Screamin' Grocery Store Deals: 16 Cheap, Organic Foods (PHOTOS)

Can you eat a healthy, whole foods, mostly organic diet, even on a shoestring budget? As a frequent and thrifty shopper, I know it can be done -- even if you're not a vegetarian. First, a few rules:

• Eat in. Restaurant meals are pricey and rarely use the highest quality ingredients. Learn to whip up a few cheap and easy meals -- a great omelet, a highly spiced bean and vegetable stew -- and you'll save yourself a bundle.
• Eat in season. It's almost always cheaper, and probably better for your body.
• Eat less meat. It's expensive on any budget, and most people eat too much of it. Shift your intake to vegetarian (cheaper) sources of protein, and use meat in small portions, as an addition to meals, rather than the main feature.
• Eat less in general. What would happen if you cut your daily caloric intake by 10 percent? In theory, you'd cut your food budget by 10 percent as well, and you'd probably fare better for it. (And some very compelling research suggests that restricting calorie intake can increase lifespan and reduce the incidence of age-related disease.)

On your next shopping trip, choose from this thrifty list of 16 screamin' deals -- and see how much you save:

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Cabbage

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It's rich in cancer-preventive compounds. Broccoli has similar nutrition; it's a little pricier but versatile and worth it. Buy it in season, keep your eyes open for sales, and be sure to use the stems.

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It's rich in cancer-preventive compounds. Broccoli has similar nutrition; it's a little pricier but versatile and worth it. Buy it in season, keep your eyes open for sales, and be sure to use the stems.

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Comments

[peptopinkboots]

11:12 AM on 10/28/2010

My husband and I are vegans. We gave up meat because we eat organic food and couldn't justify the cost. Also, if you actually do your homework and learn about the meat and dairy industries, even things that are labeled organic are not always well-treated (not all organic meat is grass fed, not all organic milk comes from grass fed cows, not all organically fed or "free range" animals have true access to the outdoors) - particularly the brands that are a "better bargain".

Anyway, things we do to save money: I menu plan, cook, garden and can food. I get coupons (there are lots, even for organic). I trade food with others. People think having two salaries is so important these days, but I do all the work needed to upkeep our home and the kids, do the shopping and cooking and gardening and canning, and cleaning and diplomacy and all this saves us a lot of money in the end. Probably more than if I were earning a salary and we were paying people to do all my jobs. In addition to the home garden, we also belong to an organic CSA. We pay about $350 a year to belong to it but then we get all the organic food we can eat and/or can for 10 months. That comes out to $35 A MONTH for organic food - unbeatable.

[frank day]

03:59 PM on 10/28/2010

Sounds great and makes sense.
Once our kids move out, my wife and I plan to each work p/t and put more work into our property.
The CSAs in our area are all oversubscribed. But we do have a lot of local farmstands.
Sadly, here in S. Indiana its very hard to find fresh fruit.
Good luck!:-)

[Lisa Turner]

11:41 PM on 11/01/2010

I love it. And it is true that organic standards don't always ensure the welfare of animals. It depends on the producers; that's why it's important to buy from local sources you know, whenever possible. Organic meat is very rarely grass fed, unless it's specified as such. Free range is a purely arbitrary term.

it's interesting that we work so hard these days, we have to pay people to do the things we don't have time for, like raise our children...

[Natural Health Guide]

02:07 PM on 10/26/2010

At this point I doubt most organic food can be considered cheap, but some are more important than others. If you have a limited budget (and who doesn't these days?) the best place to put your organic food dollars is into organic grass-fed meat and eggs. Not only do they provide you with more nutrients, they don't have hormones and antibiotics in them, and the animals are treated better than on factory farms. And if you have a little room to grow some of your own vegetables, there's nothing like the taste of a warm, ripe tomato fresh off the vine!

http://www.natural-health-guide.com/benefits-of-organic-food.html

[Lisa Turner]

09:22 PM on 10/26/2010

Yes~ animal products are absolutely the number-one category to always buy organic. Grass-fed or pastured meat, dairy products and eggs are best, since the fatty acid profile is vastly improved. I would always choose a half pound of grass-fed beef over a full pound of conventionally raised stuff. Meat should be used as a supplement to a plant-foods diet, and not the main course, anyway. The way we eat meat in this country is tragic ~ we're way too focused on quantity and not enough on quality.

