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Eat Organic and Vegan for Cheap
When many people think about adopting a vegan and organic lifestyle, they imagine it will be more costly than what they're used to eating. Sometimes people let those thoughts prevent them from taking the leap into this ethical, healthier, and responsible lifestyle. But fear not! Organic and vegan doesn't have to equal expensive and unsustainable. Check out these tips for some reassurance and guidance.
Avoid Processed Food
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Pre-made packaged food will almost always cost more than using whole ingredients to make your meals and snacks and is likely less nutritious. While it's handy to have items around that are quick and easy to eat, those should be the exception rather than the rule when trying to get more food for less money. Take soup, for instance. A can of Amy's Organic Split Pea Soup costs about $2.50 or more and supposedly has two servings (those must be tiny servings). Making a big pot of organic split pea soup from scratch costs less than $6 for at least 6 hearty servings. If you can't eat it all before it goes bad, freeze some in reusable BPA-free bags to have a quick, filling meal when time is tight.
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Recipe from skinnyfitalicious.com
Free Kindle e-book
Free Kindle ebook
Grow Your Own Produce
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Or at least grow some of it. Even if space is tight, you have a hard time being physical, or you only have a city apartment balcony or window sill, you can grow some things to create a little room in your food budget. Container gardening is all the rage and all you need are some pots (find them cheap or free at yard sales or craigslist), some potting soil (a big bag is cheaper than a smaller bag and goes further), and some seeds (buy on sale at the end of the season and save them to plant next year). Plus some sun. Sun is good. If you're a SNAP recipient, you are allowed to use your benefits to purchase food seeds and even plant starts. There's tons of information online about how to grow what in pots, so find out what it takes to grow some of your favorites. Tomatoes, lettuces, spinach, kale, radishes, bok choi, various herbs, and more are consistent winners for those with little room or experience. In many places most greens will grow practically year-round and can be a significant money saver.
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Have Staples Readily Available
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A great way to save money is to have the bases for many recipes on hand and ready to go. Stock up on organic grains, flours, and legumes. Usually bulk or larger packages cost less per ounce than smaller packages, but I've found Thrive Market to be an amazing source of quality organic and nonGMO products at super reasonable prices for "normal" sized packages. They even have their own brand of many items that are even cheaper than the already-cheaper name brands they carry. I like to keep plenty of staples like white rice, brown rice, quinoa, mung beans, lentils, pinto beans, almond flour, spelt flour, and more in the pantry so I always have the main base ingredient on hand so I don't have to go to the grocery store to pick up something that I don't have while it's not even on sale (my heart breaks a little every time I buy something at regular price).
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Gleaned rainbow chard
Be a Glean Machine
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Gleaning is an amazing way to get FREE fresh produce! That's right, you heard me correctly. When farms are done harvesting all they want from their fields, they may invite people to come in and glean (harvest) what's left and would otherwise go to waste. You get to leave with all the goodies you came up with for zero cost. If you got more than you can use, freeze it or offer it up to someone in need. Some programs also coordinate homeowners that have fruit trees, etc. that they don't want to harvest and will allow people to glean (Free organic cherries? Yes, please!). If you're brave, you could even directly ask the owner of a loaded tree if you can pick some. Some programs reach even farther by gleaning from grocery stores, restaurants, etc. A quick Google search offered up many organizations with tons of resources, plus your local university may have an extension office that has a gleaning program.
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Prepare Large Quantities
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Since you've followed the tip above about having staples readily available, then you can easily prepare large quantities of food. How large? I recommend enough for 3 to 5 days and eating it for 3 days and freezing 2 day's worth (roughly). This saves money (and time) because making larger batches means less wasted ingredients. Ever made something that called for, say, half a can of beans or 3 celery stalks? That other half a can or the rest of the celery bunch might not get used before they go bad. By doubling the recipe you can use up what you have without waste. Some people get bored eating the same thing for several days, so if you don't want to make large meals to eat several days in a row, you can just make large amounts of base ingredients to use for awhile. Having a couple cups of cooked quinoa in the fridge means you have the start to several great meals already prepared (did you know quinoa and fruit makes a nice hot breakfast cereal?). Add some to a salad, bulk up a soup, mix with steamed veggies... you get the picture.
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Cheap Kindle ebook
Special freshness bags
Reduce Waste
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Have you heard that about one-third of food in the United States gets thrown away? ONE-THIRD! That blows my mind and sickens me. I always feel bad when I forget to eat something and it goes bad so I have to toss it out. It's literally throwing money away. There are a few ways to keep your organic produce fresh longer. One way is to use GreenBags. People rave about these bags. While it does have a cost up-front, it seems to be worth it in the long run. Another way is to learn the ins and outs of how produce ripens (and ethylene gas) and what the best environment is to store each item in (fridge or counter?). Also, don't chop up fresh food until you're going to use it. By keeping the food whole you are reducing the number of surfaces that can be affected by oxygen and spoilage. These techniques can make a huge difference in lengthening the time you have to consume your fruits and veggies. Check out this article for lots more useful tips.
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Stock Up During Sales
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Paying attention to when the things you use the most are on sale can save a fair amount of money. If you know you go through a jar of your favorite organic salsa every week and it normally costs $3.99, when it goes on sale for 2 for $5, it's time to stock up. Buying 4 for $10 is quite different than 4 for $15.96. Most grocery stores have a fairly predictable sales schedule. The same (or very similar) items go on sale in cycles, maybe every 5 or 7 weeks depending on the store. If you can figure out your favorite store's sales schedule, you'll be able to stock up consistently and avoid paying full price. This article has some pro tips for you. And don't forget that many grocery store chains have reward programs and/or special coupons, so be sure to take advantage of those, too. I save a lot of money using the deals Safeway rewards me with, especially on their O Organics brand. Sometimes they even offer me free items (yes, free!). This week I got free Cascadian Farms Organic Chewy Granola Bars (regular price $4.99!).
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More Stocking Up
If you know anyone that has a membership at a big warehouse store such as Costco or Sam's Club, ask to go with them sometime and be amazed at the many vegan and organic options available for purchase at great prices--both shelf-stable and fresh items. I've bought Nature's Path Ancient Grains Cereal, almond butter, peanut butter, Dave's Killer Bread, big bags of carrots for juicing, Kind Bars, and more at Costco. I'm not sure the cost of a membership is really worth it for everyone, so maybe a friend or family member could pick things up for you once in awhile or split the cost of a membership.
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There you go--the basics. It's true that organic costs more in general, but with some intentional planning and strategies you can make the most of your grocery budget (some of these tips can also be applied to sundries such as toiletries and cleaning products).
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And I must reiterate my recommendation for Thrive Market. They carry a wide variety of organic and nonGMO products for at least 25% less than normal retail. Their prices are great, the products are awesome, and shipping is free with orders over $49. They do have a membership fee, but you get a free 30-day trial and can cancel before you're charged the fee. They also have a program where they'll waive the membership cost for people who meet certain qualifications. Personally, I gladly pay the membership fee in order to get such great deals, especially for things I can't even find around here and would otherwise have to get off Amazon for more money.
I'll let you in on a little secret... shhh... if you go to thrivemarket.com and start adding items to your cart, but don't actually purchase them right away, Thrive will send you emails with incentives to entice you to complete the purchase. They may offer an extra percentage off or the addition of a free item with your order. Wait a day or two and see what they email you.
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And just for you, my lovely vegan readers, click through any of my
Thrive Market links and get 25% off your first order (you're welcome!).
