Catching Up With Kate says
We always thought eating organically was too expensive but we found a way! we used a community garden when we didnt have the space – now we have a home garden, i shop at Whole Foods and stock up on meat only when they have those crazy 1 day sales (follow their facebook page!) I get enough to hold us until the next time – Costco also has many organic choices. We also have found that Grocery Outlet of all places has a lot of organic snack choices – I buy my organic coconut oil and crackers for the kids there =)
Lisa says
Where there is a will, there’s a way. I love the idea of a community garden.
anne says
I would love to grow veggies and this is a wonderful article.
Meagan bs says
I’ve been really wanting to grow our own veggies, but i’m sure i won’t be able to keep them alive haha!
Lisa says
I’m no pro either. A work in progress but it’s so worth it.
Claudia says
So mouth watering! That seems to be irresistible.
Cheryl Free says
I’ve always thought eating organic is more expensive too. Thanks for the tips on gradually adding it to our grocery list and budget.
Michele Wright says
Great article. Thanks!!