Thanks for your comments ~

[Puffin16]

12:20 PM on 10/26/2010

For people on a budget, a general rule of thumb when choosing to buy organic or not is if you eat the skin, buy organic. Foods like bananas, onions, cabbage (you can peel off the outer layers), carrots (if you peel off the outer skin), citrus, etc. can be purchased for less money in the regular section of your market.

[Lisa Turner]

09:23 PM on 10/26/2010

Yes, that is true; however, organic takes into consideration many other factors, including environmental concerns ~ thanks for your comment ~

[IndianaJohn]

09:24 PM on 10/29/2010

Peeling off the outside does not help with systemic insecticides:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/systemic-pesticides-zm0z10zrog.aspx

[Chaling]

12:07 PM on 10/26/2010

wow, and I just this morning grated a 1/2 cabbage to make coleslaw as a side for my lunch sandwich, with grated-carrots/diced-onions/finely-diced-serranos. would have added celery had I had any, but was out. this will be a side with lunch for, well, rest of the week..LOL oh, and some chinese mustard in there as well. yummy yummy.

love lentils as well.

[av10]

07:25 PM on 10/25/2010

A small group of farmers from Central California have banded together to form Abundant Harvest Organics, and offer organic produce at very reasonable prices to subscribers. Californians can check the website to see f they live near one of the weekly drop-off locations. I have used the service and found it to be wonderful, and the food is always fresh. It’s amazing how much a crate can hold:

http://www.abundantharvestorganics.com/index.php?custom_message=front_page_text

[The Down to Earth doctor]

08:38 AM on 10/25/2010

Don't forget the cheapest way to get healthier organic produce: grow it yourself. This is why I felt compelled to add a section in my new book, Whole Health Healing, about gardening. It's easier than most people think. And it's a great lesson in patience and tolerance. No room you say? I say use pots.

[frank day]

11:33 AM on 10/26/2010

No money to get started is a problem for many people. Start very small and then work your way up.
It takes years to get all of the eqpt. and knowledge.
Many cities have gardening clubs with Master Gardners on hand to answer questions.
It makes a fun hobby.

[peptopinkboots]

11:00 AM on 10/28/2010

Many states have universities that offer free gardening seminars and free seeds through cooperative extension programs. However, the free seeds only last so long! People should contact their local state university cooperative extension system and inquire about it.

[palantiri]

01:56 AM on 10/25/2010

Screaming prices on organics.
Whole Foods today:
Green cabbage $1.99/lb Red $2.99
Carrots $2.99 2 lb bag
Kale $1.99 bunch
Bananas (3 med. bananas-one lb.) 79cents
Apples Red and Yellow delicious $1.99/lb. Honeycrisp $2.99/lb
Onions $ 1.99/lb
Beans Pinto $1.69/lb Kidney $1.79lb Aduki &1.99lb
Nuts Walnuts $9.99lb (on sale!) Cashew $12.99/lb Pecan $15.99/lb
Seeds Pumpkin $3.69/lb Sunflower org N/A
Brown Rice $1.69/lb Basmati $2.69/lb
Peanut Butter $3.69/lb
Ground Beef $6.99/lb
Whole Chicken $2.99/lb average Whole Chicken 3 to 4 lbs.- $9 to $12.
Yoghurt 365brand $2.99/quart Stoneyfield $3.69/quart
Oil Canola $8.99/quart Sesame or Olive $13.99/quart
Eggs 365brand $4.69/doz Nestfresh $4.99 doz.
a few more screamers:
Tomato $4.99/lb Parsnip $3.99/lb Yellow Squash $2.99.

At $7.25 an hour minimum wage a person can work an hour and get almost a lb of ground beef!
But not even a lb of cashews. They can get a pint of Olive Oil -or less than a half lb of pecans.
THEY CANNOT GET A WHOLE CHICKEN FOR ONE HOUR OF WORK!
After withholding they can maybe get a WF Chicken with 2 HOURS OF WORK!!!
I think that is pretty scream worthy.
And to think republicans want to lower the minimum.
AYIEEEE!!

