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  • Shopping For Organic Groceries: Our June 2012 Challenge

  • Shopping For Organic Groceries: Our June 2012 Challenge

    My husband and I have decided to start a new challenge next month. I am very excited about it – and very nervous as well!

    For the entire month of June, we plan to only purchase organic groceries. We are sticking to the same grocery budget that we currently have for groceries, which is $400 monthly.

    This challenge is going to include all groceries – not just food and beverages.

    Grocery Items Included:
    - Household Items
    - Health & Beauty Items
    - Pet Items
    - Baby Items
    - Food & Beverages

    Those are the items we regularly purchase with our grocery budget, so we are going to stick to the same list for our organics challenge.

    However, I don’t think we will be purchasing many household, health, beauty or baby items, because we already have quite a few of those in our stockpile.

    I will still be shopping for “regular” groceries, but am only be allowed to pick them up if they are free (not including taxes). There is a maximum budget of $20 to cover these taxes.

    We will also be allowing ourselves to eat non-organic foods if they are already in our stockpile.

    I’m really looking forward to shopping for organic items and seeing if I am able to feed our family the same types of foods for the same amount of money we currently spend.

    Throughout the month, I will be sharing our grocery shopping deals, as well as posting articles about purchasing organic groceries.

    If you currently buy organic groceries, do you have any advice for us?

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    Posted By: on May 31, 2012 Filed Under: Canadian Shopping Deals 
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    30 Responses to »
    Shopping For Organic Groceries: Our June 2012 Challenge

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    1. jenn says:
      May 31, 2012 at 10:26 PM

      When my son was a baby I made all my own organic babyfood for him and it cost pennies a “jar”. I also look for pesticide free produce. Often my local grocery will have some from farms that are switching to organic but haven’t had enough years pesticide free yet to qualify for organic status.

      Reply
    2. Sheila says:
      May 31, 2012 at 9:13 PM

      You can look into CSA farms (Community Shared Agriculture) and support local farmers.
      The farmer provides a weekly share of fresh, in season, local produce to their group of members.
      Weekly CSA baskets may include a variety of vegetables, fruit, meats, eggs, baked goods, honey, maple syrup, flowers, etc. depending on the farm you choose.

      Reply
    3. Tracy says:
      May 31, 2012 at 7:49 PM

      Great challenge! I can’t wait to see what you do for dairy and meat. I find these items to be the most expensive.

      Reply
    4. Carrie H says:
      May 31, 2012 at 7:04 PM

      I work for an organic certification company and we are also organic farmers! I’m happy to see this challenge, I have found it hard to coupon because I won’t buy the all the chemical products – our family uses a lot of vinagar. When it comes to meat it can be tough to find – when the BSC hit a few years back the organic market plumed. If you can find one ( you can also call any organic certifcation body and ask for some names and numbers )there are a lot of farmer that are raising there livestock naturally just at this time they are not certified organic, I recommend going and see what your buying, see how they have lived i know it sounds wierd but you can be confident in what your putting in your families mouth. If your brave see what the bylaw is for having chickens in the back yard -fresh eggs you can’t beat it and @ $6 dozzen its cost effective. The biggest thing I want to pass on is Natural in NOT Organic but Organic is Natural. Natural is a buzz word it is not regulated, there is no one watching this product – there is a cereal that is promoting that’s its all natural and when my husband checked the label it’s full of junk most I couldn’t even pronounce!

      Reply
    5. Jennifer says:
      May 31, 2012 at 3:53 PM

      I purchase organic groceries quite often and I find that the independant grocer has an amazing selection. you can get a bag of organic apples for 4.99 and they taste delicios. Metro also has a good selection. If you purchase organic lettuce the best price for that can be found at walmart although independent is pretty inexpensive. As far as baby food goes I saved a fortune buying the baby bullet and making home made and it was all organic. check out wholesomebabyfood.com for great recepes and ideas. There is a list of the most highly contaminated and least contaminated fruits and vegetables. Good luck on your challenge. I would like to see how everything works out for you.

