I have been planning to write a post on this subject myself for a while, but then I just came across the post How to Buy Organic Food and Eat Well for Less Money at Digerati Life.

The post includes several great points about saving on organics:

1. Look for options at your regular supermarket first.
Whole Foods and other premium supermarkets that are strictly organic are notorious for being about 20% to 30% more expensive than other supermarkets. Many of the other supermarkets stock organic alternatives that may be cheaper than the brands Whole Foods carries. Make sure to check these items out as you may be able to get great deals on organic food.

Even at Whole Foods, there have been a ton of sales lately that make their products a lot more affordable. Make sure to get the coupon booklet when you enter the store. On a side note, Whole Foods also runs some great dinner deals (e.g. in Chicago, every Wednesday they have $8.99 16 inch pizzas including 1 topping made to order).

Note from Cheap: If you have a local organic chain — like Vitamin Cottage here in Colorado — sometimes it has the best prices.

2. Try your local farmer’s market.
I always check out my local farmer’s market for produce, especially for fruits and vegetables that are in season. This is a great option because you’ll get extremely fresh product at great prices. Not only that but you’ll be helping to stimulate your local economy by buying from local farmers and you get to interact with them too.

3. Grow your own vegetables in your backyard home garden.
You may not want a full-blown home vegetable garden in your backyard but certain spices and vegetables can be grown for relatively cheap and without much daily maintenance. The greatest benefit of growing your own produce is that after the upfront cost of buying the seeds, the rewards are endless as long as you water and take care of the plants. It’s also a fun side project or hobby especially when Springtime rolls around. Learn more about the benefits of a home garden and how you can save money.

… and a few more, too.

But the post misses a few great ideas:

• Join a CSA. A Community-Supported Agriculture share can save a lot of money on organic food, and make it local to boot. Check LocalHarvest.org for CSAs near you.
• Check warehouse clubs. Costco has a lot of organic products for less than grocery-store prices — butter, for instance, is about half the price.
• Buy in bulk. Whether at a food co-op, warehouse store, CSA or farmer’s market, bulk buys can save big. Go in with friends or family to make a large purchase if you are  meat-eater — a half or quarter beef puts grass-fed or organic meat into budgetary range.
• Check local vendors. For instance, we have a small market near us that buys odds and ends from other stores and re-sells them. I’ve gotten organic strawberries for $1 a pound and organic salad greens for $1 a bag.
• Look at clearance shelves. Many markets have clearance sections. Vitamin Cottage, our natural foods store, bags up produce for $1 a bag, which might contain a tomato, three bananas, four bell peppers and an eggplant — all organic. Sunflower Markets, another chain in our area, does a similar thing. The big national chain grocery stores have clearance shelves, too, which might or might not have organics.

What have we missed? How do you maximize your organic grocery budget?

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Comments ( 10 )

If one is resourceful enough, there are many good ways to get food for cheap or free. Volunteer at an urban garden and you’ll probably get to take home some pickings! Great list.

Lynn Fang added these pithy words on Jun 22 10 at 6:40 pm

I’m lucky to have a very affordable local natural food store. They don’t charge much more than wholesale.

Lisa @Retro Housewife Goes Green added these pithy words on Jun 23 10 at 9:58 am

I am so tired of reading about farmer’s markets being so affordable. I want to know where these markets are. NOTHING is cheaper than at the grocery store at the one here. I still shop there, ’cause it’s worth it for very fresh, local, and mostly organic produce. But it’s NOT CHEAP. Argh. Pet peeve.

Think dry-goods for bulk, not just meat. The local natural food store here is really pricey, except for the bulk section, where you can get organic beans, rice, etc. for pennies more than conventional stuff.

Adrienne added these pithy words on Jun 23 10 at 10:43 am

Thanks for looking into this further! I appreciate the extra ideas you put forth. Definitely great points made. As for farmer’s markets — we have a couple of local ones in our neighborhood. And they are relatively much cheaper than the standard grocery stores. It’s just that they’re hard to get to during the winter since the stalls are out in the open, subject to the elements.

The Digerati Life added these pithy words on Jun 23 10 at 4:22 pm

I’d like to make a correction, which is that Whole Foods is not strictly organic. Just like any other savvy retailer, they sell conventionally grown produce for folks that are unwilling to pay the organic price, or for things that are not available organically. The same is true with their manufactured products. They ARE significantly more expensive for some products than other grocery stores that carry the same, so you have to do some price comparison, but so is Sunflower. WF does have good sales sometimes. Vitamin Cottage, on the other hand, only sells organic produce, but look at the prices. I have more than once been unpleasantly surprised at how much I paid for a bunch of organic asparagus or broccoli. As with all things we buy, one has to do the footwrok, and decide what is the most economical and effective way to shop for food.

Andrea Welte added these pithy words on Jun 24 10 at 9:38 pm

Thanks for the info! I don’t have much room for a garden where I live and have always wanted to try container gardening. I think I’ll try a couple of plants this year and see how I do. By the way – We mentioned you as one of our favorite green blogs! http://www.stacksandstacks.com/blog/2010/06/28/2177/
Thanks again!

Eva Wallace added these pithy words on Jun 28 10 at 11:20 am

I have to agree with Adrienne about farmer’s markets being expensive. Every time I hear some chef talk about how cheap they are, I say, “Not where I come from, they’re not!” (Northern Lower Michigan.) I do love the idea of the food being local, though, and that my money is directly supporting a local grower. Supermarkets are finally getting the message, but slowly.

Bonnie added these pithy words on Jul 07 10 at 4:44 pm

dented can stores! in eureka springs, ar we have a dent can store called “W.T. Fockers” and they sell all manner of food, not just organic. They have a wide range of organic foods and gourmet foods, in addition to the standard kraft fare.

a bottle of annie’s organics salad dressing for a quarter, organic gluten free cookies for a dollar, pancake and bread mixes made with 95% organic ingredients for under 3$, macaroni at 50 cents a box, woohoooo. eating is affordable again with the supplementation of my garden.

check out your dent can stores!

wendy added these pithy words on Jul 19 10 at 11:38 am

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