MSNative Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 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. Wow! Seriously? I will not gripe about my veggie bill anymore. Ok, not true. I will complain but I will temper it with perspective. Why are your veggies so pricey? Curious 'cause I've lived in some hard growing zones and our produce wasn't that much. We eat a bunch of produce. This week 18 lbs of grapefruit was on sale for $6. I bought the bag Sat. and we are almost thru it. Also got 10 lbs of oranges, 5 lbs of clementines, 5 lbs of apples, 3lbs bananas, 1 large clamshell of strawberries and one of blackberries. We have a few berries left, half the bag of apples, half bag of oranges and 5 bananas left. That's not even getting to the veggies. Thankfully our lettuce, spinach and onions are still producing in the garden but I have to buy everything else. Our organic prices are between 50 - 100% higher than conventional. Buying all organic would kill our budget or 'cause me to want to limit my family's produce intake. I can't justify that. However, during the growing season, we grow close to 75% of our produce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassiemc Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 We spend 74/week on organic produce and grassfed meat. Everything else comes from the grocery store, most of it is organic and I spend about 100-150 a week on that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Wow! Seriously? I will not gripe about my veggie bill anymore. Ok, not true. I will complain but I will temper it with perspective. Why are your veggies so pricey? Curious 'cause I've lived in some hard growing zones and our produce wasn't that much. Profit mainly - there are basically two major supermarket chains in Aus so they have little competition and can charge what they like. We live in a rural area and there is one tiny fruit and veg store that sells locally grown -they charge MORE (but are not organic) then the regular supermarkets because their produce is nicer I guess - I do find it keeps longer then the chain stores anyway. The closest farmer's markets are over an hours drive from our town so we don't use it - but from what I've seen it's generally in line with grocery store prices - sometimes lower if they have an overabundance. Most of it is not organic Regular cage eggs at the store cost $3.49/dozen. Free range starts at around $5 and can go as high as $8 a dozen :001_huh: The store brand milk is $1 a litre but I don't buy that because it's like drinking water. To buy good milk starts is 2-2x that cost. I spend about $200 a week for my family to eat and that buys us nothing more then the ingredients for each meal- no extras. My DD is on a GF diet so we don't buy a lot of processed food - so that is just for meat, vege,fruit, dairy and a few odds and ends like a baking mix to make GF bread ($5 a box) or some GF pasta ($3.50 a box that serves 2 people) :001_huh:. It's super expensive to eat here - a lot of people are eating baked beans on toast for dinner - they would laugh in your face if you started telling them they should eat organic for better health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I have nearly free food 6 months of the year and enough to store/freeze for later... usually. So that's not helping your perspective, I know. However, I used to think like you did, too, until I had to spend some time north of 60° (on the Nunavut border). It was a group of communities only accessible by fly-in or ice roads. Ice roads are only open a short window of the year. The rest of the year, everything is flown in. Even with the ice roads open, transportation costs are beyond unbelieveable. I only spent a week there, and went to the grocery store 3 times. Milk was $18 for a 4 litre jug. A head of lettuce almost $10. I could buy canned pasta dinner for $.99/can, though, and pop was $1.99 for a 2-litre. Kraft dinner $1.49/box and since milk and margarine were too expensive, people would just use evaporated milk instead. Frozen pizzas were less than $5. Most people were on social assistance of some variety or another, and those working weren't getting stellar wages. It was a very deeply poverty striken area. You get the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 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. Not a farmer myself, but I wish to echo your sentiment on supporting local farmers! I too share your preference for "real" eggs! We eat local first, organic secondly--and ideally local "organic" with the understanding that not all small farmers jump through the hoops to be certified organic. Eating seasonally is the best way to buy quality food at the lowest price. My freezer remains stocked with berries, peas, peaches, etc. purchased from local farmers last summer. We were inundated with greens from our fall CSA. Truly, if I had been shopping for produce in a grocery, I would not have purchased so many greens on a weekly basis. But they were tasty, healthful, local, organic. Mother Earth News had an article on this topic in the recent issue. Preaching to the choir for many of us, but perhaps some readers