Oct. 25, 2012

Cheap organic foods? In the face of global economic struggle, the issue of personal finance is at the heart of the average consumer. But do you really have to shed an exorbitant amount of your money to purchase organic foods over conventional?

 

The answer is no, and there is a surprisingly large amount of high quality organic foods that are quite cheap — even when considering low income families. Even families on foodstamps have been able to live entirely on an organic diet on the foodstamp income alone.

 

There’s even a documentary about it called Foodstamped, which is hosted free online. The couple in the film eats a 100% organic diet on as little as $40 a week. There are keys to keeping costs down such as buying from farmers markets when possible and always buying whole food options as opposed to pre-made or processed meals, but I am going to give you a list of 10 key items that are really quite cheap.

 

In fact, they purchased many of them in the film to keep their costs down. When you get the opportunity, you can even store up on some of these items in bulk and cut costs even further — not to mention that many of these foods are capable of acting as long-term storeable foods.

 

Here are the top 10 healthy yet organic real food items that won’t break your budget:

 

1. Brown Rice

 

Brown rice has a lengthy shelf life when stored properly in a sealed container, and can make for a full meal simply by eating it alone or adding in some of the vegetables in this list. Organic brown rice when purchased in bulk, or at least not from pre-packaged bags, can be extremely cheap while able to be incorporated into many meals.

 

 

2. Assorted Seeds

 

Highly nutritious and beneficial food items like organic flax or organic sunflower seeds are available for a very low price — especially when you bag them yourself. Flax has a great deal of healthy fats and other nutrients, and can compliment a diet lacking in real nutrition while being easy on the pocketbook.

 

3. Eggs

 

Certified organic eggs are extremely cheap when you consider how many meals a regular carton of 12 eggs can provide. This is amplified even further when it is locally harvested. At Whole Foods you can find local eggs on sale for around $2 a dozen or even less. If that’s too much, then go straight to the source and buy in bulk. When considering that around 2-3 eggs can make a meal, an entire carton can provide a lot of quality nutrition for a very low price. It also doesn’t hurt that eggs are known as powerful superfoods.

 

4. Carrots

 

Chop them up and include them with the brown rice, or juice them for a great morning drink. Carrots can be purchased in bulk size for less than $4 and will last quite a long time.

 

5. Apples

 

Great for flavoring up juices or combining with peanut butter (see next down the list), apples are a tasty fruit that literally do keep the doctor away. Plus, they also happen to be really inexpensive.

 

6. Peanut Butter

 

High quality organic peanut butter can help keep your taste buds happy while shopping organic on a budget. It can also be combined with other food items like seeds or apples to alter the snack altogether, and is often a favorite among children.

 

7. Nuts

 

Nutritionally dense and great to snack on as a meal or inbetween one, nuts like almonds and cashews can be found for close to nothing when packaged yourself or purchased in bulk quantities. Another food item that stores for a very long time.

 

8. Olive Oil

 

Long hailed as a key remedy to multiple conditions and used in cleansing activities like oil pulling, you can find organic, extra virgin cold pressed olive oil for less than $5. You may be surprised how much you can get, too. Don’t look for fancy brands, but try your best to ensure that it contains the wording ‘cold pressed’, ‘extra virgin’, and of course USDA certified organic.

 

9. Grass-Fed Meats

 

The best bet with grass-fed meats, if you choose to eat meat, is to purchase from a farm directly. You can find meats like bison and buffalo for a low price when dealing with the source. These meats are particularly of high quality as buffalo and bison are not administered the same degree of medical intervention as cows and chickens. In fact, federal law protects buffalo meat from a great deal of antibiotic use and even hormonal injection.

 

10. Onions

 

Onions are known to pack a nutritional punch that rivals many superfoods within the fruit and vegetable family. They are also excellent flavor boosters and can be added to your brown rice vegetable mix, topped off with some olive oil, and make for an absolutely delicious meal that is both free of harmful ingredients and nourishing to the body.

 

It doesn’t have to drain your bank account to avoid toxic additives like high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, aspartame, genetically modified ingredients, and so on. Instead, checkout these top 10 cheap organic food items, shop in season, and find local farms and farmers markets to go straight to the source. Also, please share this article with anyone who thinks that organic simply cannot work for them as it is too expensive. For less than 20 dollars you can purchase a considerable amount of organic food items that are both delicious and contaminant-free.

 

This article first appeared at Natural Society, an excellent resource for health news and vaccine information.

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/10/top-10-healthy-yet-cheap-organic-foods.html