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How much would it cost to feed your family organic/local food for one day?


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I respect people who say, "we don't grow/eat organic food because that is not what I am interested in, and I'd rather spend my time doing other things " that makes complete sense to me.

 

I'm trying to understand the position that fresh food is just too expensive, and I've come to realize that my perspective is heavily skewed because of my location.

 

We have a year long growing season, and a low cost of living. It is hard for me to imagine anything being less expensive than fresh foods. Here is our menu and very approximate costs for today.

 

Breakfast: 1 dozen yard eggs@$3.00, sautĂƒÂ©ed green onions, beets, spinach, broccoli and kohlrabi from the garden.

 

Lunch: homemade goat cheese with rosemary from the garden on fresh French bread. My friend buys wheat berries for me at the LDS pantry, so the bread just costs pennies a loaf.

 

Dinner: stuffed cabbage and salad. The cabbage is from our farmers market, and cost less than a dollar. The beef is from a steer that we bought for $50 and raised on excess milk. The brown rice is from the grocery store, but was not expensive. The salad is from the garden, the dressing is a homemade vinaigrette.

 

I'm interested in what whole foods cost in other parts of the country. I see that because of where I live, I have a misconception that everyone could afford whole fresh foods if they wanted them.

 

I'm hoping that some other posters may realize their own bias that people who eat whole foods waste money, or worse go into debt to do so.

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Our growing season is fairly short here. The local farmers' market has fresh produce in the late spring, summer and early fall, but it is definitely not cheap. I bought a CSA share this year, that was supposed to average about $30.00 per week. We had a horribly rainy spring and lost about 5 weeks of produce, so it really ended up costing me closer to $40.00 per week, but was still much, much cheaper than buying fresh produce at either Whole Foods or the Farmers' Market, which are the only places around here to get decent, organic produce. Whole Foods even has quite a bit of local produce.

 

ETA: I bought a cabbage from the farmers' market for $5.00. A dozen tomatoes is also about $5.00. Onions are 2/$3.00. Not cheap.

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It's winter. All I've got left local are a few butternut squash, a couple of cabbage, some parsely (in my garden-- I do not know how it is still alive), some beef, my eggs, a few of my chickens in my cellar freezer, a bit of frozen kale, sliced green peppers, green beans, and some potatoes and onions in baskets which are nearly empty. That won't make it past Feb. I just ordered a case of SnoPac frozen spinach. Not local, but a nice organic company.

 

At any rate, I never do all organic. Some of the Farmer's Markets here are not 100% organic, but I still buy from them. It's moot currently, as all of that is unavilable until some lettuce and pea tendrils come early April or so. Earlier for those with green houses. I do plan to go with DH to CA on biz trip in Feb. I'll put a bunch of organic Farmer Market food in my checked baggage. I also bring back veggies and such when I go to FL in March. (Orlando happens to have a super awesome FM.) I drive, so I stick it in the way- back of the mini van. I'm already burning fossil fuel, so I might as well make the best of it.

 

I did go to my local Christmas Tree Shop the other day and saw they were currently stocking Pomi tomatoes (not organic, btw) in aseptic boxes for $1 each. I bought about 15 of them. I'm thinking of going back for more, as that was a real bargain. I didn't want to seem too greedy. I did not know these were difficult to find. At my local chain market they are standard, but very $$.

 

At any rate, I've spent about $80 so far this week on food, not all of it organic.

Edited by LibraryLover
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I respect people who say, "we don't grow/eat organic food because that is not what I am interested in, and I'd rather spend my time doing other things " that makes complete sense to me.

 

I'm trying to understand the position that fresh food is just too expensive, and I've come to realize that my perspective is heavily skewed because of my location.

 

We have a year long growing season, and a low cost of living. It is hard for me to imagine anything being less expensive than fresh foods. Here is our menu and very approximate costs for today.

 

Breakfast: 1 dozen yard eggs@$3.00, sautĂƒÂ©ed green onions, beets, spinach, broccoli and kohlrabi from the garden.

 

Lunch: homemade goat cheese with rosemary from the garden on fresh French bread. My friend buys wheat berries for me at the LDS pantry, so the bread just costs pennies a loaf.

 

Dinner: stuffed cabbage and salad. The cabbage is from our farmers market, and cost less than a dollar. The beef is from a steer that we bought for $50 and raised on excess milk. The brown rice is from the grocery store, but was not expensive. The salad is from the garden, the dressing is a homemade vinaigrette.

 

I'm interested in what whole foods cost in other parts of the country. I see that because of where I live, I have a misconception that everyone could afford whole fresh foods if they wanted them.

 

I'm hoping that some other posters may realize their own bias that people who eat whole foods waste money, or worse go into debt to do so.