      Reply
    6. Laura says:
      May 31, 2012 at 2:12 PM

      This sounds like such an exciting challenge. I can’t wait to read about your finds! If you check out the prices on produce regularly, you’ll notice (or you probably already have) that sometimes the organic produce is cheaper than non-organic (eg. apples). For produce that lasts awhile, I recommend stocking up on days when the organic is cheaper. I’m sure you already know this though! :)

      Reply
    7. Katie says:
      May 31, 2012 at 2:09 PM

      I agree with Mary, theres certain fruits and veggies that I would prefer to buy organic because of the pesticide use on them. Organic strawberries I have found to always taste more like a real strawberry and tend to pay the extra that it costs. But I do pay attention to the cost of each item. The other day organic banana’s were $0.01 more than non-organic… so I bought the organic.

      Garlic is another item I would rather buy organic. Most garlic in the grocery store comes from China… after the melamine scare in powdered milk for babies, I don’t trust much food from China. So I grow my own garlic… From my harvest last Aug, I still have garlic I’m using from my garden

      Reply
    8. claudia howard says:
      May 31, 2012 at 2:00 PM

      buying from local veggie stands/farms is the best way to get truly organic as well as ensuring that you aren’t getting GMO enhanced foods. These foods are heathier, and taste so much better. Try making your own pasta from healthy grains. We are going vegetarian and only eat meat that is already in our stockpile. We find that our appetite has lessened and we feel full longer and we have way more energy. It is not too late to start a garden and if you only have a balcony, plant some pots with tomatoes, cukes, radishes and lettuce greens. I live in a colder wet area of BC and I have a pepper plant, peas, leaf greens and herbs growing in my window sills as well. Save room by planting radishes with cukes, The radishes also ward off a certian cucumber pest.

      Reply
    9. teachermum says:
      May 31, 2012 at 12:21 PM

      I envy you living where you have access to more options. Buying organic here (produce) would mean a very small selection of foods that have come a LONG way a LONG time ago! Even if I had a selection, I would be paying 4x as much for it. We eat from our garden in the later summer-that will be organic.
      We did find a source of grass fed-grass finished beef-and you don’t want to know how much that costs!

      Reply
    10. Linda says:
      May 31, 2012 at 11:54 AM

      I was wondering why everyone is going organic? is it because its “safer and healthier”? Sorry but I just dont get it, as there is no proven facts that it is indeed better for us. I would be more worried about all the chemicals in regular household cleaners, air fresheners and beauty products.

      Reply
    11. Eeyah says:
      May 31, 2012 at 11:44 AM

      Find a farmers market, here in AB there is one almost everyday (varying towns 20-40 kms away) . There are also evening markets in some of the towns. Plus its an awesome free family event (free to go, the food you buy is another story haha)

      You should also look into food boxes from some of the farms. Lots out here do weekly food drops – you sign up for a season ($200+ ) and you pick up a basket of goodies weekly.

      Reply
    12. Cassie says:
      May 31, 2012 at 11:28 AM

      Thanks for the support and all of the tips, everyone! I appreciate them!

      Reply
    13. Iryna says:
      May 31, 2012 at 10:22 AM

      Great for you and your family Mrs. January. I think you’ll get even more followers with this challenge.
      When I had my first baby I knew it was time to switch to more greener way of living. I make most of my beauty products and household cleaning products myself. It’s much cheaper and it’s fun too. I will never go back to those chemicals in products we buy in stores (unless it’s a organic certified and a great deal :) .
      And with the organic groceries – we always buy our apples from here http://www.huttonville.com/alferriandsons/. Farmer markets are a great place too. We also plant our own cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs and we always have tons of them, that lasts to mid fall (it’s really easy and frugal too).

      Reply
    14. Connie Walsh says:
      May 31, 2012 at 10:15 AM

      I am looking forward to see how you do with organic meat, I am hoping to see some tips because every time I consider organic meat, I can’t figure out how to do it frugally.

      Reply
    15. Adeline says:
      May 31, 2012 at 9:59 AM

      Good on ya mrsjanuary! I always get my organic produce at 50% off! Love Independent store’s pink sticker. You can get it at Zehr’s too. I normally get organic apples (it’s a must, regular apples have too much pesticides), bananas, celery, broccoli, carrots, milk. The rest you can check out http://www.thehealthyshopper.ca and print your coupons! Simply Natural salsa becomes cheaper than regular salsa and Nature’s Path cereals cheaper than conventional genetically modified sucrose/fructose cereals.

      Reply
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