may find it to be useful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Profit mainly - there are basically two major supermarket chains in Aus so they have little competition and can charge what they like. We live in a rural area and there is one tiny fruit and veg store that sells locally grown -they charge MORE (but are not organic) then the regular supermarkets because their produce is nicer I guess - I do find it keeps longer then the chain stores anyway. The closest farmer's markets are over an hours drive from our town so we don't use it - but from what I've seen it's generally in line with grocery store prices - sometimes lower if they have an overabundance. Most of it is not organic Regular cage eggs at the store cost $3.49/dozen. Free range starts at around $5 and can go as high as $8 a dozen :001_huh: The store brand milk is $1 a litre but I don't buy that because it's like drinking water. To buy good milk starts is 2-2x that cost. I spend about $200 a week for my family to eat and that buys us nothing more then the ingredients for each meal- no extras. My DD is on a GF diet so we don't buy a lot of processed food - so that is just for meat, vege,fruit, dairy and a few odds and ends like a baking mix to make GF bread ($5 a box) or some GF pasta ($3.50 a box that serves 2 people) :001_huh:. It's super expensive to eat here - a lot of people are eating baked beans on toast for dinner - they would laugh in your face if you started telling them they should eat organic for better health. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. :) Very interesting. I will appreciate my grocery prices a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 At least twice as much as we currently spend-- if we bought organic everything-- and that's with cooking from scratch. Plus $10 toll for the bridge, ~$15 for parking, and at least $5 extra in gas for each shopping trip. So instead of spending about $1000/ month to feed 9, it would be about $2200. If I joined costco I could buy some things organic for less, and save a little on gas/ tolls/ parking, but I'd have to travel a ways for that too. I'll take my dirt cheap, shabby, non organic produce stand down the street thank you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Being in Canada, our growing season is shorter, and where I live, shorter yet, compared to say, BC or ON. Romaine lettuce, on sale, I can get 2/$4. Big jug (gallon) of milk, just under $5. 5lbs potatoes, just under $6. None of the above is organic. Nothing grows locally this time of year, not w/out a greenhouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 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 True about the competition. I also live in Northern CA. I have actually found it cheaper to shop at grocery stores for organic produce than the farmer's markets the last couple of years. It is just that, for us, it adds up so quickly, and I have so little flexibility in my grocery budget. IF I shop VERY carefully, we can eat mostly organic/local, by shopping at a couple of different stores. Just a few natural food vs conventional food comparisons from our area... good sausages &5.99-$8.99/pound VS packaged Italian sausages, $3.99/pkg. Organic milk $6.99/gallon VS. store brand $5/2 gallons Organic chicken, on a good sale $1.99/lb. VS Foster Farms chicken on a good sale, $0.88/lb. Good ground beef, on sale $3.99/lb. VS regular ground beef $1.39/lb. Organic apples, $1.99/lb VS conventional apples, $0.99/lb. Organic potatoes, $2.99/5 lb bag VS a 20 lb bag conventionally grown for $2.99 So I can totally see where it would be hard to go all organic on a tight budget. We've been doing better since we're eating more veggies, and less meat. I am lucky we get milk at the price we do ($6 a gallon for local, raw, pastured, in glass bottles). Still, it can be a struggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funschooler5 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 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. :iagree: It's at least this much more where I live. We are on an extremely tight budget right now. I try to buy the organic versions of the "dirty dozen" but sometimes we can't even afford that. We ate the last of our organic apples a couple of days ago. We're down to our last $10 till Tuesday. Last night I went to the store and bought bananas, oranges and 3 large combo packages of Ramen. The bananas and oranges (non-organic) were more than the Ramen (which is a week's worth of lunches for us...we add frozen veggies to make it "healthier"). We don't eat it every single day, but the kids get tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and the whole wheat bread we buy is $2.50 a loaf (on sale), which is a lot to us. I have to make it last, so we either use it for breakfast toast or lunch sandwiches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Yes, the area you live in is going to be a big determiner in how much income you have available for weekly groceries, as well as the cost of groceries in your area.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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