 

Okay, I am in CA and I do buy mainly organic. We are on an orchard and have the benefit of tons of oranges and lemons as well as peaches when it season.

Your breakfast (which is similar what I may eat) costs me about $10.00 (eggs, beets, some kind of bread, coffee) - this includes dh and I.

 

Lunch: Something like that would be another $10.00 - mainly for the goat cheese since I also make my own bread but organic cheese is rather high here.

 

Dinner: Would be about $20.00 if I purchased all items. We recently got 20lb of organic, grass fed beef & pork for $85.00 at the Organic Market. For our area this is a fairly good price as other farmers who raise this kind of meat, typically want around $6.00 a lb.

 

This is a rounded-up estimate and I found it difficult to judge. I buy rice in bulk and we cook 2 cups at a time. Sometimes it lasts us 2 days, sometimes longer - also the dog eats rice too :D. I do bake bread and I always buy organic veggies and fruit. If you total up the above, it would seem we spend $100.00 in 5 days on food but it's less than that, of course.

 

Is this helpful?

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Our half pig was nearly $400, including the butchering fees, etc. A week's worth of veggies at the farmer's market, for a family of 4 (sometimes 5) is about $100-120 (we eat a lot of veggies). The farmer's markets here used to be a good place to SAVE on veggies, but it seems that as they have gotten trendier, they cost a LOT more. We buy raw, organic milk at $12 weekly for 2 gallons, and an 18 pack of eggs, pasture-raised from our milk lady, at $7.50 a week. The half lamb was $175.

 

My grocery budget is $100-125 weekly, sometimes less. That does make it hard to do the above. It took us a while to pay off all the meat, which is nice to have in the freezer. We're putting in raised beds later this winter so that we can have fresh veggies, since we have a good, long growing season here. I have started baking my own bread from good, organic ingredients as well.

 

I would love to feed my family all local, organic foods, but I am on a limited budget.

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Well, in Illinois (not Chicago, but downstate) it is a bit more than that. Granted I could garden more and can my own tomotoes into sauces, freeze onions/peppers, but that's not a huge cost anyway, so I don't. (Not enough time to garden, really, though we try).

 

Organic Fruit (apples/pears/oranges) are $2 a pound on sale--we typically eat 8 pieces a day. Bananas are a little less, but we don't like them much.

 

Vegies: Depends on the type, but they are about twice the cost of regular. Maybe $4 for a head of broccoli, $2-3 for lettuce, $4 for carrots.

 

Meat: I haven't found any organic meat that is under $6 a pound, but you can find hormone/antibiotic free chicken at one store for $2.99 a pound. Frozen, I pay $9 for 2 pounds of organic chicken breasts.

 

Bread is $4-$5 for a loaf of organic (frozen).

 

Roughly, it would more than double our grocery bill to buy organic, which is already approaching $5-600 a month (up from $300 a few years back).

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Here, someone can eat fresh local vegetables and fruits cheaply from April to October. From November to March, it is less expensive only if they canned or froze excess produce from the growing season.

 

Fresh, organic or non-organic, local meat runs about double the cost of grocery store meat, for all types and cuts.

 

Farmer's markets are few and far between. Most people I know probably don't even know it's possible to buy grain and grind it yourself. They also don't have the time or inclination to grow gardens, bake their own bread, or raise livestock.

 

The only local food I have left are frozen blueberries, 1 butternut squash, a bag of frozen okra, and some sweet potatoes. We've had a mild winter so my neighbor is still coaxing broccoli out of her garden.

Edited by Onceuponatime
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I can get just about anything organic in my local grocery store but it will definitely cost more at this time of year unless we were lucky enough for something to be on sale. Local is pretty much hopeless in the winter and early spring, our farmers market is only open April through October. Actual cost per day to buy what you described? Probably over $50 easily just for the quantity eaten in one day.

 

I am planning to garden this year but we only have the freezer that is part of our fridge and no place to store a lot of home canned goods. I'm sure we could eat much better and save a ton of money if we had more space and an extra freezer.

Edited by dottieanna29
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Our farmer's markets here in NY must be the trendiest of all! Here are some examples for organic: Eggs are $5 a dozen (we use a dozen every two days). 2 Pork Chops are $15. A steak that could feed 2-3 is $19. A whole chicken is $20. Vegetables are less expensive, but we only have one organic farmer and he has mostly greens. Non-organic, but local veggies: $5/doz for corn on the cob; $1 head of lettuce, about $2 per tomato, $1.50 per cucumber, $6 for a quart of raspberries, and $8 for a small bag of apples).

 

They don't sell organic milk at our farm market, but we go through a half-gallon per day at between $3.99-4.50 per half gallon.

 

Consequently, I have been working on adding more raised beds to my garden, but am not going to venture into livestock yet!

