When it comes to budgeting for food, there is no shortcut to it since you are dealing with numbers. You have probably heard the phrase, numbers do not lie and this is why; the amount of money you pay in bills remains constant over a certain period of time and the cost of food is constant too. There are so many systemic diseases that more and more people are gradually seeking to go back to eating food growth without use of chemicals. It is a fact that organic foods are costly but here is how to strategically incorporate them in a diet without using more than had been budgeted for;
Buy in bulk – there are two advantages of bulk buying; first you enjoy supplier prices because retailers also buy at these low prices and secondly, when suppliers have plenty to sell, they set low prices for their fresh produce to minimize risk of perishables going bad. Not sure you would find use for bulk purchases? No problem! Pool together with friends and family then split the produce.
Pick the unpackaged – food in its raw form is usually way cheaper than when it has been value added. Instead of stocking up on processed organic foods, you could buy more staple foods that are more nutritious and less toxic. If you must keep your organic foods in the freezer for a long time, blanch, then store in plastic airtight containers to maintain freshness.
Make good use of left-overs and food scraps – the average American household wastes up to a third of their grocery shopping. The cost of organically produced food has been established to be about a third more compared to conventionally grown food. Instead of throwing out food remains, save up by storing scraps for late use or piling up left overs to make soup. Left over onions, tomatoes, turmeric, garlic, zucchini and many other farm produce can be used in recipes that require half of a whole item. The more you experiment with using left overs, the less organic foods waste you have and the less you use on fresh foods.
Grow your own food – maintaining a vegetable garden may sound like a cumbersome idea but the options for modern households are far much simpler than what was done a few decades ago. You can start small be re-growing your herbs in containers then later advance to growing spinach and other leafy vegetables in improvised gardens. The advantage of a home garden is that you can have it irrespective of whether you have space or not.
