Grocery Bills, Budgets, and Flawed Food Systems

In case you missed it, here was my post yesterday at the Green Phone Booth:

Last week, we talked a lot about the cost of groceries - first with my post about how I came to peace with my high grocery bill and then with Robbie's post about keeping her grocery bill inline with her budget.

Even before Robbie wrote her post, I had been thinking about the flipside to the issue. I realize that I'm very lucky to be able to splurge on what some consider food luxuries, and although there are many people who could afford to make cutbacks in other areas and shift their savings to their food budgets, there are also plenty of people (especially in these tough economic times) who are already living as frugally as they can and simply have no money to spare.

So what about them? Do we point our fingers at them and scold them for their poor choices?

Read more...

Read more...

How I Came to Peace with My Grocery Bill

I'm over at the Green Phone Booth today accepting my high grocery budget:

For a long time, those conversations made me feel ridiculous. I've been looking for ways to add more money to my grocery budget. I pay twice as much as most people for toothpaste, and I never get it for free. I'm trying to drive to fewer grocery stores, not more. I rarely ever find coupons for the products I want.

I've often wondered how I can compete with the message of the coupon shoppers: "If you shop the way I do, your grocery bill will go down by $150 a month" when if you shop the way I do, your grocery bill will go up by $150 a month.

But lately, I've been looking at it like this:

Read more...

Read more...

How to Afford Switching to Cloth Bags

I knew that I should be using cloth bags a long time before I finally switched. Regular readers of my blog know that this was the story of my life for years: I knew that what I was doing was hurting the planet, but the alternative cost too much. So I stuck with what I'd always done.

Back then, the only cloth bags I'd ever seen cost a fortune. $5 per canvas bag meant $40 to $50 for enough bags to go grocery shopping. Or double that for a collection of those cool European style string bags. It didn't matter how much I wanted to go green...I couldn't afford it. Or could I?

Then and now, there are plenty of low-cost options for people who want to switch to cloth:

• The ubiquitous recycled plastic cloth bag. You can find these at any grocery store, in every color imaginable, with every logo you could desire, and they only cost $1. If you shop at a grocery store that rewards you for bringing your own bag, you'll make up the investment pretty quickly. These are the bags I went with when I finally made the switch several years ago, and I've been happy with them. But they aren't the perfect bag - they're not as strong as other fabrics, and they're still made of plastic that will end up in the landfill eventually.

• Free canvas tote bags. Long before those recycled plastic bags were the big thing, every event passed out free company-logoed canvas bags. I'm sure you've still got a few stuffed in the back of some closet somewhere. Condo Blues has a great post explaining why she likes the swag canvas bags.

• Make your own bags out of thrifted sheets or pillowcases. Depending on the fabric you use, these could be very cheap.

• Crochet a string bag. I love the look of string bags, and it's nice to be able to see what's in the bag. If you're a knitter, here's a knitted string bag pattern for ya.

• Turn your old t-shirts into tote bags.

• Make your own produce bags. I have a tutorial over at The Green Phone Booth about how to make cloth produce bags out of an old shower curtain.

What kind of cloth bags do you use?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the latest challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays.

Like what you see? Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook! You can also find me over at The Green Phone Booth.

• This post was shared at Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family, Festival of Frugality #215 at Pragmatic Environmentalism, and Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom
  

Read more...

Weekend Ramblings: Time Magazine Got It Right...Almost

Sometimes on the weekends, I ramble about thoughts I've been having that week. Feel free to comment, add to my thoughts, or disagree with anything I say. But please remember that I don't like being called an idiot, even if I'm being one. So keep your comments respectful.

I have a bone to pick with Time Magazine. In their August 31st issue, they had an article called "The Real Cost of Cheap Food." Overall, it was a great article - kind of a watered down version of the documentary Food, Inc, and it shows how mainstream the food debate is getting.

But on the third page of the article, there was an illustration that drove me batty! The left column of the illustration was titled "Organic" with a picture of common items purchased at a grocery store and a sample receipt totaling $33.32. The same products, though conventionally grown, were listed in the right hand column with a receipt totaling $15.88. With these sample numbers, the article goes on to explain, the annual cost of buying the organic products would be $1,732 while the annual cost of the conventional products would be $825. "Is sustainability worth an extra $900 a year?" the caption queries.

Picture me reading this article a year ago before I greened my grocery bill: "What??!! The cost of organics is twice as much as conventional products???!!! Who can afford that? Not me!"

Except, wait a second. I have greened my grocery bill, and I now know that going organic isn't that big of a cost differential. So when I read this article earlier this week, my reaction was, "What grocery store are they shopping at?!"

It's no wonder that people assume they can't afford to go green when even an article that supports organic agriculture and ag reform claims that organic foods are so expensive.

If they had included my grocery receipt with the same items in this article, it would have looked like this:

• homemade bread containing all organic ingredients: $1.80
• 1 pound of locally produced, grass fed ground beef: $5.99*
• 3 organic apples: $1.80
  
• organic grape tomatoes: $3.99
  
• a dozen locally produced, free range eggs: $3
• 1 gallon of organic whole milk: $4.99

TOTAL: $21.57
Annual cost: $1,121

*The article includes chicken breasts instead of ground beef. I've never bought chicken, so I'm not sure how much it costs.

And that doesn't even include the fact that since I'm a vegetarian, we barely ever buy beef - beans are soooo much cheaper. Or that I wouldn't buy those expensive grape tomatoes that come in a plastic pint case because the regular or roma tomatoes are much cheaper and float around in the nude.

The article proposes that if we "factor in crop subsidies, ecological damage and what we pay in health-care bills after our fatty, sugary diet makes us sick, conventionally produced food looks a lot pricier." Great point. The cheap cost of conventional food leaves out a lot of factors.

But please, Time Magazine, don't scare people away from organics with such ridiculously high prices.

(And since I'm on a rant, I was also annoyed by the sentence "no one goes to farmers' markets for bargains" and the fact that the author didn't even touch on the issues with farm labor.)

Did you read the article? What did you think?

Photo by Kables

Related Posts:

• Weekend Ramblings: Big Business
• Weekend Ramblings: Waste Disposal
• Weekend Ramblings: Housing
  

Read more...

12 Strategies to Save Money on Organics

Earlier this week, I offered some suggestions for adding more organics to your grocery cart. But if you're a budget conscious shopper, you might still be having trouble looking beyond the price. Organics are definitely more expensive than conventional products, so first I want to offer some strategies for saving money on organics, and then I'll touch briefly on why organics are more expensive.


12 Strategies to Save Money on Organics

Strategy #1: Be a smart shopper. I've already listed some ways you can save money on your grocery bill by not following my example. Other smart shopping strategies include keeping a price book, making a list, stocking up when items are on sale, using coupons, and buying store brands.