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Breakfast: 1 dozen yard eggs@$3.00, sautĂƒÂ©ed green onions, beets, spinach, broccoli and kohlrabi from the garden. Local eggs are $3.69/dozen at the co-op. I bought two heads of broccoli there last week (local, organic) and about died when I got home and realized I had paid $7 for it ($2.99/lb on SALE!!) Prices are similar at the farmer's market. People who have cheap farmer's markets? Nope, not here. It's expensive! Broccoli, beets, spinach and kohlrabi could easily set you back $10-$15 (or more depending on quantities) regardless of whether you purchased it at the farmer's market or co-op.

 

Lunch: homemade goat cheese with rosemary from the garden on fresh French bread. My friend buys wheat berries for me at the LDS pantry, so the bread just costs pennies a loaf. Local goat cheese is about $6-$8 for a small log. Bread from local bakery- $4-$5.

 

Dinner: stuffed cabbage and salad. The cabbage is from our farmers market, and cost less than a dollar. The beef is from a steer that we bought for $50 and raised on excess milk. The brown rice is from the grocery store, but was not expensive. The salad is from the garden, the dressing is a homemade vinaigrette. You could probably find a head of cabbage for $2-$4. A pound of local raised ground beef will run you about $7 (and we're not even talking grass-fed.) Yes, it would be different if it were purchased in bulk, but still nowhere near as cheap as you've indicated ($50.) Add in another dollar or so for rice and maybe $3-$4 for salad greens.

 

I'm interested in what whole foods cost in other parts of the country. I see that because of where I live, I have a misconception that everyone could afford whole fresh foods if they wanted them. Sorry. When you're truly poor and trying to stretch your food dollar, a $1 double cheeseburger from McDonald's goes much further than $1 in the produce department.

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There are a lot of locavores here, but prices are very high for local grass fed meats and veg. We have a hard time four season gardening here; although we've had a mild winter so far, this time last year it was around 0F for weeks straight with lots of ice and snow. Organic produce in January is nearly always from out of state as local broccoli isn't available until late Feb. at the earliest.

 

I have berry bushes, etc. but they don't produce enough for our needs. Likewise, I would need to buy additional freezers in order to freeze enough for us to last through the winter.

 

I do bake from scratch, keep a garden, and buy eggs from a local 8 yo boy.

 

Our prices are very similar to Wabi Sabis.

 

To feed my family locally &/or organically, in a balanced diet is about $30/day. My budget is about $10-12.

 

I don't think it's just the poor who can't afford to eat locally/organically. It's also those who are dealing with stagnant salaries, inflation, increased medical care costs, increased utility costs, increased taxes and all of the other carp that has been the downturn in the economy has brought. ;)

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We had to make a strategy. We saved for a while until we could afford a freezer. Then we saved to buy 1/2 a cow, then saved that part of the weekly grocery budget to afford a whole. Our meat (local organic) costs less than $3 a lb., and that is less than conventional meat at the grocery store. And we are eating steaks! Yum!

 

We try to eat in season, as seasonal organic veg are cheaper than out-of-season conventional veg. (Eating lots of chard and beets right now, as we are having a warm winter!) I also buy fresh and frozen organic at great prices from Costco. We can't afford the organic processed food, so we just don't eat any with the exception of tortilla chips (Costco again). When we have the extra cash I pick up a little treat like a specialty cheese. Basically it is just meat and lots of veg. It is tasty, though, so we don't mind.

 

To afford organic we eat a more limited and seasonal diet than others we know. By purchasing our meat in bulk, sourcing local when possible, and shopping smart I can keep our costs equivalent to our 'former' diet.

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We simply couldn't do it. It is too expensive to eat locally / organically.

 

I am going to try (again!) a garden this spring, but we can't afford double or triple the prices of the supermarket for specially grown food.

 

:iagree: A gallon of organic milk here is nearly $6. We go through 4-5 gallons per week, so in milk costs alone that would be $30.

 

The last time I checked, a 3lb bag of organic apples was nearly $7.

 

I wouldn't pay $3 for a dozen eggs either, organic, cage free or otherwise and you seemed like that as inexpensive to you.

 

As far as produce goes, I went to buy a butternut squash (not organic) last week and it was $3.99 per pound!

 

My grocery budget is only around $300 ($350 if I'm lucky) per month to feed a family of five. I do what I can, but it simply isn't possible for us to eat well and eat all organic.

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I buy yard eggs from the farmers market for $3 a dozen because none of my own hens are laying right now. I usually get there before the market opens and buy 4 or 5 dozen to make sure they don't sell out before I get there.

 

These eggs are fresh and have dark orange yolks from the grass that the hens eat. I would not prefer to buy cheaper eggs from the grocery store. I'm happy to give my money to another farmer. I want them to make a living too.

