5 ways to stretch your money further when buying organic

Submitted by sproutingforth on Fri, 2008-11-14 08:38

The down turn in the economy is making us all second-guess what we buy. In the US, a market research company revealed recently that organic food sales rose only 4 percent in the four week period ending October 4th, compared to 20 percent a year in recent years. What's keeping shoppers from purchasing organic food? Cost. No question.

Just why is organic food usually more expensive?

First, organic food is more expensive to produce. Without cheap fertilizers and pesticides, farmers have to do a lot more manual labour, and people are much more expensive than petrochemicals. Additionally, organic farming operations aren't big enough to achieve economies of scale.

Secondly, demand has outstripped supply -- there simply are not enough people growing and producing organic ingredients. And when demand is greater than supply, prices are higher.

But don’t give up on the health of your family. You do not need to give up on organic - just curtail your organic spending and focus on the area where you get the biggest return for your money...

5 ways to stretch your organic rand further

  • Buy smart: The Environmental Working Group found that you can reduce your pesticide intake by 90 percent if you ate only organic versions of the following produce: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.
    [read more about the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen]
  • Shop around: Pricing for organic foods is sometimes … well, let's just call it whimsical. There are enough retail outlets selling organic products these days to find bargains if you just take the time to look for them. [shopping organic in Cape Town] [shopping organic in Johannesburg]
  • Buy local: Many supermarkets feature locally grown vegetables, fruits, and meat in season and there are more and more farmers' markets every year. [markets in the western cape] [markets in gauteng] [markets in kzn] Foods in season tend to be cheaper, because they're abundant then (it's that supply and demand thing again).
  • Join an organic box scheme: This is a great way to support both local organic farmers, to make sure you’re getting seasonal fruit and vegetables, and to cut back on superfluous and unnecessary wrapping. [top organic box schemes]
  • Grow your own: Is there a corner in your yard, or some section of your flat’s balcony, that gets sun most of the day? Well, farm it! Seriously, you'd be amazed at how much you can grow in a tiny space. In a box roughly two feet square, you can grow enough mixed salad greens to keep you going for months! [4 top edible garden growers]

source: alternet

Other interesting reads: proof that organic really is better
10 reasons to go organic

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prices

Submitted by Candice (not verified) on Mon, 2008-11-17 22:36.

hi guys
cool post... but i must say that i don't think that organic has to be more expensive than conventional. when i was in india, i met dozens of farmers who converted to organic methods because it was cheaper for them than chemical methods.
and the more the price of oil rises, so the price of fertilisers and pesticides will continue to climb, making chemical farming an increasingly more expensive option (and the oil price is going to keep going up as we move twds peak oil - despite the present economic crisis which is reducing oil demand and therefore lowering prices - just watch: OPEC is having a meeting soon to discuss reducing production so they can bring prices up for now)
another reason why organic is more expensive than conventional now is related to the massive subsidisation of conventional farming which exists.
i feel myself trying to write out my thesis here. oops. better go now... :)

Hi Candice - absolutely

Submitted by sproutingforth on Tue, 2008-11-18 09:34.

Hi Candice - absolutely agree with your comments! The more farmers we have converting, the lower the price of organic produce will become. I didn't mean that organic farming is more expensive than conventional farming - although Monsanto et al have pushed the price of fertilisers etc right down, making conventional farming appear less expensive. It also depends on the price of labour in the country of origin. In America, where this story originates, labour is probably more expensive than here. What I meant was that at the moment there are fewer organic farmers than there is demand for produce. Converting to organic takes as long as 3 years, so it understandable that there will be a period where demand outstrips supply, pushing the price of organic produce up. And if farmers aren't encouraged to convert, as they obviously are in India, that discrepancy may well remain.