Strategy #2: Waste not, want not. Avoid letting food go to waste before you use it, and eat up leftovers.

Strategy #3: Find amazing deals with bulk bins, the bins of grains, nuts, and dried fruit at Whole Foods and other natural food stores. I wish I could buy everything from a bulk bin!

Strategy #4: Buy in bulk. If you can't find it in a bulk bin, buy the largest size you can find. But remember to keep your eye on the unit price! Sometimes, the bigger package has an inflated price.

Strategy #5: Choose less expensive fruits and vegetables. Around here, greens and sweet potatoes have the biggest nutritional bang for your buck.

Strategy #6: Eat less meat (especially cow). A serving of organic beans from a can is about $0.30. An organic egg costs about a quarter. A serving of the cheapest organic ground beef I've seen is $0.75.

Strategy #7: Buy a share of a cow. If you're not keen on going completely vegetarian, you can save money on your meat products by buying a share of a cow directly from a farmer. Search for local farms at www.eatwild.com. I've also heard of cow-shares for dairy products.

Strategy #8: Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Pay a fee at the beginning of the year and get a share of the farm's produce. Two years ago, my family paid $400 to participate in a CSA for roughly 20 weeks. So for $20 a week we got a cooler full of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables and a dozen farm-fresh eggs. You cannot match those prices at the grocery store!

Strategy #9: Join a buying club, a group of people who place huge orders directly with food distributers, saving costs by buying in bulk and cutting out the middlemen. The biggest supplier of natural and organic foods to buying clubs is United National Foods. I don't have any experience with them, but I have successfully found some savings on organic grains and legumes through a buying club with members of my church. They order from Walton Feed.

Strategy #10: Pick your own fruits and vegetables. If you do the harvesting work yourself, you can typically save a lot of money. Find an organic pick-your-own-farm near you by visiting www.pickyourown.org.

Strategy #11: Plant a garden. Go beyond harvesting and do all the work yourself. If you have limited space, use the square foot gardening method, and focus on those varieties that will give you the greatest yield with the least work. Save even more money by growing from seed. And make sure you use sustainable gardening techniques!

Strategy #12: Raise your own chickens or bees. With a little work, you can have your own fresh eggs and honey. And if you're really committed, you could also save money by raising your own goats, pigs, or even a cow.


3 Reasons Organics Cost More

1. Scale. Growing crops without pesticides and chemical fertilizer is more time-consuming and labor intensive and generally has to be done on a smaller scale. All of these factors increase costs.
2. Niche Market. So far, the organics industry has been catering to a niche market made up of people who are willing to pay more. In some cases, organic foods are priced higher to match the expectation of it as a "luxury" item.
   
3. Subsidies. Conventional industrial ag receives massive subsidies from the government. Organic farmers do not. Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat, explains:

Until the latest farm bill, which has a small provision for promotion of organic agriculture, organic farmers received not one break from the federal government. In contrast, the producers of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton continue to get $20 billion or so a year in farm subsidies.

Industrial agriculture also benefits from federally administered marketing programs and from cozy relationships with congressional committees and the USDA. In contrast, the USDA considers fruits and vegetables "specialty crops." This kind of food politics shows up as higher prices in the grocery store.

The first reason is an integral part of organic farming, but the other two reasons can be changed. And this is the point I want to emphasize most:

If more people buy organics, the prices will drop.

I truly believe that. Every time you go to the grocery store and every time you eat, you are casting your vote about the nature of our agricultural system. If you want to see changes in the price of organics, find a way to afford at least some of them now. Save money by using energy wisely, choosing better transportation, and buying less, and shift your savings to your grocery budget.

Photo by Mjorge


Related Posts:

• Seven Reasons to Eat Organic
  
• The Poor Man's Dilemma: How to Save Money When Living Paycheck to Paycheck
• How to Afford Making Your Home Energy Efficient

Read more...

I Need...Organic Food

Yesterday, I listed reasons why you should think about adding more organic foods to your grocery cart, and today I'm going to give some suggestions for how to get started. As I've said before, I don't think you can suddenly wake up one morning, snap your fingers, and say, "Voila! I'm green!" Going green is a process, and you can take it slowly if you need to.

Certified Organic Defined

So first of all, what does that organic label mean? The USDA has defined organic crops as those "raised without using most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. The NOP [National Organic Program] regulations prohibit the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge in organic production and handling."

For animal farms to be certified organic, the animals "must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are given no antibiotics or growth hormones."

A couple other things to note:

• Products labeled "100 percent organic" must contain only organically produced ingredients.
  
• Products labeled "organic" must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients.
  
• Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase "made with organic ingredients" and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel.

What Certified Organic Does Not Mean

As I said yesterday, the system for certifying organics is not perfect. The purpose is to protect the consumer, so you know what you're purchasing when you see the "organic" label. But the organics program is mainly concerned with health issues and is less concerned with sustainability or other environmental issues. For instance:

• Certified organic is not the same as grass-fed or pastured. Animals on certified organic farms must be given "access" to the outdoors, but the form or amount of that access is vague.
• Certified organic does not mean small farm. Becoming certified is costly, which means that many small farmers are financially excluded from certification.
  
• Certified organic farmers can only use certified seed, so their options about varieties to grow are limited. People who prefer heirloom varieties are probably not going to find much choice when shopping for certified organics.
• Certified organic restricts the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers but does not provide specific guidelines for sustainable farming practices.
  

Because of these and other considerations, I think it's less important to look at the label and more important to know your farmer. Ask the farmers at your local farmers market about their methods for pest management and fertilization, and make an informed decision, even if they're not certified.

Another option is to look for the label "Certified Naturally Grown," a certification system created by a non-profit in New York focusing on small organic farmers but following the same standards as the USDA program.


Now that You're Ready to Go Shopping...

BABY STEPS

• Start with the Dirty Dozen. According to the Environmental Working Group, these are the fruits and vegetables that have the highest pesticide residue. They include peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes.

• Look for organic baby food. Studies have indicated that young children, and especially babies, are more susceptible to the negative effects of pesticide exposure than adults.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Switch your animal products to organic. Levels of chemical toxicity get more concentrated the higher you get up the food chain. Additionally, factory-farm produced meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs are full of extra yuckies like antibiotics and hormones. For more information about dairy and eggs, check out my posts I Need...Dairy and I Need...Eggs.
  

MARATHON RUNNER

• Green your grocery bill. Look for the organic label on all of the foods you eat.
  