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I think your situation is different b/c you raise a lot of your own food. It really depends what part of the country you're in and whether or not you can have a garden or have access to inexpensive locally grown food. Prices at our farmers markets are rising to ridiculous amounts because of the demand. We're doing a 'real' garden this year and hoping to grow everything we'll need for the year.

 

My day would cost about as much as yours minus the milk b/c we haven't made the step into goats/cows yet. I can buy half a cow for around $500 which would last us about all year. We raise chickens and are about to get into quail & pigs as well.

 

If you are on a sustainability track then your prices are going to be much cheaper than someone who doesn't even have that on their radar, ya know?

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I'll play!

 

Breakfast:

Eggs: $3/dozen, delivered from a local woman each week.

Sauted in onions (fresh, $1.49/dozen, organic), asparagus (frozen, $2.69/pound), peppers (fresh, $3.69, organic), mushrooms ($1.99, fresh, organic)

Oatmeal, organic (I bought it in a 50 pound bag for $25, so cost per day is negligible), with honey (from a local farmer for $10/gallon), milk (bought and delivered from a local farmer for $3.70/half gallon)

Toast (homemade organic from wheat berries bought in our food coop, $30/50#, and other ingredients that may add 25 cents to the cost of 6 loaves)

Butter, organic ($4.69/pound!! Ouch)

 

Many of the above listed items last a week, some only a day. We go through nearly a dozen eggs/day. The veggies will last a week. Oatmeal lasts 3 - 5 months. Six loaves of bread last about 5 days. Etc. I figure our average cost for breakfast is about $5 - $6/day.

 

Lunch is just leftover dinner. So an average dinner:

 

Salad. Lettuce ($3.49 for three heads of organic romaine - we use 1.5 each night), tomato ($0.69/each - one/night, organic), avacado ($1 each, organic), homemade viniagrette (vinegar, oil, splash of soy sauce, honey - yum!).

 

2 pounds of frozen veggies, steamed. (broccoli - organic, $2.69/pound), (peas - organic, $1.49/pound), etc.

 

Main dish varies a lot! Some days I'll roast a chicken (around $12 for a local, Amish raised, free range) and throw on some potatoes ($4.69/5#).

 

Some days we'll do beans and rice. Both I get in HUGE quantities from a food coop. But, we then add organic cheese ($3/pound or so), salsa ($1.49/jar), sour cream ($3.69), guacamole, etcetcetc.

 

So, average cost for dinner is around $20.

 

This makes sense! I spend around $200/week on food. So, the other $25 is spend on snack-type food.

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We do eat all organic/local. It costs our family of 5 around $25 per day. Sometimes it's less. That a big breakfast, plus meat dinner. I'm actually going to do a shopping challenge and blog it for the month of February. I think I can spend $600 and eat healthy whole foods.

Edited by JenC3
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:iagree: A gallon of organic milk here is nearly $6. We go through 4-5 gallons per week, so in milk costs alone that would be $30.

 

 

Well see, this is what I mean by the fact that we had to change the proportions to eat organic. Milk is the same price here, so we only drink one gallon a week. We drink water the rest of the time. We also don't eat cereal or dishes that require much milk. That keeps my milk costs at $7 a week. (family of 5, with two teenagers and often their friends).

 

If I tried to eat exactly the same diet as we used to eat but simply substituted the organic version then no, we could not afford it.

 

I am not trying to pick on you, Dustybug, your post was just a convenient example to clarify what I was trying to say in my first post.

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Well see, this is what I mean by the fact that we had to change the proportions to eat organic. Milk is the same price here, so we only drink one gallon a week. We drink water the rest of the time. We also don't eat cereal or dishes that require much milk. That keeps my milk costs at $7 a week. (family of 5, with two teenagers and often their friends).

 

If I tried to eat exactly the same diet as we used to eat but simply substituted the organic version then no, we could not afford it.

 

I am not trying to pick on you, Dustybug, your post was just a convenient example to clarify what I was trying to say in my first post.

 

VERY good point!!! We do the same thing with milk - one gallon a week. If we run out, tough. We don't drink it much - but just put it on things occasionally.

 

We also don't eat much meat unless it's mixed into things. And, we eat a lot of vegetarian foods.

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We spend huge amounts on food. We eat a lot of

organic food.

 

[We used to buy the natural brands for

toiletries and cleaners until I realized we were not

finishing out the month because of it. (Paper towels,

toilet paper, spray cleaner, dish detergent, laundry detergent

have been changed from the Natural Brands at Whole

Foods and our Co-op to the cheapest store brand at the

big box grocery store because of money. But back to food).]

 

We eat as much organic as the big grocery store has

(we stopped buying at Whole Foods as much because we

were broke).

