Green Living
Angelcake
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organic food at a better price?
in Green Living
Hello, I am a SAHM of my 9 month old little man (almost 9 months) and buy pretty much only organic food. We just bought a condo and am needing to be more careful on how much we spend on groceries. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to still get organic but for cheaper? I mostly go to New Seasons here in Oregon because it is local and i don't have to really search for the 'organic' food. Your help is much appreciated. 
Re: organic food at a better price?
Do you have farmer's markets? CSAs? Check out Mauibride's post below about the Eat Well Guide, it's got a link to searches for them. I think http://www.localharvest.org/ has some as well.
Have you heard of the dirty dozen/clean 15? If you're looking to cut costs, it has a list of which non-organic foods are lowest in pesticides and contaminants. http://foodnews.org/EWG-shoppers-guide-download-final.pdf
Also, do you menu plan? We made the switch to more organic/locally grown items but since we menu plan we actually save money over what we were spending before.
If you aren't looking for produce or meat, Grocery Outlet will knock your socks off...
http://www.groceryoutlet.com/
Ours are about 50/50 horrifying crap / amazing organics...
Recent stuff I've gotten there:
Amazing organic / grass fed cheddar cheese: $2.99 / half lb
Bare Naked cranberry cereal, 99 cents
Kombucha Wonder Drink, 69 cents
Organic oreo-type cookies, 99 cents/pkg
...and on and on
Not a great source for produce (although you'll get the occasional score, like my recent $2.99/lb organic spring mix) or meats, but the cheeses will make you swoon.
It's hit or miss, and will be different from location to location.
Good luck!
I'm a SAHM, trying to have us eat well on a budget, too... it can be rough, but is totally do-able and utterly worthwhile!
I am the 99%.
NavyClan you beat me to the punch! This was the three things I was going to say
. With regard to meal planning, what I do is I go to the Farmer's Market with a specific amount of cash (I do $40 in the winter and $80 in the summer) and buy what looks good (meat, eggs, produce, and some prepared foods like pasta or BBQ sauce). I come home, and make 5-6 meals out of those ingredients. I then fill in any holes in the recipes with a trip to the grocery store. We eat locally and in season, and all the main ingredients are fresh.
I am in Beaverton (Tanasbourne). I do go to the Farmers Markets. They just don't have much produce yet... and the meat is a must for us. Not sure how to get that much cheaper. Thank you ladies!
I have done menu planing and I know it saves money. I think it would help if I got groceries 2 times a week.. I get the weeks worth but then put half of the meat in the freezer and then forget to get it out the day of.
Can you post your menu for the week
Pretty please! 
Do you have a freezer? You could buy a share of an animal from a local farmer. I use our freezer to stock up on good deals on meat or fish when I find them. Costco has some good organic meats and good seafood choices from time to time. Monterey Bay Aquariam puts out lists for the most sustainable seafood choices for where you live, here: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx
Also, just cutting down on the meat can really save you money. The things you replace it with (beans, grains, veggies) are all much less expensive than organically raised meat.
I write my menus on note paper that is stuck to the fridge with a magnet, so next to the day of the freezer meat meal I write THAW TUESDAY! or whatever the right day is.
Here's my menu for this week. Very little of this is from the grocery store. Meat, eggs, bread, BBQ sauce, and all produce are from the Farmer's Market. The potatoes looked awesome and cheap so I bought 3 lbs.
-Steak, mashed potates, and asparagus
-Spinach and faux sausage frittata (quiche with no crust) with bread
-Aloo Gobi (indian dish of cauliflower, potatoes, and onions), rice, and naan (indian bread that we thaw one loaf at a time)
-Sweet potato fritters, meditteranean cous cous, and carrot-mint salad
-BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, and roasted sugar-snap peas
-Indonesian tempeh with green beans over rice noodles
Hey, you're by me! : )
I loooooove New Seasons! It's my favorite grocery store ever. I agree that the farmer's markets don't have much right now. It's finally supposed to warm up soon, so that should change in the next couple of weeks, I hope!
Honestly, I'm not much help with saving money when it comes to food. The best we do is by planning out our meals for the week rather than hitting the store every few days. And sticking to our meal plans. TJs is a good place to shop if you don't mind all of the packaging they use and can use everything you buy there.
Oh, and also you say that meat is a must for you. It's something that we definitely eat too, but we've been able to change things a little bit. It really isn't hard to do one vegetarian meal each week.
We've also been able to cut down our meat portions. So instead of buying one steak for both of us, we'll split a steak. Or instead of buying two chicken breasts at New Seasons, we'll buy one and split it (have you noticed how freakin' huge those things are?!). Then we up our side dishes.
It's not uncommon for people to eat much more than one serving of meat at a meal. if you portion it out, a serving is actually pretty darn small.
So true Em, and I think reducing the meat you eat can be really easy to do when you make it part of the meal rather than the star attraction - a stirfry for example, rather than steak, potato and side.
And Mrs A&J, no worries. We all do it. Well, probably! I didn't even really notice that you repeated anything.
Oh for sure, Alisha! My favorite: drizzle some olive oil or chili oil in a pan and heat it. Toss in a handful of prosciutto that you tore into small pieces and crisp it up. Then toss in a bit of fresh minced garlic and a minced shallot. Once they smell yummy and delicious, add in some fresh or frozen veggies like peas. If they're big veggies, like asparagus, blanch them first. Toss everything with pasta and put some fresh grated parm uptop and you have super deliciousness to nom.
That's why I'm always like "Yeah, I eat meat at most meals. So what?" when people say they don't understand how meat gets eaten at most meals.