Local, Organic Buying vs. Frugality
This topic has come up several times recently in the comments, and so I thought perhaps devoting a post to it would be a good idea.
Ideologically, I am 100% on board with the idea of buying local, organic food. I think it's a wonderful thing for both people and the planet.
Unfortunately, local, organic food is not always so good for the grocery budget.
This bums me out, because it's one of the places where green, healthy, and frugal don't overlap. Line-drying laundry, buying less stuff, driving less, eating less processed food, and buying used are all things that satisfy both my desire to save money and my desire to save the earth.
When I'm forced to choose between the two, though, I have to consider my priorities and make my decisions accordingly.
Serving my family is a very, very high priority on my list. I cook from scratch in order to serve my family, I try to organize my home so that I can serve my family better, and I try to manage my time so I can serve my family better. Along these same lines, one of the main reasons I work so hard to save money is that by doing so, I serve my family. If I spent foolishly and didn't save, my family would suffer in many ways, and I don't want that to happen.
At the same time, I do want to be a good steward of the earth God gave to us. I want to be responsible and live in a way that preserves the planet as much as possible.
If I had a lot of disposable income or if we had fewer people in our family, these two priorities would probably not be in conflict. With more money, I'd likely have no problem covering a higher grocery bill, and with fewer people, organic local food wouldn't cost as much as it does for six people.
As it is, though, buying nothing but organic and local food would cause me to spend far more than I can afford on groceries. This would be delightful for the planet, and probably quite good for our bodies, but it would be very bad news for our financial state.
So, here's what I do.
- Whenever green and frugal intersect, I'm all there. Among other things, I line-dry, I save electricity, I drive minimally, I buy used, I freecycle, I mend clothes, I don't buy a lot of meat, I compost, I try not to waste food, I don't buy a lot of consumer goods, I grow some foods, and I bring cloth bags when I shop.
- When green is sort of close to frugal, I'm usually there. I buy produce from the farmer's markets in the summertime, even though it's a little more expensive than loss-leader produce. I get milk in glass jars from a very local farm, even though it's $4/gallon instead of $2/gallon. Just today, I bought some all-natural chicken from Pennsylvania, which is fairly close to where I live. I paid $2.30/pound, which is more than I pay for regular chicken, but is not outrageous.
- When green is not even close to frugal, I usually pass. I'd love to have geo-thermal heating and cooling, but I'd have to go into massive debt to procure that, and that would certainly not serve my family. I'd love to buy the chicken breasts from the little store up the road (they don't even come in a package, which is fabulous!), but spending that much on a pound of meat would be bad for our finances, and thus would not serve my family.
My frugal vs. green strategy will probably change over time. Someday, we won't need to buy as many groceries (although that's going to get worse before it gets better, seeing as our kids are all sort of young right now!), and when that happens, I'll be happy to spend more on local and organic food. And if something wonderful happens with my husband's career, and we have more money to put into the food budget, I'll certainly use it to buy local and organic food.
If your situation is different than mine, you may need to operate differently. But this is what works for me and my family in this phase of our lives.
This is a great post. I face exactly the same kinds of challenges. I think I might have to springboard a post off of yours! I started writing a comment and it got a bit lengthy. 😉
Good for you on thinking through how to make your dollars stretch to serve your family and your planet!
Great post; very balanced view and one I agree with. I am fortunate enough to have a local organic farm shop who sells at really good prices. But I'll still go to the bargain fridge and shelves in the supermarket and buy ridiculously packaged, mass produced stuff if I can get it cheap. Like you, with a huge disposable income my priorities would shift, but we all have to do the best with what we have.
Thanks for a great read and for voicing something that effects many of us, so eloquently.
Kristen, I love you! I totally agree. I would love solar panels but can't afford them. Now, I will admit, if I found local organic produce that I really really wanted I would but it regardless of price. 🙂 Beautiful picture!
Great post! I think it is important for each family to set their priorities based on their needs and resources.
I think it is good to remember that there is a lot of "green" marketing directed at consumers right now. Many of the products are expensive and unnecessary. Why buy "green" paper napkins when you can just use cloth napkins? It is a much better decision from both an economic and ecological point of view.
You don't need to pay a lot for expensive "green" cleaners if you have vinegar and borax in your cupboards. Instead of buying "green" dishwasher detergent I create my own using borax and washing soda. Even with using vinegar as a rinse agent this is much less expensive than a "green" version and it works just as well.
When I buy organic I prioritize: I don't buy organic oranges, bananas or mangoes because the thick skin is peeled, but I always buy organic apples.
The most important thing is that my husband and I set our priorities for our family. And since we are not spending money on unnecessary items we might actually be able to build the solar powered greenhouse of our dreams!
Great post, Kristen. Something we all deal with almost every day. I'm about the same as you as far as I'll buy green or organic when it's the same or just a little more than the frugal option, but not if it's a LOT more. And like Alea, I prioritize.
We are so lucky to live in California where the produce is so abundant that it really isn't necessary to break the budget and shop at Whole Foods. My husband and I are eating from a local CSA (community supported agriculture) for just $90 a month, and we get a huge box every two weeks.All I have to do is supplement with a bit more fruit, and that's all the produce we need for the month. It's quite affordable. On the other hand, if we had four children or even two teenagers, we wouldn't be able to do it.