Tips for the Budget-Conscious

The steps I listed above are prioritized by pesticide exposure and other health concerns. However, if health is not your primary reason for choosing organics and you are on a limited budget, here are some alternate suggestions and observations:

• Produce: Often, organic fruits and vegetables on sale can rival the cost of conventionally grown produce. If you're on a limited budget, keep your eye out for sales on organics since often they aren't included in the sales flier.
• Beans, Rice, and Oats: Organic beans, rice, and oats from the bulk bins at a health food store or Whole Foods are similar in price to their conventionally grown counterparts elsewhere, and in many cases they are cheaper. So although from a health standpoint, buying the organic versions of these products might be a low priority, you can actually switch to organics very painlessly in these categories.
• Meat, Dairy, and Eggs: Organic meat, dairy, and eggs can be double the cost of their conventional counterparts. This is a larger price gap than I've noticed between any other organic products, and while I think it's important to purchase these products, if your budget is limited, you might want to save the organic switch in this category for last.
  

In a few days, I'll provide some more tips for the Budget Conscious.


Where I'm At

Most of the items on my grocery list now carry the "organic" label. I could do better with produce, but very few of the farmers at my local farmer's market carry organic produce, and I have decided it's more important to me to support my local farmers when I can than to buy organic. If I buy it at the grocery store, it's organic.


Related Posts

• Seven Reasons to Eat Organic
• I Need...Chocolate (don't we all)
• Book Review: In Defense of Food
  

Read more...

How to Lower Your Grocery Bill By Not Following My Example

This post was included in the 177th Festival of Frugality at Savings Not Shoes.

Last week, I revealed that I think I can keep my grocery bill at around $600 a month while still purchasing almost all organic and natural foods, non-toxic personal care products, and non-toxic cleaners. That's about $30 per person a week, or $120 per person a month (relatively speaking since three of the people in my family are under 5 years old).

Some people might read those numbers and gasp. Especially if you've searched some of the websites and blogs about lowering your grocery bill and using coupons. For example, a friend of mine, an avid couponer, only spends about $300-$350 a month on her family of four. But she also doesn't buy any organic foods or non-toxic cleaners and is not opposed to processed foods.

I could be wrong, but I think it would be impossible to get your grocery bill down to $300 buying as many organics and natural products as my family does (which is why I think it's essential to save money on energy efficiency and transportation and shift your savings to your grocery budget)."

Nevertheless, I think it is possible to eat organically for less than I'm doing.

So here are some shopping strategies that I use that I believe are keeping my spending high. Do the opposite, and you may save some money.


Shoot for as green of a grocery bill as possible.
Except for a very small number of items, my grocery list is almost completely organic, natural, and non-toxic. If I were willing to compromise on some items, my grocery bill could be significantly less.

Shop at the farmers market.
I like to support my local farmers, but at our farmers market, there are no sales, and all the farmers sell their produce at the same price. That means, I'm buying most of our fruits and vegetables in season, which is a cost-effective strategy, but it also means I'm not comparing costs or buying produce on sale.

Also, I know for a fact I can get cheaper organic milk and eggs at Kroger, and even though honey is much more expensive than sugar, I've been using honey in a lot of recipes because I can buy it locally.

Buy a lot of fruits and vegetables.
I try to stick pretty strictly to the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable rule. When I was growing up, we didn't eat nearly as many fruits and vegetables as my family does now, but because we're mostly vegetarians, I think it's important for us to eat a diverse diet with lots of yummy veggies.

Buy expensive fruits and vegetables.
Our tastes tend to lean toward the more expensive fruits and vegetables: avocadoes, mangoes, pineapples. If we looked at those foods more as treats, we could save a lot of money, but I like to indulge our appetites.

Have kids.
My kids are super wasteful when it comes to food. I try to use strategies to prevent wasting too much food, but when it comes to vegetables, I believe the best way to broaden their palate is to offer them a variety of vegetables every day. Right now, that means a lot of vegetables end up going to waste, but I'm hoping it will lead to healthier kids in the future.

Be concerned about packaging.
I often choose better packaging over price. I never buy individually packaged anything, and if I can get it from the bulk bins, I will.

Eat dessert and drink Coke.
I make cookies far more often than I should, and my husband and I are both admitted Diet Coke lovers. I could save quite a bit of money on our grocery bill if I cut out non-nutritive foods and drinks.

Don't Use Coupons
I've never had any success with couponing, mainly because the majority of coupons seem to be for processed junk (even processed organic junk) that I refuse to feed my family. Even when I come across coupons for organic products, I rarely take the time to figure out if I could save money by using them, unless they're for a specific product that I already buy. I'm just lazy that way.


I'd be the first to admit that I'm not the savviest shopper in the world. So don't follow my example, and you might save money on your grocery bill!

Read more...

Create a Price Book to Save Money

I was supposed to be making a quick trip to Kroger for supplies for Second Son's birthday party, but something had caught my eye. “Closeout on organic spaghetti. $1.32. Awesome!”

Then I noticed the price of the organic rotini next to the spaghetti. “$1.89. That seems lower than I usually pay, but I can't remember for sure.”

I hadn't brought my price book with me, so I had to call my husband. “I need you to look something up for me. In my price book...How much does it say for organic pasta? $1.99? Great! I need to change that price, and we're stocking up on pasta!”

In a nutshell, that is the point of having a price book. So you always know how much to pay for an item. So you know if a sale is really a sale. So you can compare the price of a name brand item with a coupon to the price of a store brand item at a different store. A price book simplifies your frugal shopping experience.

On Tuesday, I posted my own price book as an example. If you live in the Raleigh area, you are welcome to use my price book to your own advantage. (And if you find prices lower than the one's I've recorded, please let me know!)

But if you don't live around here, chances are that the prices in your area are different, and you'd be better off making your own price book. So here's how to do it:

1. Choose a place to record your prices.

Many people use a notebook or folder. If you use a three ring binder to store coupons, you could put your price book at the front of the folder. You could also use an iTouch, iPod, PDA, or other handheld digital device. Just make sure it's something handy to take grocery shopping.

2. Make a list of all of the foods you buy on a regular basis.

3. Record the price of each item and the name of the store where you saw that price.

If you're not using a digital medium, you should write the prices in pencil so you can erase the entry if you find a lower price.

Remember that your completed price book should only include the lowest price you can find for an item. There's no reason to know that you can get organic flour for $4.69 from Whole Foods and $4.89 from Kroger. You only need to know that you can get it for $4.20 through your buying club.

There are two methods for completing this step.

• Head to the grocery store and walk up and down the aisles, recording prices as you go. Then, go to another store and check out the prices there, changing your entries if you find lower prices. Repeat at every store you might shop at.

• Advantage: You can knock out your price book in a weekend and start saving money quickly.
  

• Disadvantage: This method requires sacrificing a few days and is best done without kids (unless you have really good kids who love to grocery shop).

• Do your regular grocery shopping. After each trip, analyze your receipts, recording prices as you go. Also, record prices from sales flyers.

• Advantage: You'll create a price book without taking much more time than your usual shopping trip, and you can do it with the kids in tow.

• Disadvantage: This method takes much longer, especially for items you don't buy on a regular basis. Also, you might miss lower prices at stores you don't visit often.