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

01:27 PM on 10/25/2010

I always have to laugh at these columns...the authors don't have a clue about being poor and how impossible it would be to buy organic. I have a friend who hasn't had heat for 3 years, her roof is covered in a tarp and sometimes she can't give her adult disabled daughter her 5 dollar a week allowance...both parents work six days a week at minimum wage..Dad works two jobs. There is no way they can afford organic food.

[Pierogi kid]

07:43 AM on 10/26/2010

I hear that loud and clear some people think their reality is the same for everybody. In fact, I think most people do this, but newspaper journalists should know better, as for your friends they could start their own garden which would help but hard ot do when you are running between 2 jobs

[NoSillyName]

08:30 PM on 11/01/2010

I'm existing at way below poverty level and I buy a lot of organic food items. I simply buy LESS food.

[frank day]

11:36 AM on 10/26/2010

There is a real misunderstanding of poverty.

People KNOW how to eat right. They can't afford to. No time, no money.

When Mothers were forced out into the workforce, thats when obesity started to rise. Look into it, you'll see I'm correct.

Eating healthy, for the average person or family, amounts to guerilla warfare. You have to learn a lot of tricks and acquire tools. It takes time and effort to do so.

[luckyone77]

01:11 AM on 10/25/2010

The Future of Food - documentary on the impact of genetically modified crops
http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

[mlaiuppa]

11:38 PM on 10/24/2010

Except for the kale and the seeds, that's pretty much my shopping list.

Whole fryers are a great deal, especially on sale and can provide several meals. Soup stock can be made with parts left over after dressing them for other recipes.

I'm toying with grinding my own meat, as ground meat can be more expensive than cuts on sale. I have a meat grinder attachment for my mixer. Cleaning the parts in the dishwasher and even boiling them will keep them clean. It's the processing that invites contamination so grinding your own is better than buying ground meat.

You can always supplement your organic buying with whatever you grow yourself. Growing your own can ensure pesticide free and only organic fertilizer (I compost with worms). I've got both a perennial and an annual herb garden as well as vegetables in another area. I only use organic lemons as I have my own tree and don't spray. I even had two apples this year. Next year I'm hoping for apricots.

[Lisa Turner]

01:41 PM on 10/26/2010

Yes, grow your own whenever you can! You can get a large bulk of your produce out of a relatively small growing area for much of the summer and early fall.

[freedom4allau]

08:41 PM on 10/24/2010

I also buy chicken, pork or whatever cut of meat I'm partial to if it's on sale, freeze it and use it later. Sales are great things to watch for and utllising it helps the food budget. And before I get criticized for the meat, it's organic - whew - got that in fast!

[Lisa Turner]

01:39 PM on 10/26/2010

Yes, you do have to get that in fast these days, don't you? Freezing's a great option. My Southern grandmothers who were on serious shoestring Depression era budgets had big deep freezers for their summer and fall harvests, to last them through the winter. You can get a relatively inexpensive, smaller deep freeze to expand your storage area. We picked pounds and pounds of wild plums this year which we froze for the winter, and apples, which we made into butter and applesauce, and also froze. Grew lots of vegetables, and blanched and froze them, too.

[freedom4allau]

02:20 PM on 10/26/2010

I grew up canning, blanching, freezing all we grew in our garden - which was a lot. Once I'm back in the country, I'll be doing it again. We had two full size chest style deep freezes. There's nothing like home grown veggies!

[Ozark Homesteader]

02:48 PM on 10/24/2010

I see a lot of good advice here, but I also agree with other posters that buying some things organic is throwing away your money. Onions, for example, are naturally resistant to pests and thus rarely have any pesticides.

For everything that we can, we grow our own and/or buy from local farmers with organic practices in season. Buying seasonally is a super way to keep down costs.

We also make most of our meals at home. That saves us a bankload of cash.
http://wordpress.com/

[Lisa Turner]

08:38 PM on 10/24/2010

Cooking at home saves so much money! It's crazy expensive to eat out; what you would spend on one entree at most decent restaurants could feed three or four people if you made it yourself ~ And yes, you're right. As far as foods to always buy organic, onions are low on the list. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Ozark Homesteader]

10:04 PM on 10/24/2010

I really appreciate your pointing out how many foods are affordable. If more people knew how to cook and took joy in the experience, we'd have a lot greater financial security.

