Grocery challenge whilst buying organic & Fairtrade: How much for a 2 people?

wyebird

I have noticed that Liddl is stocking fairtrade and organic stuff now

calleyw

rayday2 wrote: »

But being a busy huge family like we are we are a bit be glad there is something on your plate. We get veggies from our neighbour home grown and from allotments. I would love to grow my own but previous owner burnt computer parts in the garden regularly and they contain lead so best not!

Why not use grow bags or containers to grow things in such as a tomatoes, lettuce and beans you can even grow potatoes in dustbin.

Means you can pick straight from the plant to your plate saves time and money having to buy the products in the first place.


Yours


Calley

julbags

I try to buy as much local and organic produce as possible, I will prioritise local over organic if the organic has travelled a lot further. We spend about £200 a month on food between two people which is pretty high actually and I'm in the process of cutting this down as much as possible. Some things I've found helpful:

1) Our local farm shop for fruit and veg and local free range eggs - its cheaper than Tescos and Sainsburys and they label the origin of everything local and imported, so if its NZ apples then you know this and can take or leave them. You have to put more effort into selecting the actual produce as they don't have the supermarket obsession with perfection - a lot of things are still dirty, yay!

2) Meat - red meat I'll use the local butcher - cheaper and hung better.

3) Chicken (always bought supermarket organic chicken breasts, really expensive for titchy portions)- Our local farmers market sells local proper free range chickens (they can't call them organic due to the slaughtering I think) and its the most fabulous chicken I've ever tasted. Prices are similar to a whole organic supermarket chicken however to get better value I now buy the whole chicken and joint it into portions so I get loads from one chicken.


The most important point is one that tyllwyd made in that minimising waste is really important - I'm really starting to get on top of this now. My motivation is really high at the minute to get our food bill down and will be making full use of butcher, farm shop and farmers market. if I can't cut it much further than this without heavily compromising then I won't, however we only have one small loan to clear apart from the mortgage.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I used to try and buy as much organic produce as possible, but with all the programmes on about "is it as organic as you think" etc i got so confuddled and disillusioned (is that right?)....:D

So i then went on to buying as much local produce as possibe... i have only been in germany for 3 weeks, but getting local produce is so much easier.. i am waiting for the "chicken man" to come on tuesday... its like the icecream van...but instead of tunes he has a chicken clucking :rotfl: ive just found out about him and i can get 30 eggs for 2euros (£1.40ish) and he does veggies and meat all local produce, so i cant wait to have a peek:p .....

I think i have finally found a balance between eating a well balanced/economical/ethical diet....i guess we all like to do what we can, when we can dont we!!!....

grodnogirl

We buy organic food most of the times. Our income is not high but health is priceless. Eating organic is a massive step towards a healthier you. Although my husband does not really support me in this. He says " I have been eating non organic food all my life and I am healthy". But I think non organic 10 years ago was much healthier than now.
Family of 3, spend about £100-£120 on weekly food shopping

Yorkielass

This thread has made me decide to go to our local farmers market next weekend and see how we get on price/quality/taste wise. Our local butcher is good but the greengrocers a bit hit and miss so thought farmers market might be worth a try.

therealslimcj

MRSMCAWBER yeah I understand that, I think a lot of people are confused by the whole thing and the mixed messages that seem to be about, especially in TV. I work in the TV industry and am very aware of how tv shows come along and make bold statements and try to disprove things that are in the public eye. All I would say is that Organic and FairTrade products are much much better for your health, the planet, the animals and the people to manufacture the produce, there's absolutely no doubt about that. To be certified organic a product must meet strict guidelines and the vast vast majority do so, so lets get organic, locally produced, fairtrade where possible, because the last thing we all want is to walk down the high street and see no butchers, no bakers, no fishmongers, no greengrocers, instead replaced by a massive tesco/asda.

Supporting local business is the most important thing and farmers markets are quite trendy now . You can find your closest one here:

http://www.farmersmarkets.net/

AND it's cheaper!! So we're saving the environment, helping local business, AND saving money! Everyone's a winner!

climbgirl

This is an interesting thread, for sure. I find the whole "organic" labelling in the UK a bit of a misnomer. The organic standards are nowhere near as strict as they are in other countries and what you actually get may not be as clean and green as you think it is. To be able to call their produce "organic" NZ farmers have to prove they have a 5km exclusion zone around their farms to reduce the risk of chemical waft from other farms. A tough requirement! The same goes for Fair Trade products - a lot of them are not as ethical as they're cracked up to be.

I find the whole food miles debate interesting too. While I think it's great to reduce food miles as much as possible, the reality is the numbers just don't quite add up. What I mean is that it's impossible to grow all the food in the UK that's consumed by UK shoppers. There was a channel 4 documentary some months ago that illustrated this quite nicely - all the lamb that's consumed in the UK, if raised in the UK would require pretty much all of the land space in the UK. Not just farmland, all of the land space. And that's just one product! It's simply not feasible to grow everything here that we eat. So some of it has to come from other countries, it's unavoidable.

Off-topic a bit for a debt-free forum but an interesting one! In terms of buying food and budgeting, I'll try and use local producers where possible and avoid the big chains. But I think every "organic" label in a big chain store should be taken with a massive grain of salt, the organic standards don't demand a lot in the UK. A lot of it is part of the greenwash we're seeing in these big stores. They know that green will sell, so they're rushing it into the stores. It's not over any concern for the environment, it's about getting more of our money! I'd question their green credentials and I'm not prepared to buy twice as much for an "organic" tesco bell pepper when I can't be sure it's any greener than it's non-organic counterpart.

climbgirl

therealslimcj wrote: »

To be certified organic a product must meet strict guidelines

The guidelines aren't as strict in the UK as they are in other western countries, nowhere near.

I'm all for organic food and and trying to have as little impact on the environment as possible. But don't believe everything a supermarket will tell you!

I think you're right, there's an awful lot of mixed messages out there at the moment. But you really need to check the organic credentials of a product you buy - checking the provenance of produce from a local farmers market is always going to easier than from somewhere like a big supermarket chain.

therealslimcj

Hi climbgirl

Yeah unfortunately we are not as strict in the Uk as other places, but the more people show an interest the quicker we will catch up.

My GF and I are very knowledgeble on the subject of air miles, fairtrade, organic etc, and conduct our own research on most of the products we buy through ethical consumer magazine, organic produce magazines, journals on the subjects etc so are always trying to spread the word!

Lets hope the government get stricter about this soon!