Not long ago I watched the documentary "Food INC." ( I am sure many of you out there have seen it. It is a true eye opener in how our food is processes. This movie totally scared me and we have since then gone as organic as we can.
I thought in order to go organic the easiest way to do so was to shop at "Whole Foods." Now, don't get me wrong I love Whole Foods, but I just can't afford $200 grocery bills per week. That is absolute craziness. But that's what I did for 3 weeks straight....until Brian was like this is nuts, we CAN'T afford this and went on to tell me that I needed to come up with a cheaper way to go organic. You also have to know that typically, before going organic, our grocery bill per week was between $60 and $80 (and that's was without coupons....I HATE coupons)!
I figured I would go back to my old grocery store Giant and see what they had to offer. So that's just what Emma and I did this morning. We packed up our reusable bags and headed out the door.
To my surprise Giant carried almost everything that I needed on my list in an organic brand. I was so excited. I also noticed how much cheaper their prices are for the organic products versus Whole Foods. (PS my debit card also noticed at check out....will get to that later) They have an organic brand there called "Nature's Promise." They also carry many of the same organic snacks that Emma eats for about the same price if not a bit cheaper.
Now on the down side because there's always a down side! They did not carry any organic fruits. I was so upset about that. They do carry some organic vegetables such as celery, lettuces, and spinach, but that was about it.
So much for one stop shopping. It looks like I will have to go to a local market to get my fruits and veggies! It is really hard to be healthy. I totally see why so many Americans don't want to make the switch to organic. It costs more and it is more difficult to shop! In today's fast pace we prefer one stop shopping such as your local Walmart! I do have to give props to my local Giant though, they are trying to carry more organic products and I hope more and more people buy them so they get an even wider selection!
I came out of the store today spending $120 and got a $10 gift card back because for every $200 you spend you get a $10 gift card!
we love the organic selection at giant (martin's), too!! the produce selection pretty much sucks, but i go to fresh market for our produce anyway. my question is... how is your grocery bill so low?!?!? we spend like $200 a week on everything! good for you!!
ReplyDeleteIt costs so much more to eat healthy.....I actually get some stuff at walmart, some stuff at whole foods, and then the rest at trader joes (i only make the trip there like once a month).....now do you have a Trader Joes near you? Find out, Steph the entire store is organic and so, so, so much cheaper than whole foods, they don't have all the stuff whole foods does but they have great produce, meats all kinds of stuff and it is so cheap. If we had one close enough I would go weekly. People often compare whole foods and trader joes. You would love it!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have no idea how you have such a low grocery bill. I spend roughly $150 a week in groceries and it is driving Jerry crazy. I started using coupons and sometimes it pays off. I just hate dealing with the shuffle of an envelope of coupons.
ReplyDeleteWe have not gone the complete organic route yet. Kudos to you! The only local grocery store we have is Food Lion (b/c I will not shop at Farmers) and they have a limited organic selection. Hopefully in the future their selection will expand and I will have a larger variety. Right now my sanity will not allow me to drive into any city to do my major grocery shopping.
However, we did plant a veggie garden this year and have our own organic foods. I am hoping that our grocery bill will decrease now that we have a bit of our own home-grown supply.