We spend a huge amount. Typical food we buy: organic

fat-free milk, organic butter, organic yogurt, organic eggs.

Organic brown rice, organic romaine lettuce, organic carrots.

Often there are organic apples, bananas, and pears. (Sometimes

onions and potatoes.)

Everything else we buy non-organic (beans, lentils, bread,

cheese, other vegetables and things like oil and flour).

DH and DC are vegetarian so we only buy a small amount

of non-organic meat for me.

We hardly buy any processed foods.

The food just adds up!

If it's a bad month we will get non-organic just to finish out

the month.

Edited by jhschool
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I only buy organic (except for bread, which we don't eat much) and our food groceries are roughly $2 per person per day. I shop at a specialized grocery store year-round. I live in a state that is probably on the lower side as far as average cost of living.

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I don't really know but it would be more. I can't get many food locally produced. As far as I have seen, grains don't grow locally and seafood isn't local either. Many fruits aren't grown around here either. In terms of organic, I buy some stuff organically and others not. Sometimes the organic items are cheaper than non organic. The main issue with organic is the limited availability of items I want. But I would say probably about 10-15% of food items I buy are organic.

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For central Florida-

 

One dozen local eggs-$4

Organic beets-$2 for three

Organic fresh spinach-$3

Organic broccoli-$3

Organic green onions-$2 a bunch

Have not bought kohlrabi so I can't quote a price.

 

Organic goat cheese-$20 a pound

Organic loaf of bread-$4

 

Organic cabbage-$3

Organic beef-$8-up per pound

Organic spring greens mix-$6 a pound

Organic dressing-$4

Organic brown rice-$3 a pound

 

TOTAL-$62

 

Assuming I could even FiND all these things at the store, (even Whole Foods doesn't carry ALL organic produce) it would be way out of our budget. We can not garden in our rental house, and besides, with three young children, I just really do not have enough time to make it worthwhile. I'd also have to give two snacks to the kids during the day, which would add even more to the total.

Now, that's not to say that we couldn't eat all organically on our budget, we could. However, our fresh vegetables and fruit would be severely limited. I can find organic apples, bananas, carrots, and salad(either bags of spinach or spring mix) fairly regularly. Grapes are hit or miss. Sometimes I can find organic zucchini and yellow squash, or other winter squashes...but again, not regularly. Beans and rice are easily found, and are cheap. Organic chicken is easy to come by, as are eggs. Red meat is generally ground beef, unless you go in on a steer which not everyone can do, as the upfront cost is high.

If we limited ourselves to those things, we could do it. I do generally buy all those things organic. I just happen to love food too much to ONLY eat that though lol.

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I don't get it. I live in a pretty high cost of living part of N California and my prices don't approach what is cited here. Organic milk is expensive--about 5.99 a gallon. Organic beef is also really expensive (between 5-7 a lb). However, I can get a small local organic chicken for 1.99 lb on sale (WF has bone in chicken breasts this week for 2.99 and I'll stock up); organic apples for between 1.50-1.99 a lb; and organic eggs for about 3.50 a dozen. I can buy a large bunch of leafy kale for about 1.50 and organic carrots cost the same as conventional. I try to bake my own bread but an organic par-baked baguette is 2.99 at Trader Joes. I don't buy organic sandwich bread because I haven't found a brand the kids will eat.

 

It might help that we have two large year-round farmers markets nearby, and three stores (TJs, WF, and an independent grocery) within a 1 mile radius of each other. Competition does tend to drive down prices. Also, the cost of conventional groceries is high here so the sticker shock isn't as large.

 

Christine

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This is a work in process for me. When we were in KC, I relied heavily on this little store about 45 min north of the city. They carried all my dry good for really inexpensive. I kept a garden, froze quite a bit, and bought in bulk whenever something I liked went on clearance (usually organic cheeses or meats I could freeze). The big Farmer's Market in KC was very reasonable as long as I was willing to buy seasonally. I also made heavy use of "pick you own fruit" types of places.

 

Here I have been very happy with the vegetable prices, but a bit taken aback with the meat prices. We eat a lot less meat.

For produce and some veggies I have fallen in love with Azure Standard!

I am about to place my order with them. Here is what I will get:

10lbs strawberries (natural) $19.75,

25lbs Bob's Red Mill buttermilk biscuit mix $24.75,

20lbs field run potatoes $6.

20lbs transitional granny smith apples $15

38lbs organic oranges $28,

and 40lbs organic Delicota squash $28.

 

I may get some organic carrots for $1 a lb as well.

It is not totally organic, but the transitional option lets me feel that I am helping a farm turn the corner to becoming organic.

