Organic Prices! Yikes!

[Queen Shelley]

Here are a couple of reasons/prices that keep me from going totally organic...Conventional Asparagus $1.98/lb...Organic $6.98/lb in the grocery store. At the end of the season here in Oregon Farmers Market...Organic Spinach $6.98/lb !!

[rawpriestess]

I would say it is the area of the country, but I'm in Washington and our prices are no where near that, but then again, we are a port city, etc.

regular oranges 5 pounds for $7.99 organic 1 pound for $1.69
regular grapefruit 5 pounds for $4.99 organic 1 pound $1.29
regular lettuce 1 head $1.39 organic $1.99

so it's still pretty close here, not sure what to tell you, except I don't much care for asparagus, so I've never even checked it out, and I do eat spinache, but I've never seen it that high.

I'd say eat what you can't peel as organic as much as possible, apples, berries, greens, the stuff you can peel, I wouldn't worry so much about, citrus fruits, bananas, mangos, etc.

that is just my theory

[Sharon in Colorado]

Here are a couple of reasons/prices that keep me from going totally organic...Conventional Asparagus $1.98/lb...Organic $6.98/lb in the grocery store. At the end of the season here in Oregon Farmers Market...Organic Spinach $6.98/lb !!

It helps to buy around the sales. Even here in Colorado I can get decent prices for organic, which much of it is obviously shipped in. I just won't pay high prices for organic, and I'm still better off eating conventional than none at all.

I just love mango season when both organic and conventional are the same price! I've seen that with strawberries in season as well.

[auroral]

Do you have a farmer's market or CSA in your area? They are often cheaper options for organic foods, and they support local farmers!

[juliebove]

Can you get organic produce boxes in your area? I've gotten these from two different farms here and they are a great way to save money. The only thing is you can't always get exactly what you want and some weeks you may get some stuff that you don't want. In both cases, I was saving enough money that if I had to give 2 or 3 things away I was still saving money over buying it in the grocery store. And the best part is, it forces us to eat things we wouldn't normally eat. Sometimes we find that we actually like them!

One thing you might do is look at a chart of organic vs. regular produce to see which things are the most heavily polluted and buy those in organic and the rest in not. I know there are such charts here but I can't recall which threads they are in. One thing I remember is that bell peppers tend to be heavily polluted. They are also one of the most expensive things to buy organic so if I have to buy them at the store I often do not buy the organic ones. But I do grow my own throughout the summer.

[rawpesto]

To find a CSA or farmers market in your area go to Local Harvest
I joined one this past season and it was great. Each week I picked up a huge box of fresh veggies and there were always extras that the members would all share.