4. When you find an item priced lower than the amount recorded in your price book, make a note of it and stock up.

However, I don't change the official entry in my price book unless I've seen that price more than once. Sometimes stores put an item on sale to quickly get rid of overstock or because they're not going to sell that item anymore, and I may never see that item at that price again. For instance, the $1.32 organic pasta I bought from Kroger was a closeout price, and I probably won't see it priced so low again. If I do, I'll know it's a regular thing and I'll change my entry.

5. Never buy food for more than the price you've recorded in your price book. You know you can get it for that price, so why would you pay more?


Advanced Method for the Obsessively Organized

In my price book, I also included the approximate amount of each item I use in a year. This information is valuable so I know how much to stock up when I find a good sale.

You could also calculate the unit price for each item, which would make it easier to quickly compare prices of items in different size packages.

(Note that in my price book, there's a column listing prices in cooking units – tsp., Tbsp., cup, etc. This information is so I can calculate costs of recipes, not so I can compare prices. If you're going to calculate unit prices to compare costs, you need to calculate the cost by weight – ounces, pounds, etc.)


And that's it! Creating a price book might be time-consuming at the start, but it will end up saving both time and money overall, so it's definitely worth it.


Do you have any tips for creating a price book?


Related Posts:

• Experiments with Tomato Soup
• Greening my Grocery Bill
• Save Money and Plastic with Bulk Bins
  

Read more...

Greening My Grocery Bill

One of my early goals for this blog was to green my family's diet. Organic and natural foods are some of the aspects of going green that really do cost more (as opposed to energy efficiency, driving less, and eating less meat, which will all save you money), but I felt like it was important to find a way to afford to feed my family as many healthy foods as possible.

Over the past few months, I've slowly been making smarter and smarter choices about what my family eats. But I've been having trouble getting myself to outright commit. Every month, I say, "This month we're going to buy all organics or locally produced foods." And then I walk into Whole Foods and I chicken out, declaring, "I can't really afford this store!"

But despite my chickenheartedness, I've been doing a lot of research, and my research says I can go organic and still stay within my overall budget.

Check Out My Super Obsessive Research Skills

I am the most obsessively organized person I know, and to prove that point, I offer this evidence: my price book.

I'll write in more detail later this week about price books, but I wanted to go ahead and offer mine for public perusal. So in case you're interested, here's how to navigate it...

I divided my grocery budget into several categories and gave each category its own sheet. On each sheet, I recorded the estimated amount of each item that I use a year, the lowest price I've seen for each item, and the total cost of each item per year. On the far right of some sheets, I calculated the cost per unit of each item (for example, flour costs $0.06 per cup). I did this so I can calculate how much it costs to make some of my recipes.

Food Storage: $1,187.24

My food storage section is divided into three categories: oats/rice/pasta ($210.70), baking and cooking supplies ($594.14), and beans/nuts ($382.40). Almost all of the prices recorded are from Whole Foods. I was surprised to find that Whole Foods had the lowest prices on almost every item I buy, especially those I could get from the bulk bins. The main exceptions were a few items I can get through a buying club at my church.

Personal Care/Cleaning: $633.78

I know many people don't include personal care products in their grocery budget, but I always have. Again, most of these prices are from Whole Foods, although I've been ordering a few things from Amazon to save money.

Farmers Market: $2,460

I visit my farmers market weekly to buy almost all of my produce as well as milk, eggs, and honey. My husband has also talked me into buying grass-fed beef from the farmer's market every now and then. If we were able to have a garden, chickens, or bees, I think this amount could be significantly reduced.

Whole Foods: $2,398.66

This sheet refers to the weekly perishable items that I buy, including soymilk, cheese, butter, bananas, etc.

Kroger: $1,128.49

The last sheet includes some items that I couldn't find an organic version of (or like with baking soda, it doesn't come in "organic"). It also includes my 80/20 compromise with myself. There are just some not-exactly-healthy foods that my family is not willing to give up, either because of convenience or because we enjoy them too much. Some of these things, like juice and goldfish, I plan to phase us out of eventually. But frankly some things, like Coke and cereal, are here to stay. Everybody should be allowed a vice or two.

And the grand total is...$7,808.17 a year, or $150.16 a week

That means I should be spending about $600 a month during a four-shopping-trip month and $750 during a five-shopping-trip month. That's about how much I've been spending anyway, even not buying all organic or natural products.

My price book doesn't include any herbs, spices, or extra yummies (like chocolate chips), but it also doesn't include the potential to get some items on sale or with coupons. So overall, I think it's a pretty good estimate of how much our green grocery bill should be.

So what do you think? Is $150 a week for a family of five reasonable for greening our grocery budget?

Photo by cesarastudillo

This post was included in the Festival of Frugality #193 at The Canadian Finance Blog.


Related Posts:

• I Need...Chocolate (don't we all)
• I Need...Dairy
• I Need...Eggs
  

Read more...

Save Money and Plastic with Bulk Bins

This post was included in the Festival of Frugality. Check out all of this week's frugal posts at The Paycheck Chronicles!

One of my goals for this month was to take the plunge into buying organics, and according to my careful calculations, one of the most affordable ways to get organics is by buying from bulk bins.

By bulk bin, I mean the bins of grains, nuts, and dried fruit at Whole Foods and other natural food stores. The bins are priced by unit (for example, $1.49/lb for organic oats), so you can buy as much or as little as you need. Less Is Enough used the bins to purchase very tiny amounts of food for her $1/day food experiment, but you can also buy very large amounts from the bulk bins to keep your pantry stocked.

I've bought a little here, a little there from the bulk bins for awhile now, but since I'm committing to organics, I thought it was time to commit to the bulk bins.

How Much Can You Save with Bulk Bins?

Check out these price comparisons:

• organic pinto beans - $1.15/can (2 cups) vs. $1.99/lb (5-6 cups cooked)
• organic raisins - $3.99/one pound bag vs. $3.29/lb
• Quaker Oats @ $0.11/oz vs. organic oats from the bulk bins @ $0.09/oz

The potential savings are clear, but there's one little problem...the packaging.

I know, technically bulk bins don't have any packaging, but you have to have a way to get the food from the bins to your house, and the method provided by the store is not one I'm very fond of: plastic bags.

As I've written before, plastic is filling up our oceans, killing fish and birds, and all around making the earth an ugly place, so I'm trying to avoid it whenever possible. I've read about other people who bring their own containers for the bulk bins, especially reusing glass jars, so I took a trip to Whole Foods this morning to investigate.

Can You Bring Your Own Container?

I started by approaching the unsuspecting employee nearest to the bulk bins. "I was wondering, if I wanted to use my own containers for the bulk bins, how would I go about doing that?"

She replied, "I don't think you can, but let me go find someone else who might know."