 

Honestly, I forage quite a bit as well. Since the spring greens are up we have had an abundance of chickweed, dandelion, clover, cow's thistle and some curly dock as salads or sauteed. My chickens are producing...although not much and I hope to add a dairy goat shortly to improve our dairy diet. ;)

Edited by simka2
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Well see, this is what I mean by the fact that we had to change the proportions to eat organic. Milk is the same price here, so we only drink one gallon a week. We drink water the rest of the time. We also don't eat cereal or dishes that require much milk. That keeps my milk costs at $7 a week. (family of 5, with two teenagers and often their friends).

 

If I tried to eat exactly the same diet as we used to eat but simply substituted the organic version then no, we could not afford it.

 

I am not trying to pick on you, Dustybug, your post was just a convenient example to clarify what I was trying to say in my first post.

 

No, I understand what you are saying. We've actually made many changes to our diet to eat the way we do now on the budget we have (less meat, less convenient snack foods, drinking more water, etc.). Milk is one area that we won't cut down any more though. Believe it or not, we actually HAVE cut down on the milk we use. :tongue_smilie:We drink it a ton, use it in oatmeal, cereal, for baking, when I'm cooking. One gallon a week just wouldn't work for us.

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I should add that we a substantial amount of gardening in the summer months and still have veggies in our freezer from that and it helps with our budget. However, it isn't an organic garden, as we are renters and share the large gardening plot with our landlords who live next door who do utilize pesticides, etc.

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Some of the prices in my area for what is available locally and organically in January:

 

Any grassfed meat is $8/lb. Pork, beef, goat, lamb, whatever. Last year I bought a 4th of a cow and it was a little less, but not by much. This year, I am purchasing it weekly, probably about 2-3 lbs of some sort per week.

 

Eggs are $4-5 dozen. I raise my own, but I do buy organic feed (although they are out ranging right now). If I have a lot of eggs, I can sell them so I can get nearly free eggs. Organic feed is twice the cost of conventional.

 

I sell my chickens for $4-$5/lb, and that barely puts chicken in my own freezer. It helps. I do pay someone to process them, so that adds to the cost.

 

Raw milk is $4.50/quart. I buy a quart a week.

 

That's about all that is available locally currently. I am sure there are some folks buying green house greens, but that is through CSAs and I haven't joined one this winter.

 

I spent $21 on fresh fish yesterday. (I live in a coastal area.) I can't know how many bits of plastic they ingested swimming in the Atlantic, so organic is up in the air.

 

Dinner was fish, so 21 divided by 5, plus 2 cups of cooked quiona, mixed in with a whole sauted sliced onion and a bag of frozen Cascadian broccoli (2.49). Maybe divide it by 6, as ds did take leftovers for his high school lunch. The bones (two whole fish) will be used to make broth. I baked the fish with olive oil (not organic, not local), and another whole sliced onion.

Edited by LibraryLover
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Some of the prices in my area for what is available locally and organically in January:

 

Any grassfed meat is $8/lb. Pork, beef, goat, whatever.

 

 

:svengo::svengo::svengo:

 

You really should move here! :lol: I just bought a bunch of meat from our local meat store. I get Amish raised, grass fed meat. So, not certified organic, but close enough for me! Ground beef is $3.29/pound! Chicken was even cheaper. If you catch them at the right time, they'll sell the stuff that is about to expire at half price! That's when I really stock up. (At the end of last summer I got a HUGE bag of organic potatoes there for 10 CENTS!!)

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We just couldn't do it.

 

I live in a very small town, there is a Walmart and some little hole in the wall grocery store that I refuse to step foot into again. I would have to go to the next town over to get anything else that Walmart doesn't carry (which includes meat)

 

We moved to land for this reason. We raise our own dairy, meat, eggs, and veggies/fruit, and have a fairly long growing season. We co-op our grains, beans, and rice to get the good stuff.

 

Still, we're not fully self sufficient, and I still rely on the grocery store, especailly in the winter for fruit (we're not yet producing enough to can for all winter). When I am in the "big city", I pick up organic, otherwise, we just do without.

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We don't eat all organic but we eat a lot of local. I spend probably $1200 a month on food for 8 of us on average. I spent a lot more than that last month because I bought a lot of grass fed beef and pork in bulk to fill the freezer and I got a good deal on coconut oil because the cost locally had basically tripled. BUT it still cost a big chunk to buy 6 mo worth at once. I also spend $140 a mo on raw grass fed milk. :/ We go through 5 gallons a week at least and at $7 a gallon.

 

We did buy two goats recently and hope to breed them soon and help cut down on our milk cost. My costs will also drop a lot this spring/summer/fall because I grow a lot of food when I'm on top of things. When the garden is good we can eat all our own vegetables and just buy meat and dairy and grains. We have our own chickens and ducks for eggs but we aren't getting that much right now. Yesterday was a good day and we only got 8. Not enough. I've also spent loads more than normal this winter because I've been drinking at least a quart of green juices every day. If I tried to go all organic and local and wasn't growing any of my own stuff we'd probably be spending at least 2K a month.