[mlaiuppa]

11:42 PM on 10/24/2010

Yes, but as long as you're shopping at the store with the organic produce, you might as well buy the onions too. It's not worth going to the major chain grocery store for onions.

I shop both but limit the kinds of things I'll buy at the major chain grocery store. If I happen to be there and need an onion, fine. But as long as I'm buying my produce in the organic store, might as well pick up everything on the list.

If you grow any fruit you can make your own preserves. That goes great with the peanut butter for a PB & J sandwich, on home made organic whole wheat bread of course. (I'm hoping for enough strawberries next year for jam.)

[Dadoohdaah]

12:32 PM on 10/24/2010

I remember the days when Whole Foods prices were just about 30% higher than prices of regular supermarket. Now it is 2-3-10 times higher. There are NO screaming good deals at Whole Foods, so even people who rely on food stamps to survive would benefit from it... and if there is something priced not like total rip off, working people have no time to drive around and search for little bits here and there. Organic Food market now is another manifestation of survival of the fittest principle. Just those who make Big $$ can afford to eat non-poisoned food today. The rest must chew on poison, knowing they chew on poison.
Don't you feel kinda ashamed to be enjoying your overpriced healthy food while your good neighbor is struggling to meet the ends at the Walmart?

[SpikeC]

01:44 PM on 10/24/2010

No need to shop Whole Paycheck to eat well. There are hugh amounts of healthy cheap food available, but you need to cook it yourself. Cooking from scratch does not have to take a lot of time. Use a search engine on the net to look for ways to prepare ingredients and find easy, tasty recipes.

[robinhood1]

08:15 PM on 10/24/2010

No I don't. Besides not everything at Whole foods is expensive, especially if you watch for the specials and the coupons. Flax seed meal is actually much more expensive at Safeway. I can't find organic green peas and lentils at Safeway. Organic kale is the same price as regular kale at Safeway. Today, the organic kale was actually 50 cents bunch cheaper on special. I am lucky to also have easy access to a Trader Joe's. If some people want to spend their extra money on cigarettes and alcohol, that is your choice.

[Lisa Turner]

08:35 PM on 10/24/2010

Yes, that's the key: shop the deals, look for sales, go to a few different stores. Sometimes your regular grocery stores have better deals than the natural foods stores. We have a store here called Vitamin Cottage that carries lots of local organic stuff for much lower prices than some of the big chains. It's almost always worth the extra trip (walk/bike ride).

[deweydecimal]

10:04 AM on 10/24/2010

If you wanted to stretch your dollar buying organic, a better way would be to concentrate on the fruits and veggies which most often contain pesticides.

http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/slowfoodorganiclocal/a/organicproduce_2.htm
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods

[Margie Kronewitter]

08:14 AM on 10/24/2010

#1 Cabbage is a great lettuce substitute. Steamed with raw added, too. Celery. Older grains are fun, especially Forbidden Rice... low starch. My fave seasoning: tumeric & poultry seasoning on salmon, rice, etc. Oats made with minimum water & minimum cooking are quick & nutritious. Add to multi-grain pancake batter, then toast em for a treat. Raw seeds & nuts, soaked a bit: HEMP, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower turn to super food. (soaking removed protein indibitors). Dried fruit is economical. Currants are almost as miraculous as blueberries. Cannibis leaf IS tasty as a vegie. Chop first. Wonder what"s the nutrition profile? Wheat grass is easy to grow. Soak 4 hours. Sprout a day. Spread ON soil. Cut & chew @4". AND AVOCADO: you must consider the nutrition benefits when thinking of the COST. Your food is the last budget to cut. Organic is worth it, due to the minerals lacking in N-P-K petroleum fertilized junk.

[Lisa Turner]

08:33 PM on 10/24/2010

Agree about avocado; yes, it's worth the cost...

[powerhuff]

04:53 AM on 10/24/2010

my word! these deals are absolutely screamin'!