She sent over another helpful employee, who said basically the same thing: "You can't use your own containers because you would have to pay for the weight of the container. The plastic bags weigh practically nothing, and that's why they work."

I was feeling pretty bummed and wishing I lived in California or New York when the guy came back and said, "I just asked someone else to clarify, and it turns out that you can bring your own containers. You have to take them to Customer Service to weigh them first, but then you can fill them, and they'll subtract the weight when you check out. I didn't know that because I've never seen anyone bring their own container before."

Besides this hassle, I've also read that the cashiers more often than not forget to subtract the weight of the container.

I concluded from this little excursion that you can bring your own containers if a) you live in California, Seattle, Portland, New York City or any other city that's taken great strides in environmentalism (betcha could in Carrboro) or b) you're the type of person that doesn't mind to stand out or stir the pot.

I don't fit either one of those criteria, so until bringing your own container becomes more popular around here, I'm moving to Plan B: bring your own bag.

What Kind of Bag Should I Bring?

There are several different options to chose from:

1. Reuse the plastic bags provided by the store.
2. Reuse plastic bags you already have such as bread bags.
3. Buy lightweight cloth bags.
4. Make your own bags.
   

I'm leaning toward these drawstring produce bags. With a tare weight of only .07 lbs per bag, they would only add $0.10 to $0.15 to the cost even if the cashier doesn't subtract the weight of the bag.

Because I'd be using at least 5 plastic bags per trip to Whole Foods and I shop there once a month, cloth bags would keep me from using 60 plastic bags a year or more.

The math is simple: Cloth bags + bulk bins = Super Savings! Save money and save plastic. It's a Conscious Shopper no-brainer.

Read more...

Spotlight on Raleigh: A Morning in Carrboro

My interest in Carrboro was first peaked while reading Garbageland when the author mentioned several places that were working toward the goal of zero waste. She listed San Francisco, New Zealand, Australia, a few other countries in the Pacific, and Carrboro, NC.

Really? Carrboro? One of these things is not like the other...

Carrboro, NC has a population of only 16,000 people and is located on the far side of the Triangle, just west of Chapel Hill. Except for its close proximity to UNC-Chapel Hill, there doesn't seem to be anything special about it, and yet Carrboro has a reputation for being one of the most liberal cities in the South.

Besides its goal of zero waste, Carrboro gets environmental bonus points as the location of the first Weaver Street Market, a community owned grocery store that opened in Carrboro in 1988. Like the Weaver Street Market in Chapel Hill, it's a huge, thriving co-op that carries local and organic produce, all natural foods, and environmentally friendly cleaners. They also have a large deli and salad bar and a cafe that was hoppin' when I was there, even though it was only 10:00 in the morning.

Weaver Street Market is next door to the Carr Mill Mall, an old cotton mill that was converted into a shopping center. The mall is primarily filled with small, locally-owned businesses selling everything from toys to clothing to jewelry. It also includes Panzanella, a community owned Italian restaurant that is well-known for its bread, produced at the Weaver Street Market bakery.

Across the street from Weaver Street Market is the Maple View Farm ice cream parlor. I really wanted to try their ice cream since I buy Maple View Farm milk from the farmer's market, but they weren't opening until noon, and I didn't have an excuse to stick around in Carrboro that long. I guess I'll have to come up with a reason to make another trip back.

I was surprised at the number of bikers I saw in Carrboro, considering that it was the middle of winter. Maybe it's just the proximity to the University, but with lots of sidewalks and bike lanes, Carrboro seemed like a perfect place for pedestrians and bikers.

Although I wasn't able to visit it, Carrboro is also well known for its year round farmers market. The market has two rules: everything sold at the market must have been grown within a 50-mile radius, and vendors must represent their own products. At the market, you can find locally grown fruits, vegetables, flowers, cheeses, meats, soaps, and much much more.

I think Carrboro is a great example of what a small town can do toward building a strong local economy and environmentally conscious communtiy. Small towns of America, take note!

Read more...

Conscious Shopping Tips

I was interviewed recently by a nice woman from Co-op America, and hopefully (fingers crossed) there will at least be some mention of me and my blog in the upcoming issue of their quarterly magazine.

I don't say that to gloat. No, no, no, quite the contrary...It was a phone interview, and for some reason, I am not very good at talking on the phone. This is an affliction that I've had my entire life, and I'm not sure why. I do fine in person, I do great by email, the blog is my domain, but put me on a phone, and my mind stalls like a teenager learning to drive a stick shift.

So I've been thinking a lot since then about what I could have said better. And here it is...

To anyone out there who uses the excuse, "I can't afford to go green," this is what I would say to you:

1. Take it slow. You don't have to go green all at once. Because of budgetary limitations, I am taking it very slowly. Right now, I buy a lot of locally grown food, but not a lot of organic food. I hope to be able to buy more organic food in the future, but right now, that's not possible for my family. Think about what small changes you can afford, and do them!

2. Do the money savers first. A lot of so-called "green" changes actually save money. Making your home more energy efficient, driving a more energy efficient car, walking more, riding a bike, taking public transportation, using less water, buying less or not buying at all...These things save money.

When people say that going green costs too much they're generally thinking of organic foods, beauty supplies, and clothing. But think about this: I estimate that I can save $150 to $200 a month (maybe even more) by making changes in my transportation, energy use, and spending habits, but rather than blowing that money on something useless, I plan to shift that spending to the food and clothing categories of my budget. Voila, I can afford to go green!

3. Shop smart. Organic food is expensive, I admit that. But there are ways to make it cheaper. Just as with all grocery shopping, you need to shop smart. Buy on sale and buy in bulk. Avoid processed foods. Avoid non-nutritive foods (sodas, candy, chocolate). Know which grocery stores in your area carry the cheapest organics. Make food from scratch. Join a food co-op or a buying club.

You can also save money in the food category by planting a garden, visiting u-pick farms or orchards, canning or freezing surplus produce, and raising chickens, bees, or goats. Even though I'm in an apartment, I plan to try some container gardening on my balcony this year.

4. Buy used. Organic, sweatshop free, and fair trade are expensive labels, but there are ways to save on clothing and house decor also. Think of thrift stores, consignment stores, and yard sales as your new favorite place to shop. Take advantage of our wasteful society and discover the bounty of like-new items on Craigslist. Experiment with Freecycle or start your own Swap Network (I'm planning to try this soon and will report my findings).

5. Adopt an attitude of non-consumerism. The less you buy, the more money you'll save (and the more money you can shift to food and clothing). Think about what stores are your downfall (in my case it's Target, maybe yours is the mall), and don't go there as often. Stop looking at catalogs and don't watch commercials. Believe me, the temptation to spend money drops to almost nil when you're no longer surrounded with enticements to buy, buy, buy!

6. Build a community. You don't have to do everything all by yourself. Go green with your neighbors and swap garden produce, skills, and time.