Thanks for addressing the issue.
I used to belong to a CSA, but the quality of their produce started to REALLY suffer about 2 months ago. I mean they were bringing me rotten, bug eaten stuff that had slime and mildew on it! After the 4th week of this, I finally called them and cancelled. I had been getting awesome produce from them for over two years...I don't know what happened!
I've been looking into that lately too....I'm starting to get the impression that not everything needs to be organic to get the max heath benefit. I'd LOVE to find a farm that sells milk in glass bottles. How did you find yours? Is there a deposit on the bottle for return?
Well said. 🙂
Most things we do in life are a type of balancing act. Money is often on the other end of the scale, like you have pointed out in this post.
Here at Best of Both Worlds, we've made investments in vegetable gardening because we like the idea of vegetables that are organic, fresh, abundant, and of great variety. We have created our own alternative to the over-priced organic marketplace.
My approach to vegetable gardening emphasizes productivity - bang for the buck. I want a large return for the investment of a small space. Here are a few examples: a couple of summer squash plants can feed a family; a few romaine type lettuce plants can be harvested a leaf at a time and feed a family for months; a small plot of Swiss chard can feed a family all season long; and, turnips provide continuous greens up top until you harvest the roots below.
Again, it's a balancing act. It all depends on time and space available to create your own alternative to the organic marketplace. I encourage us all to experiment, even with containers, and see what bounty you can create just outside your door. I like to refer to my garden plots and greenhouses as my "life size produce department."
Clair
This is great. At least you're considering it on a low budget.
Buying locally benefits our community in untold ways, so I sacrifice more of my discretionary income to buy organic or from farmer's markets and cut down on stuff like clothing and haircuts, magazines etc. This is why all my bras are falling apart and I look like Kate Bush with this wayward hair! I also make sure I buy local delicacies like Maple syrup instead of foreign-made sugar even though it's expensive. It's time to move away from industrialized agriculture. If you're a homemaker, have you considered keeping chickens? They're cute and their eggs are amazing!
Have you tried using coupons for some of the organic products you buy? There are tons of them out there, but you have to know where to look. I love the Cascadian Farm organic frozen vegetables and the Muir Glen canned tomatoes, and only stock up on those when there are coupons available. I also make sure to shop the dirty dozen and try to buy in season when it comes to produce. It was more difficult when I first started, but now that I've been at it a few years, I can find organic products that are cheaper than their conventional counterparts!
Thanks Kiki, I'm going to look for those coupons!
Whole Foods usually has coupon books which, IIRC, don't need to be used at WF.
The sugar you buy is probably US-made or made by US companies. They're a very effective lobbying organization and so US tariffs on sugar imports are extremely high. This is why US companies turned to HFCS for candy and pop - the real thing was too expensive.
Maple sugar production is thoroughly mechanized these days, which makes me wonder where the line of "industrial production" lies. I don't have an answer to propose. Any suggestions?
Sugar comes from two sources: cane and sugar beets
Sugar from sugar cane is invariably imported - sugar cane is a tropical plant that simply doesn't grow here.
Sugar beets grow very well all over the Great Plains. The majority of sugar sold in the US is from sugar beets. Extracting sugar from sugar beets is fairly labor-intensive. If you live in ND, SD, MN, NE, etc., you are probably buying "local" sugar. I lived in Grand Forks for 5 years, and there was a sugar beet processing plant in town. They reek.
If you want to buy a sweetener that is "close to the land" (local and minimally processed), your best bet is to buy local honey unless you happen to live in sugar maple country and know of a local maple sugarer who you trust, in which case you can buy syrup and maple sugar.
If we want to move completely away from "industrial production", the only way to do it is really to form relationships with local farmers. Read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver for more information and ideas.
Maple syrup is my favorite sweetener.
Thanks for the sugar info. I get my maple syrup from an elderly gentleman in my village in the Catskills who has been making it since he was in short trousers or thereabouts. He boils it down in a huge vat in his garage and I save all the bottles so I can give them back to him. Now that's local. Sometimes I get it from Canada when I'm in the city because I more or less drink the stuff. I'm ashamed to say my tea is from China (I drink a lot of that!); does this negate my good deeds with the syrup? Sigh. Can you get local black tea? I get my red wine from Washington/Cali. I just can't drink Fingerlakes wine. I tried. I'm low maintenance, but not that low maintenance.
I'll certainly be looking around for the WF & organic coupons that was a great tip. Thanks!
I really enjoyed this post. I am frequently at a crossroads on this topic and you and I are on the same page here.
I like your blog a lot!
🙂
Nice post, I agree. I try to buy and consume in a smart and balanced way - perfection is the enemy of good anyway, right? 🙂
Where I live (North of Italy) local is very cheap - farmers' market is one of the most convenient places for vegetables and fruit.
If I were rich I'd only shop at NaturaSí¬, the organic supermarket: the products, packaged and fresh as well, are unbeatable. But I'm not rich, so I only shop there every now and then, especially when my fave products are marked down.
On the other hand, some organic brands I find at the regular supermarket (for ex. ScelgoBio) aren't expensive at all. So I can buy organic eggs, olive oil, some kinds of cheese, chocolate etc at the same price as non-organic.
What I would really like to buy organic is meat (if you have read The Omnivore's Dilemma you'll understand me) - but it's unaffordable.