Organic food in supermarkets

bornintoit

Parisian wrote: »

Hello everyone... so happy to have found this thread here
I started a massive overhaul to my diet last year and eat quite clean and semi organic. I am slowly finishing some of my cupboard stocks and replacing things with organic versions. The changes I am making to my diet are sometimes from week to week, and there is this lag with using what I already have so as not to be wasteful.
I look forward to contributing here

I decided to go organic in late November and gave myself a deadline of March to have used up my stockpile. It isn't going down quickly however as money is tight it has been rather helpful as I am building up another stockpile. Every week I buy say a tin of organic chopped tomatoes which is twice the price of a tin of everyday value chopped tomatoes however I can afford 79p a week and by the time my non-organic chopped tomatoes have been used up I should have roughly around 15 - 20 tins of the organic version so I don't have to buy lots of tins at once which of course is going to be tougher on the weekly budget. I can continue buying the one tin a week as I will already have a good organic stockpile.

Hope I put that across ok.

vincenta

Hi Parisian!
I also like rye bread it is much healthier and tastier than white one and is so great to eat with soups or salads:)
I buy my rye bread in Russian shops Lithuanian and Latvian rye bread are the best, at least I like them more than other available rye bread.
Pudding from leftover rye bread is also very delicious ( you need raisins, dry apricots, prunes) and sour cream or creme fraiche for topping.yummy.
About carrots and plastic bags, after i bring home our shopping I try to take out all vegetables (like carrots, potatoes, onions) from plastic bags, they can breathe, don't become wet and mouldy because they are out of bags and last much longer.

Just wanted to add, occasionally I try to bake my own rye bread, every time try different recipe, but so far bread is nice but not so tasty and perfect as shop bought one. Hope sooner or later I will find good recipe for home made rye bread!

Edwardia

bornintoit according to mysupermarket the cheapest organic whole or chopped tinned tomatoes are 75p at ASDA.

OH got two tins for £1 at Sainsbury's on offer in December, am sure I posted the offer up. Right now they are 79p same as Tesco and Waitrose are 89p. Napolina, Biona, Tarantella and Mr Organica are even more expensive.

When the Seeds of Change organic pasta sauces are on offer I buy the Mediterranean Vegetables pasta sauce to use as a base for things instead of tinned toms + veg. Currently was 2.29 now 1.71 at Ocado and 2 for £4 at Tesco to 29/01/13. Sainsbury's, ASDA and Waitrose don't sell that one.

Hav you tried passata ? Tesco organic passata 680g is 1.19, Sainsbury's SO organic passata 700g is same price, Waitrose Organic passata 680g 1.16 at Waitrose and Ocado. Passata is thicker and comes in glass bottle so can be stored in fridge and if used for two meals then the cheapest one (Waitrose) is 58p each meal which is lots cheaper than tinned toms.

Edwardia

Organic FairTrade bananas 6 pack £1

Parisian

Thanks Edwardia, berbastrike, borntoit & vincenta!

Berbastrike - I shall check out Biona, the chia seed variety looks interesting

Borntoit - I see what you mean, although since I am chopping & changing my diet so much as I figure things out more - I'm trying to work towards having little in my cupboards, and buying whats on my meal plan week to week. With some exceptions when I see good offers

vincenta - happy to have found another Rye fanatic! I do not know a single person in my life who is willing to eat rye bread of their own accord lol! I don't understand because I find it SO delicious. Are the rye breads in Russian shops also Organic?

I was in Whole Foods in Kensington the other day, and they had a massive pile of organic avocados - 2 for £1, needless to say I and the rest of the shoppers were delighted!

Xxx

Parisian

ps. I had a real pak choi craving, and couldn't find the Organic kind in a couple of my local Supermarkets. The regular Waitrose variety was lovely though - £1.59. Later in the week, I picked up some in Asda and it was cheaper at £1 but very noticeably a different texture and taste. I have to say even when buying non-organic (veg or even meat) - I much prefer Waitrose quality over many other Supermarkets. Sainsburys is decent too.

Edwardia

I buy from Abel & Cole, Ocado, Sainsbury's and Waitrose mostly plus odd bits from ASDA and Lidl. I find the quality of organic veg is pretty good for all but I don't like Tesco and Sainsbury's organic mince.

Fortnum and Mason is hosting a bakery festival from 28 January to 7 April 2013.

http://www.fortnumandmason.com/c-946-the-fortnum-mason-british-bakery.aspx

Edwardia

http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Organic-Food-in-the-UK-Industry-Market-Research-4191132.php

This originated with IBISWorld, presumably the market research company, then onto PRweb yesterday and was picked up by SFGate, the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle, today.

Basically organic food is said to 1.2% of UK supermarket revenue 2012-13, to decline 0.9% over same period and rise into growth by 2017-18. The organic industry is said to be worth £1.64 billion in UK.

Supermarkets have the majority of the market share of organic food. The article mentions Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.

miss_emmajane

I am still lurking in this thread, as a student I am not going to sacrifice the amount of fruit and veggies I eat in order to eat all organic but I am trying to make the choices I can afford. Yesterday I got some organic baked beans, chopped tomatoes and tinned mixed bean salad - I spent a little time before my lectures started this morning comparing ingredients to the smart price versions and looking at what each ingredient actually was, and it is safe to say I was surprised at the difference! Even the fact that smart price has herb flavouring/extracts where as the organic version is flavoured by the food themselves.

There are foods in my store cupboard that have multiple ingredients that I can't pronounce, really makes me think - what the hell have I been eating?! Even if my foods aren't all organic, I am really learning that I can and should be budgeting for foods that aren't processed with all these things!

miss_emmajane

Also, I forgot to say - I bought some organic wholemeal flour thinking that it could be cheaper to make my own organic loaves of bread and pittas but I haven't actually done much reading online for that yet. But it would be another switch