7. Do the big four. If you've tried everything I've already mentioned, and you still can't afford to go completely green, then just focus on the big four: energy efficient housing, energy efficient transportation, less meat-eating, and buying less.

Read more...

I Need...Eggs

Closely related to my post about dairy products last week is the subject of eggs.

I have found that people are more likely to feel bad about the treatment of cows than chickens in factory farms - maybe because cows are big mammals with huge, sad-looking eyes and chickens are small birds with sharp beaks. Or maybe it's just that people consume so much chicken (50 pounds a year) that they don't want to think about it. All I know is that when I tell people about the terrible treatment of chickens, the answer I most commonly get is, "Well, it's just a chicken."

I think that's sad, but since I've been trying to justify my own egg eating for years now, I don't have much room to talk. In some ways, egg-laying hens have it worse than chickens raised for their meat:

• Factory Farm egg-laying hens are packed into tiny cages that are about 18 by 20 inches with five to ten chickens per cage. Picture that! Even with only five hens in a cage that size, they would have no room to move, no room to stretch their wings, and they spend their entire lives in a cage that small. It's not like they're being let out a few hours a day to get exercise.
• The cages are stacked on top of each other, which means that the poop from one cage can fall into the cage below it. Besides being gross (the birds spend a lot of time standing in their own feces), this lack of cleanliness leads to disease in both chickens and humans.
  
• At the end of the lives of egg-laying hens, they are sent to a slaughterhouse. Because they are not raised for meat and spend their lives in cramped conditions, many hens have emaciated bodies and suffer from broken bones by the time they are killed.
  
• Salmonella poisoning is most commonly associated with eggs and poultry. Safe handling and thorough cooking can reduce the risk of food poisoning, but it's worth noting that salmonella is more common with factory farm raised chickens than traditionally raised chickens.
  
• Like cows, chickens are given antibiotics to increase their growth and prevent illness (remember that they're raised under germ-friendly conditions). The average chicken is given four doses of antibiotics a day. Overuse of these antibiotics are making bacteria more and more resistant, and both the antibiotics and the resistant bacteria enter our water supplies.
• Most poultry farms in the United States are owned by just a couple of companies, the biggest being Tyson Foods. Workers at these farms suffer one of the highest rates of injury in the U.S. and are paid extremely low wages.

For more information, check out Go Veg: Chickens and The Green Guide: Poultry and Eggs.

BABY STEPS

• Eat fewer eggs. Eggs make a great binding agent in cooking, making them hard to give up completely. But if you're in the habit of eating a lot of eggs every week, could you reduce that amount even a little?
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Check your label. If you've ever gone shopping for organic eggs, you know that there are so many choices, it can be confusing. Should you buy certified organic, cage-free, free range, certified humane, pasture-fed? Well, it depends...Rather than repeating information already out there, I suggest you read this guide from The Humane Society or check out The Green Guide's guide to poultry and eggs.
  
• Know your producer. The only way to verify for sure how your eggs are being produced is to know the person who's raising them. Talk to the farmer at your farmer's market about how they treat their chickens, mentioning free-range, antibiotics, pesticides, and food.
  
• Raise your own chickens. If you have a backyard, you can raise chickens. Be sure to check the laws in your area, though (including the rules in your homeowner's association). If you're interested, look to Urban Chickens for all your backyard chicken-raising needs, including basic information on chicken care and the type of coop to choose.

MARATHON RUNNER

• Go Vegan. When I was a vegan, I found eggs a lot easier to give up than dairy products. The important thing to remember is to tailor your egg replacer to whatever you're making. For example, pureed tofu makes a good egg replacement in soft foods like breakfast burritos and egg salads while bananas or applesauce can replace the eggs in baked goods. Check out this guide for more information.

Tips for the Budget Conscious
Many mainstream grocery stores now carry their own store brand of organic or free-range eggs. However, no aspect of the commercial egg industry, including organic eggs, is perfect. For example, organic egg-laying hens are required to have access to the outdoors, but that doesn't mean they actually go outside. Also, male chicks are useless to a commercial egg farmer, so they are killed soon after birth with methods ranging from suffocation to grinding. If you're really concerned about humanely raised chickens and eggs on a budget, your best bet would be to raise your own.


Where I'm At
I buy my eggs at the farmer's market rather than the grocery store even though they're a little more expensive because I feel more confident that the chickens are treated humanely. Plus, I get the bonus of supporting a small family farm. Someday, when we are no longer in an apartment, I plan to raise my own chickens.

Photo by angela7dreams

Read more...

I Need...Dairy

When I wrote my post about going vegetarian a few months ago, it was the first time I'd thoroughly researched reasons to be a vegetarian in several years. Researching the subject reconfirmed my decision not to eat meat, but it also left me feeling really guilty that I still eat dairy products and eggs.

I tried going vegan early on in my years as a vegetarian, but that lifestyle change was short-lived, lasting barely a year. Frankly, it was just too hard. There are hidden animal products in foods you would think have no reason to have animal products in them. Like cold cereal, for instance. Bread. Tortillas. Even some so-called vegetarian cheeses are still made with rennet, which comes from the stomach of a cow. It took me forever to go grocery shopping because I had to read the label of every product I picked up off the shelf.

Then there were the intense cravings for cheese and ice cream every time I ate around non-vegans - including my husband who still kept cheese in the house and indulged in the occasional ice cream treat. I honestly don't crave meat like some vegetarians, but giving up cheese and ice cream was painful. And SoyDream just does not do the job.

So I gave up my short-lived veganism, rationalizing that my dairy consumption was a necessary, though admittedly bad, habit.

The problem with being a Conscious Shopper is that once you're aware of the dark side of something you're doing, it's hard to rationalize it as necessary. Dairy consumption is inextricably linked to the meat industry, and also has a list of problems all it's own:

1. The bucolic image of a field of cows is a thing of the past. Most dairy cows today spend their lives in huge manure-filled feedlots or sheds where they are fed grain that has been treated with pesticides and fertilizer.
   
2. To be able to produce milk, the cows are repeatedly impregnated through artificial insemination.
3. After a cow gives birth, her calf is taken from her within a day. If the calf is a male, he is moved to a veal crate, where he will only live for a few months before being slaughtered. If the calf is a female, she'll grow up to be a dairy cow like her mother.
4. To get the cows to produce more milk, many factory farmers inject the cows with a hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). The FDA approved rBGH for use in the early 1990s with no prior safety testing, relying on the results of one study conducted by Monsanto, the creators of the hormone. In recent years, use of rBGH has been correlated to tumors and cancer in humans, although the health risks associated with the hormone are still being disputed. It is indisputable, however, that cows treated with rBGH have an increased risk of infected or inflamed udders, ovarian cysts, and reduced pregnancy rates.
5. Dairy cows raised in factory farms have an average lifespan of 5 years, a quarter of the lifespan of a traditionally raised cow, and their lives generally end in the slaughterhouse.
6. Unlike human waste, treatment of animal waste from factory farms is not adequately regulated. Animal waste is pumped into huge open pits where it releases methane gas, and much of the waste ends up running into water supplies.