 

I'd like to cut back this coming year, buy more in bulk and rely on it and less treats. And I'd like to grow even more of our own produce and up our egg production at home as well breeding our goats.

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I pretty much figure that to buy organic I have to add $1 to the cost of everything. So if I buy 60 organic items at the market it costs me $60 more than buying conventional.

 

That might be a good rule of thumb. I don't know how to compare it or to break it down for our case in particular. From May to September is the BEST when we can use our local farmer's market and come home with $20 that would be $50 in January and not nearly as good. Our farmer's market requires that every thing is grown (and/or processed like artisan bread) within 60 miles of the market. I prefer local to mass marketed organic too. I know many farmer's market folks use organic methods even if they can't be certified.

 

I do buy fresh fruits and veggies year round. I will use canned tomatoes and some frozen veggies (peas, spinach, edamame, etc) when the getting is not good. We have a short growing season too. We garden, but struggle a bit with it. But we will keep trying! :D

 

I am happy when organic milk is $5.99 a gallon. We maybe go through 2 gallons (or less) a week. I think we are a family of lighter eaters than many. A dozen eggs lasts us a couple weeks. We also do not eat much meat.

 

I would love to have a freezer to be able to buy grass fed, hormone free meat in bulk.

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Having my own chickens really helped a lot. And, I miss them.

 

We go through about 8 dozen eggs, 6 gallons of milk, and I bake bread almost every day. About two pounds of butter a week.

 

To buy all that alone, here, organic, would break the bank. THOUGH, I am hoping this raw milk law passes in NJ and I'll at least be able to do better than hormone free, and support my farmers. :001_smile:

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I don't know what it would be per day because we don't eat totally local/organic, but here are some examples of what we pay. We've been buying 1/2 a grassfed beef that lasts our family of 4 about a year (~$1200). Organic eggs that are rated well on the Cornucopia Institute's website are $4 a doz here, but we have 5 hens that are starting to lay. I can buy an organic basket from Bountiful Baskets for $26.50, which varies on how much produce it has, but usually has some things my local store doesn't carry. Our local Fred Meyer does have a good variety of organic produce - I try to buy things when they go on sale, but the last time I bought pears they were $1.49lb, cabbage $0.79 lb, celery $0.99 lb, a bunch of kale $2.50, a package of organic romaine is $2.50, oranges (on sale) $0.88lb. They stopped carrying Organic Valley gallons of milk, so we've been buying local for $4.59 a gallon, but dh is the only one who drinks it, and I just use it in cooking, so it's maybe a gallon a week.

 

The last time I bought local chickens, they were about $20 a chicken. I didn't see the vendor at the Farmer's Market this year, so ordered some online for ~ $4.50lb.

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:svengo::svengo::svengo:

 

You really should move here! :lol: I just bought a bunch of meat from our local meat store. I get Amish raised, grass fed meat. So, not certified organic, but close enough for me! Ground beef is $3.29/pound! Chicken was even cheaper. If you catch them at the right time, they'll sell the stuff that is about to expire at half price! That's when I really stock up. (At the end of last summer I got a HUGE bag of organic potatoes there for 10 CENTS!!)

 

 

That's amazing. MI...even colder than MA. No can do. A longer drive to FL as well. ;)

Edited by LibraryLover
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We eat fresh foods with many organic and local options. We do not buy too many processed foods except for random treats. Per year we spend less than the moderate USDA plan for our family size (which is basically 3 adults and 2 kids because my dad eats here so often). We eat meat as often as we want (several times a week plus lots of fish) as well so that is not where we save $$. We live in the land of inexpensive wild fish options. It does take some planning and stocking up on sales + bulk buying and freezing of organic meat and fish. If I was going out to buy food for a week and had bare cupboards it would be cheaper to not to local and organic and fresh. But when looked at as an entire year, it is as cheap or cheaper than many people spend on the standard American diet.

 

We could buy like we do and be even cheaper if we did not do organics but it is not cost prohibitive to do organics for us so we do.

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Well I will first say that my kids would be starving by the end of the day on that so my food costs would be higher just because I need more food than that to feed them. Your lunch would probably be just an appetizer for them for example. But my husband had an extremely high metobolism until his mid 20's (for instance would eat 3-4 sandwiches and then want a full dinner an hour later). He's was severely underweight as a teenager and couldn't gain weight no matter how he tried. My kids have inherited this trait so keeping them fed is a challenge.

 

Another thing is I live in the North, Most years you can't start planting til mid May sometimes not till the end of May, early June. Frost is expected by the end of September, early October. Some of the cabbage veggies and root veggies can last a little longer but really that's the general time frame we have for growing things. I do pull some things indoor for another month or so but by November they are done with because we just don't have the light for them.

