Green & Healthy Meals for About $1
May 5, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under food, groceries
Being mainly a green blogger what I tend to hear when I blog about organic foods is that it sounds good, but it’s not worth the extra cost, or more usually that families can’t afford the extra cost. And it’s true, organic costs more in most cases than conventional. On the flip side, eating a diet higher in organics, which might mean cutting foods like very expensive organic meat, is also healthier so perhaps you’d cut your doctor bills, your gym fees, and more.
In any case if your goal is to eat healthier and greener you really can’t miss a great read at The Miami Herald; Dollar menu at home. The piece looks at Linda Watson creator of the website, Cook for Good. Watson has learned to spend about $1.12-1.16 per meal in recent years, mainly, it seems by sticking closer to the bottom of the food chain and cooking primarily from scratch. She also uses techniques that save water and energy, which of course is sustainable, but also saves you cash.
Watson ran another experiment along her quest to inexpensive meals to see if shopping more sustainably cost more, and it did, but only a little. AND that’s when she shopped at Whole Foods and Farmers Markets. If you grow some of your own organic food, you’d likely save even more. While on this new diet, both Watson ans her hubby felt better and lost weight too!
This article points out what I’m always saying, when it comes to saving money or eating green, we all make choices. If your choice is to cut out some meat and always cut out Doritos and soda, you’ll fare well. If your choice is to keep the processed foods you’re going to have a problem eating green for sure, and spending less a lot of the time.
Read the whole piece: Dollar menu at home.
For some specific tips related to organics, read, Organic Food Costs Rise – 11 Ways to Save Money on Organic Food.
[image via stock.xchng]
For those not growing their own food, you can save additional money by joining a food co-op or CSA. We have been doing that and it has dramatically reduced our grocery bill and time in grocery stores, which also reduces our bill. Also cutting dairy. If you are eating a well-balanced diet, there is nothing in animal milk that you cannot get from the foods you eat. We also eat a lot of smoothies (green, ice, no dairy, fruits, etc), which allows us to use whole foods in a fun form (especially for a straw loving two year old).