Please compare summer and winter raw food costs

[Purl]

I just spent $250+ again, for the 2nd or 3rd week in a row. My food bill has gone up by almost $100 a week since we started our transition to raw. Please tell me that the prices will go down come springtime. 'Cause my wallet has tumbleweeds in it! LOL! (wait-are tumble weeds raw.....hmmmmm.....perhaps I will serve tumbleweed torte for dinner!)

[debiannp]

I agree with ya Purl. My food budget is through the roof. I know this is helping us all feel better/healthier BUT geesh!

I just also half to share more....LOL I hate when the family eats my food then turns around and eats the junk! Which, I am getting rid of today! DH is away on a trip so it is 100% for the rest of us.

Went out to eat today and eating 100% out wasn't all that hard. I asked for veggies cut up like chips to dip our guacamole in.


Debi
(dragging the family with me)

[Sheryl]

One tip is to find some farmers markets in your area and buy there. If I was shopping at supermarkets I'd be spending hundreds of dollars a week. Instead I buy at an organic farmers market. At the super market it's like $1.95 for 3 tablespoons of fresh basil, at the market I buy a bunch about a foot long for $1.50! We buy about 5 a week and make amazing pesto with it. Supermarket bananas are almost $4 a kilo here; at the market I can buy a whole box (appx 15 kg) for $15 - $20 (because they are actually ripe, and people don't like to buy the ones with brown spots (I peel and freeze them)).

Also for nuts and seeds I found a place that sells in bulk, and will deliver. So I buy about $400 at a time (pine nuts, pistachios, almonds, unhulled sesame, dried figs, dried peaches, walnuts etc) and store them at home. I get nuts about half price or less - pine nuts usually cost about $60 per kilo, they sell them for $20. Pretty good deal.

All up my husband and I spend about $140 a week on food. It's temperate where we are so it doesn't change summer to winter. That's for all organic food too.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[Stargazer2]

I've found that the longer I'm raw, the simpler the food, and the simpler the food, the lower the costs. The farmer's market idea is a good one, especially if you get to know some of the vendors. We have a couple of folks who give us a bit of a break on the price of some produce, especially near the end of the day when they need to pack up and leave. We are using fewer and fewer nuts, and that is helping the budget as well. Tend to use them more for dishes for special occasions.

Peace, Valerie

[exurb]

purl, raw can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be.

maybe go backward and look for threads about eating raw on a budget, or try a search.

Some little things you can do in the winter is to make yummy salads out of grated carrots, grated beets, etc. I like a beet-carrot-ginger combo. You can use more sunflower seeds over more expensive nuts. You can get nuts and a big box of organic greens at Costco. You can sprout, which in the northeast where I think you're from is an excellent way to get through the winter. You don't need fancy equipment for that, just some good sprouting seeds, and a jar - I use mason jars with a screen under the ring, but you can use any old jar, an elastic, cheesecloth, whatever.

That said, I am also a strong believer in trying to buy as much produce as possible directly from farmers. You could look for a CSA in your area, or when stuff is in season like apples, berries, etc., put some away. Berries are easily frozen, apples can be stored for quite some time.

Just some thoughts but please don't let the cost discourage you -- it doesn't have to be expensive.

Another way I like to look at it is the value you get... no more paying for empty calories, etc... Last week my husband and I were out, he got this disgusting double ice cream cone in a waffle cone and it was almost five bucks, so then when I bought my organic raspberries for $3.99 I thought that's not expensive at all!