 

We don't do all organic and I raise a lot of produce myself. We live in the city so no homegrown meat. I grind my own grain and make all our bread products. I currently spend about $100 per person a month on food only (not other household stuff). To go organic, I would expect I would need to add at a minimum another $50 a person if not closer to $100. So at a minimum we are taking another $350 a month to $700 a month. That's not a small chunk of change. So I totally understand not being able to afford it. I've been working slowly to improve our food choices but let's face it, it's a lot easier to pay $1.00 a pound for traditional chicken, than $4.00-$5.00 a pound for local/organic chicken. Especially when I need 2-3 pounds for a meal. I know people would say cut back on meat but when you can barely get weight on your kids and they eat every two hours, you want to load them up with something with staying power. They still eat their veggies (we can easily consume 3 pounds in a meal with the chicken above and a large serving of whole grain something)

 

 

You are very blessed to be able to raise so much of your food. I would like to do more of own but we would have to move and that's just not an option right now.

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I typically can"t plant until late May. One year, I had to wait until father's Day. This year, we had 8" of snow before Halloween.

 

I'm trying to expand garden space for preserving, but our property is all rock, so all of my soil has to be brought in.

 

Free range, grass-fed chicken runs around $4/lb, whole. Beef, $6-7/lb (for whole or half mix).

 

I want to grind wheat, but I already gave up my microwave to fit my breadmaker. No room for grinding.

 

Our grocery store is decent for local produce if you look carefully, so that's good.

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Hmmm...thinking out loud here....

 

Right now the only fresh veggies available locally are storage vegetables: Onions, garlic, squash and pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, etc. Greens this year because it's such a mild winter, but that's unusual.

 

I'm not sure how much it would cost me to buy all local, all fresh if I went to the grocery store today because we buy our storage veggies in the fall from our CSA and store them in the basement. I have no idea what the grocery store prices are right now. Quite a bit, I imagine. Last year, to buy one bunch of kale--not organic, but local--at the grocery store was $4, and our family typically eats two bunches at a meal. This year it's a little less because we've had a very mild winter; last I checked at the farmer's market it was $3/bunch, but it's been a while since I looked. I've still got chard and kale in my own garden.

 

The price of bread has gone up quite a bit here. I can buy a loaf of sandwich bread in a bag (bakery is local) in the grocery store for the same price I can get an amazing fresh-baked bakery loaf from the bakery that tries to use fresh, local, organic, and I can make my own for about half the cost without having to grind my own anything.

 

It would cost me FAR more than $50 for fresh local beef for my freezer even if I could find a friend to raise it for me. I buy chickens from my sister, who raises them herself, at about the same cost as grocery store chicken, though much better quality. We have chickens, but eat more eggs than they can lay; the rest I buy from my sister. Same thing, it costs about the same as grocery store eggs, but better quality. I see eggs at the farmer's market for about $5/dozen or more.

 

In my community, farmer's market prices are about comparable to organic produce available at the more upscale local grocery store, so higher than I would find on conventional produce at a chain grocery. Meat of all kinds, as well as eggs and dairy, are far more expensive to buy local, grass-fed, organic, and harder to find as well. And don't get me started on local honey! $16 for a quart jar. I've seen as high as $18. Yikes! I can buy from a friend, but not everyone can. Many people still seek out these products because they are healthier, but the cost truly is prohibitive. If I didn't pick-my-own, grow-my-own, make-my-own, have family with land, we probably wouldn't be able to eat as well as we do.

 

Cat

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When I started buying more local, organic foods a few years ago, I had 1 teen and 1 pre-teen boy and a husband, as well as myself. I stocked up my pantry and freezer first, not knowing whether or not I could afford to buy such food weekly. I gave myself $100 for food stuff and $40 for household supplies, health and beauty aids, etc., weekly. I am still on the same budget about 6 years later and have never had difficulty buying whatever I want/need for the week for my family.

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When I started buying more local, organic foods a few years ago, I had 1 teen and 1 pre-teen boy and a husband, as well as myself. I stocked up my pantry and freezer first, not knowing whether or not I could afford to buy such food weekly. I gave myself $100 for food stuff and $40 for household supplies, health and beauty aids, etc., weekly. I am still on the same budget about 6 years later and have never had difficulty buying whatever I want/need for the week for my family.

 

Cost of living in KY is far different that in the North East, for instance, though.

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Vegies: Depends on the type, but they are about twice the cost of regular. Maybe $4 for a head of broccoli, $2-3 for lettuce, $4 for carrots.

 

This is about the cost for regular vegies in Australia. If you want Organic (if you can find them) you have to triple/quadruple that.

 

So we don't buy organic.

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