For more information, check out these resources:

Go Veg: Dairy Cows
The Green Guide on rBGH
Pollution Locator: Animal Waste
101 Reasons to Go Vegetarian

So what's a dairy-loving eco-conscious animal lover to do?

Baby Steps

• Avoid recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). Many brands of dairy products are now labeled as rBGH-free.
• Eat less dairy. Try eating more Asian or Indian cuisine, both of which tend to use less dairy.

Jogging Stride

• Buy organic. Organic dairy cows are not given hormones or antibiotics, must be fed organic feed, and must spend a certain number of days in pasture.
• Support a local small farm. Small farmers have trouble competing with the big factory farms, especially those that use growth hormones. Give a guy a chance!
  
• Give organic soymilk or goat's milk a try. It takes fewer natural resources to grow soybeans or raise goats. You can even raise your own goats – I hear they make a great fossil-fuel free lawnmower!

Marathon Runner

• Go vegan. I tip my hat to all the vegans out there, and if you think you can do it, go for it!

Tips for the Budget Conscious
Many mainstream grocery stores are now selling their own store brand of organic dairy products. They're still expensive, but cost less than the name brands. You can also save money by trying out some DIY projects such as making your own yogurt, soymilk, and even cheeses.


Where I'm At
I've started buying organic cheese, but I'm also trying to decrease the amount of cheese my family eats overall. In the past, we've tended to think, "If it tastes good, it will taste even better with cheese!." Also, being a mostly vegetarian family, we are big fans of the beans and cheese combination. To get around this, I started buying a smaller package of cheese, and when we run out, that's our cheese quota for the week.

In the milk department, I've decided to splurge on the Maple View Farm milk. It's a dollar more expensive and not organic, but I discovered that I can buy it at the farmer's market and return my glass bottles there. Plus, it tastes really good. I also discovered this week that my kids are big fans of soymilk. First Son actually begged me to buy it for him at the grocery store today.

I'm still trying to work out the ice cream issue...

Photo by JelleS

Read more...

Grocery Shopping Week 8: Weaver Street Market (Chapel Hill)

Weaver Street Market scores: As a food co-op, this store gets an A from both Better World Shopper and Co-op America's Responsible Shopper.

Distance from my apartment: 32.1 miles (42 minutes)

Obviously this store is too far away from my house to do my weekly shopping, but I've been hearing how great this place is ever since I moved to Raleigh, so I decided to check it out.

As a food co-op, this store is owned by the people that shop there, and the profits are put back into the community. If you have a food co-op in your area, it's the ideal place to grocery shop because it supports your local economy and you get a discount for shopping there if you have a membership, so it can be affordable as well. Plus, as a member, you usually get some say in the kinds of products they carry.

Weaver Street Market has a great produce section, including local and organic produce. I even found organic fair trade bananas, which I haven't seen anywhere else (not even Whole Foods). Their prices are reasonable, and they carry a large variety of organic and all natural food items. The store itself is pretty small, as grocery stores go, but it has a good open feel. The aisles are nice and wide, so I didn't feel like I had to worry about my kids knocking things off the shelves.

The absolute best part of this store is their candy aisle, where they have a huge variety of organic and fair trade chocolates. Even if you live in Raleigh like me, it would be worth the trip out to Weaver Street Market for Valentines Day or other special occasions.

Weaver Street Market has two locations: one in Chapel Hill and one in Carrboro. I visited the location in Chapel Hill but plan to make a trip out to the Carrboro location in a few weeks. Wish there was a Weaver Street Market in Raleigh! Anyone know how I can get a food co-op in my area?

The bill:

organic cheese (3 cups)
organic juice (1 big bottle)
organic butter
organic milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food
organic baby cereal
organic cereal
organic tortillas
organic yogurt
avocado
organic carrots
organic/fair trade bananas
mushrooms

Total = $67.73

Read more...

Grocery Shopping Week 7: Harmony Farms

Harmony Farms scores: Since this is another locally owned grocery store, it gets an A from both Better World Shopper and Co-Op America's Responsible Shopper.

Distance from my apartment: 10.1 mi (20 minutes)

This grocery shopping trip was a little different because I could tell as soon as I walked into the store that it wasn't a good place to do your weekly shopping with three kids in tow. The store is very small and cramped, and it has those miniature shopping carts that topple over if one of your kids hangs on the side of the cart (true story, and luckily Third Son was not sitting in the cart at the time). Also, my boys were being particularly awful that day, so a quick trip around the store was all I had time for.

On the other hand, Harmony Farms is a great place to shop if you live in the area and can pop in frequently to pick up a few things, or if you can do your shopping alone, or if you have freakily well-behaved children. The food selection there was small and a bit pricey, but if you're not picky about brands, you'd be able to find pretty much everything you need. Also, they have a huge section of all-natural health and beauty supplies, essential oils, and supplements.

I emailed Harmony Farms and asked them a few other questions. Here are their answers:

• Who owns Harmony Farms and why did he/she decide to open a natural foods store in Raleigh?
• Nancy and Steve Long purchased Harmony Farms roughly three years ago. The store itself has been open for almost thirty years. Nancy is a Naturopathic Doctor, and Steve a Reiki Master. They decided to purchase the store because of their passion and commitment to educating others about a natural lifestyle.
• What does your store specialize in? (ie, are you more of a health foods store or more like a small grocery store?)
• Our store specializes in ALL organic produce (which is as often as possible local), wheat and gluten free products, supplements, cruelty/chemical free cosmetics, and natural grocery items.
• Do you carry any local products?
• As often as possible, the produce is local. Also, we are the only local retailers carrying local organic beef.
  
• I am looking to decrease the amount of packaging I buy, and I noticed you have a very tiny bulk foods section. Could I bring in my own containers, or must I use the plastic bags?
  
• Yes, you are more than welcome to bring in any container of your choice to fill with our bulk products. We will simply weigh your container and subtract that weight from your total purchase.
  
• Have you considered expanding your bulk foods section?
• We would be more than happy to accommodate any sort of special request you have for bulk products. We specialize in customer driven and special orders at no extra cost to you. If we can find it, we can order it. Please let us know of any product we are lacking that you simply must have. (Note that their website states that they offer a discount if you order a case.)
  

I was impressed that they responded to my email, and in such a friendly and descriptive manner. Who at a big chain grocery store is going to do that? It's that nice touch of customer service that will bring me back to their store, but next time I'll go without my kids.

Read more...

