When we first talked about switching to organic foods we were overwhelmed. All we could think about was the cost and if it would really be worth it. We made some simple (well, depending on who you ask) changes to make the transition easy and financially feasible.
1. Switch The Things You Use The Most First
When we first started we only switched to organic milk, butter, bread, and eggs. Doing it this way meant we were instantly eating organic and not randomly eating it when we went for less common items. Some of you might be thinking about how we can afford swapping the most common used items because we are constantly buying them. Which leads to tip two...
2. Change The Frequency of Your Daily Use
My kids
used to drink almost a gallon of milk a day. At about $2.25/gallon we were paying around $60/month for milk. So we made two changes to reduce the daily consumption so that we could keep organic milk within that same budget. My children now get one cup of milk per day and after that we switch to water. We also quit eating cereal so that was another reduction of milk use daily. Now we go through about 2.5 gallons of milk a week and our cost is around $55 per month.
3. Change Your Meal Profiles
We quit eating cereal for breakfasts and I don't even keep it in the house anymore. The cost of milk and cereal is expensive when you have 5 people eating different kinds once or twice daily. Plus cereal is really not healthy for you. So now our breakfasts are organic eggs, toast, pancakes, meat, berries, french toast, oatmeal, etc. Here and there we do fun things like casserole bakes with hashbrowns, meat, and eggs. I do hard boiled eggs and fruit, veggie egg scrambles, oatmeal with ground flax and berries. The list goes on. The idea is swapping out the quick convenience food for something organic and the cost stays around the same because you are eating a balanced meal and you're full. I could eat bowl after bowl of cereal if I really wanted to, so could my family.
4. Meal Plan
How many times have you opened the fridge and seen 90 ingredients but no food ready to eat? Yeah I have too. Then those items sit and go to waste because it sounded good to buy all the things and now they are being wasted. Having a plan reduces waste and the cost actually stays about the same for fully prepared and eaten organic meals over lots of wasted random food that never turned in to anything.
5. Slowly Restock The Pantry
You will go bankrupt trying to do this all over night. The items you use less often can be slowly replaced each time you go shopping. Every payday I would buy a new organic pantry item-- maple syrup, flour, sugar, pasta, rolled oats, cocoa powder, canned goods, etc. Chances are you are not using cocoa powder daily so the elevated cost is spread out over the course of time and a $1 hike on price won't break the budget that week.
6. Shop Around
My local normal grocery store has almost no organic items. They have a couple pantry items and maybe three dairy items and that is it. Luckily my area has multiple stores that carry loads of organic, so I make a weekly trip there instead. My favorite store is Sprouts because it has digital coupons, double ad Wednesdays, and lots of weekend coupons/specials. Another great place to search is online-- Brandless (constantly runs sales),
Walmart ($10 off first grocery order),
Amazon, Target (use their app for extra savings) and
Thrive Market are some of my favorite places to get organic items that my local grocer doesn't have and they all have pretty decent pricing on organic items.
Ibotta offers cash back at many places like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, Walmart, and even regular grocery stores and from time to time I do find coupons for organic food online.
7. Don't Force Your Significant Other
It can be difficult for some people to give up their favorite thing if they can't find an organic alternative. That is my husband. Over time he has grown to accept the food changes around here (okay, really the cereal, it was his favorite thing and a huge loss) but it is okay to still have those moments of treating yourself to what you used to love. Don't stress about non-organic meals when you're enjoying a nice night out. Don't criticize or side eye your spouse when they bring home a 12-pack of Coke. Just make the small changes and continue to work towards all organic. It is a process and it is not worth fighting over.
Phew. We made it. Do you feel like you can take it on? I promise if we can do it so can you. The goal is to reduce body burden and this is a great way to do it.
Hopefully this helps,
B&R
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