Organic living does not mean expensive living. Jennifer Grayson from the Huffington Post takes the challenge of buying organic food for the week in line with the average Food Stamp allowance in the US. She is allowed to spend $33.48 (approx £21.20) for her weekly shop. This clip shows how she kept her costs down, but still bought healthy, organic food.

So what, and where, did she buy? First stop, farmers markets. If you visit at the end of the day, prices will be reduced. From her local farmer’s market, Jennifer was able to buy: 7 oranges, bunch of carrots, bag of spinach, one cabbage, one head of celery, and some onions. All of these veggies were organic and totalled $10.78 (approx £6.50).

Next stop was the local supermarket to buy organic meat, pulses and rice. Jennifer bought loose cannellini beans, oats, brown rice (healthier and more filling than white rice), bunch of bananas, tomato paste, couple of litres of milk, peanut butter, jam, wholemeal bread, a dozen eggs, and free range chicken sausages. All products were organic. The total cost? $29 (£18.30). She was about $5 over budget (approx £3).

The point here is that if you shop wisely and well, you can feed your family healthy organic foods on a budget. Note all the products bought were staples, and there was no junk at all.

The menu plan looks like this:

  • Breakfast: Organic porridge with sliced banana.
  • Lunch: Peanut butter and jam wholemeal sandwiches.
  • Dinner: Sausage and bean stew with veggies.

Watch the video to see how Jennifer assembles a particularly tasty looking stew using the ingredients she bought.

Healthy organic foods may cost a few more pennies than conventionally produced foods, but are not hugely more expensive. If you are prepared to shop around, taking advantages of special offers and reduced items at the end of the day, you can make your food budget go further. Also invest the time in cooking – the food you can make will be far tastier, far cheaper and far healthier than anything the supermarket produces. An organic lifestyle often means you have to put a little more effort in, but the results are so worth it.

Filed under: Organic Kitchen

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