Grocery Shopping Week 6: Harris Teeter

Distance from my apartment: 4.6 miles (10 minutes)

Harris Teeter is a regional supermarket with stores in eight Southern states. If you don't live in one of those states, think of the nicest supermarket in your area, and you'll be able to picture Harris Teeter. Their stores are organized and clean with a huge produce section and deli. And let me tell you, the produce there is soooo beautiful. This is the type of store that will make you want to eat your veggies.

Harris Teeter has a broad selection of organic and natural grocery items, ranging from organic bananas (not wrapped in plastic!) to local milk. Unlike Kroger, their organics are interspersed throughout the store, but they helpfully provide signs on all the shelves with organic items, and they even point out the local items. I was surprised to see a large amount of local produce, so if you don't live near a farmer's market but do live near a Harris Teeter, that might be an option for you.

My total bill at Harris Teeter was roughly the same as at Whole Foods, something I wasn't expecting. I've heard from many people around here that if you're big into coupon clipping, Harris Teeter is the place to shop (I personally have never been very good at the whole coupon thing) because they double and sometimes triple coupons. Also, Harris Teeter is more kid-friendly than Whole Foods. They have the big shopping carts shaped like race cars, and their aisles are easy to maneuver down (unlike at Whole Foods where my kids are not allowed to take their hands off the cart for fear they will knock something over).

As usual, no fair trade chocolate chips.

Here's my total bill:

organic tempeh
cheese (4 cups)
organic juice (2 cans)
organic butter
local milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food
organic baby cereal
cereal
tortillas
organic yogurt
organic avocado
organic carrots
organic bananas
mushrooms

Total = $59.19

Read more...

Grocery Shopping Week 5: Kroger

Kroger scores:
Co-op America's Responsible Shopper: F for ethics and governance, F for health and safety, D for greenwashing

Distance from my apartment: 3.1 miles (8 minutes)

I was surprised to find that Kroger has an extensive organics selection. Not just produce, but dairy, eggs, canned foods, juice, cleaning supplies...pretty much anything you could want. You could do all of your grocery shopping in the organics section and bypass the rest of the store, except that the organics section seemed to contain most of the popular name brand organic and all natural products (Stoneyfield Farms, Annie's, Eden's, Earth's Best, Seventh Generation, etc.) while the regular aisles contained some cheaper store brand organics. No fair trade items in sight, and the bananas were once again wrapped in plastic (but I did buy them this time).

I'm learning through this experiment that there's not a clear cut answer to the question, Where's the best place to grocery shop? If we're strictly talking budget, Kroger seems to be the way to go. On the other hand, I admire Whole Foods as a company and would feel more comfortable giving them my money. Food Lion is closest to my house so I could cut down on car emissions by riding a bike or walking. Capital City Grocery has the advantage of being locally-owned, sustaining my local economy. Which is most important? I think it all comes down to personal opinion. It's impossible to do everything, so what's most important to you?

This week's spending:

organic tofu
organic cheese (3 cups)
juice (2)
organic butter
organic milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food (7 jars)
organic baby cereal (2 boxes)
organic pita chips
cereal (2 boxes)
organic yogurt
organic avocado
organic carrots
organic bananas
mushrooms

Total = $54.68

Read more...

Grocery Shopping Week 4: Capital City Grocery

Update: Capital City Grocery closed on 11/22/2008

Capital City Grocery Scores:
Neither the Better World Shopper nor Co-op America's Responsible Shopper rate this store, but since it is locally owned, I'm sure it would receive an A from both groups.

Distance from my apartment: 4.6 miles (12 minutes)

I recently stumbled across a website called the Eat Well Guide, which helps you locate local grocery stores, farmers markets, and CSAs that sell organic produce and local dairy and meat. This led me to Capital City Grocery, which is a locally owned grocery store located inside the Raleigh beltline.

If you're not from Raleigh, this week's shopping trip isn't going to mean much to you, so I recommend looking up your own area on the Eat Well Guide and checking out a similar grocery store in your area.

I really, really, really wanted to like Capital City Grocery. They are locally owned, which is a plus, and they are conceivably within bike-riding distance from my apartment, if I ever get my bike trailer. Sadly, I left the store disappointed. If you scroll to the bottom of this post and check out my grocery total, you'll see why.

It's no wonder that small, locally-owned grocery stores go out of business when Walmart moves in! Frankly, I don't know anyone who can afford these prices. (And in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I didn't buy all the items on this list. About halfway through the store, I recognized that there was no way I could afford to shop here, and I started writing down prices instead of actually buying them.)

If you're from the Raleigh area and think you can afford to shop at Capital City Grocery, I highly recommend it. They have amazing customer service. A super nice lady rang me up and another super nice lady bagged my groceries (in my cloth bags without rolling her eyes or "helpfully" putting my produce in plastic bags) and then the first nice lady saw me struggling in the parking lot with three kids and two bags of groceries and came out of the store to help me. Awesome! And did I mention that they're locally owned?

I really, really, really wish I could shop at Capital City Grocery...

My grocery list:

Veggie "turkey" slices (couldn't find tofu0
organic cheddar cheese (four 8 oz. packages)
organic frozen juice (2)
organic butter
organic milk
applesauce
organic baby food (7 jars)
organic baby cereal (2 boxes)
cereal (2 boxes)
organic yogurt
avocado
carrots
bananas
mushrooms

Total: $87.60

Read more...

Grocery Shopping Week 3: Food Lion

Food Lion Scores
Better World Shopper: D+

Distance from my apartment: 1.3 miles (4 minutes)

Food Lion has the advantage of being my corner grocery store. Since it's only a mile from my apartment, in theory I could walk there (if I was willing to risk my life walking on the highway that leads there). If I ever get a bike trailer (someday soon, I hope!), I could take the long route and bike to the grocery store. And since the farmer's market is just down the road, I could do all my grocery shopping in one morning. Plus, when I announced that we were shopping at Food Lion today, First Son exclaimed, "Hurray! My favorite grocery store!" They have the shopping carts that are shaped like race cars...

Unfortunately, Food Lion is tied with Walmart for the fewest natural, fair trade, and organic items. In the produce section, I found organic bananas, but I didn't buy them because they were wrapped in plastic and the overpackaging of organic foods has become a sore spot with me. Why, oh why, do they do that??? They also had organic baby food and hormone-free milk, and that was it. They didn't even have Stonyfield Farm yogurt, which you can generally find at any grocery store.

The question I'm asking now is what's more important: buying everything natural and organic, or cutting down on emissions by biking to the grocery store?

Here are the usual suspects:

tofu
cheddar cheese (4 cup bag)
frozen apple juice (2)
butter
milk
applesauce
organic baby food (7 jars)
organic baby cereal (2 boxes)
tortillas (family pack)
cereal (2 boxes)
yogurt
avocado
carrots
bananas
mushrooms

Total: $47.54

Read more...