Some Organic Food Is Cheaper Than Regular
by David Bach with Hillary Rosner - GreenGreen.com on 04.19.08
Arguments against buying organic groceries almost always focus on price.
Now that home foreclosures and job losses are piling up, and people are tightening their belts across country, it's easy to imagine hordes of shoppers running from organics to supposedly cheaper "regular" food. (You've gotta love a world where the food that's been sprayed with toxic chemicals is normal and the other stuff gets its own tiny section of the supermarket.)
So here's today's good news: Organic is sometimes the cheaper option. We went comparison shopping and found that while it's still true that organic fruits and vegetables generally cost more than their pesticide-sprayed counterparts, there are many examples where the organic version actually saves you money--particularly as more supermarkets launch their own low-priced organic lines, such as Safeway's O brand.
Take beans, for example, a staple of frugal cuisine. At a Safeway in Boulder, Colorado, a 15- ounce can of O organic black beans costs $1.05. On the same shelf, a 15-ounce can of Bush's Best black beans will run you $1.39. Down the street at Whole Foods, meanwhile--the store often referred to as Whole Paycheck—the supermarket-label 365 Organics brand black beans cost a measly 99 cents.
Or take pasta, that beloved staple of penny-pinching college students everywhere. A box of Barilla brand conventional pasta sells for $1.79 at the Safeway. But head over to the Whole Foods, and you can buy a bag of 365 Organic pasta for 50 cents less.
Of course, when you think about it, maybe it makes perfect sense that the "regular" stuff costs more. After all, someone's gotta pay for all those toxic chemicals. – by Hillary Rosner
Image credit::excerpted and heavily cropped from WikiMedia
There is often an issue other than price when it comes to organic foods, especially perishables: Quality. More often than not, organic produce is of an inferior condition and quality to that of "normal" produce. The higher prices do not help either.
Food without preservatives has a shorted shelf-life, and might require more careful refrigeration. I expect this is one factor making some organic stuff more expensive.
I've seen products in the UK that are the same price, and sometimes the same product with different packaging (most recently, organic and 'non-'organic fresh orange juice, both had the same production code on the box and were the same price).
While this may be true, yesterday's article in the New York Times, "Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles," shows that it's the exception to the new rule of rising food commodity costs. Article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18organic.html
One also has to weigh in other costs too. (example: Bispehnol-A.) 365 brand canned beans have it. Eden doesn't & Trader Joe's canned beans do not. Cheaper (tho not as convenient) bulk dry beans!
I think this is a comparison of apples to oranges.
If you are comparing store brand organic to other non-organic brands, you should be comparing it to the other store brands.
In the pasta example, non-organic wegmans pasta is 89 cents per pound, which makes it the cheapest selection. (I know this one, as I bought another few pounds of pasta this afternoon)
I don't feel like walking back to the store, but, I believe you could find the same comparison with store brand non-organic, to store brand organic.
Steven
Interesting piece. Regardless of the price it's sad when Americans rather spend money on big trucks and big tvs. When they really should be investing their money in foods that are better for them.
One thing I've found to be the case is that when organic costs more, it often doesn't cost all that much more. The organic pasta at Trader Joe's costs something like 10 cents more than the conventional pasta. You could offset the cost of splurging on organic by sending one less text message...
Buying organic through a farmer's market, CSA, or food co-op can make it a lot more affordable. I hit the farmer's market today and found that prices for most things were competitive with my neighborhood supermarket. I also just joined a local CSA -- I'm paying less than $100 for all the seasonal, local, and organic vegetables I can eat between June and November.
Safeway is an unfair comparison—they jack up their prices higher than everyone else. I once saw O Organics Soy Milk priced at $4.19 (64oz)—the same ridiculous price they charge for Silk here! BTW, I am actually referring to Genaurdi's, which is owned by Safeway, so this might not be true of all Safeway stores. My experience is that their stuff is always overpriced.
Of course the first comment by wolfspirit/steven is correct; 365 Organic beans may be 99¢ but the 'conventional' 365 beans are only either 69¢ or 79¢ (haven't been to a WF in a bit).
Increasingly, as "Big Organics" really gets into the organics game, you can find coupons and other sales just as you can for conventional items. Sometimes a coupon combined with a sale makes an item even cheaper than the 365 house brand at Whole Foods. That said, I've found 365 to be a very good option for reasonably priced organics.
The main issue I have with organic produce, at least at the grocery stores in my hometown, is most of it is wrapped in plastic The "regular" produce isn't, unless it's items like bags of potatoes or onions. I don't mind paying more for organic because it's organic, but I do mind paying more for organic if it's paying for the packaging telling me it's organic.
In areas like mine (Charlottesville, VA) we have no Safeway or Safeway subsidized stores. Nonetheless the majority of people who buy "house" brands are buying them for two reasons. Reason one: They're cheap. Reason two: They're cleared for food stamp use.
Our family relies on food stamps to keep us alive. I know that I'm not the only one. Every parent would love nothing more than to feed our children safe and chemical-free food, but in this state you can't buy organics with food stamps. Trust me, I've tried. With nearly 1/3 of shoppers in VA on food stamps, we can't do anything to support the farmers who grow organics because (we as a whole) literally aren't allowed.
Our Kroger store has a gigantic organics section to choose from (and even better separates the organic fruits and veggies away from the "regular stuff"). The prices are higher on all of the organics, whether they're on sale or not. The difference normally is only 25 cents or so versus the comparable house brand, but when you have to feed 4 kids, you and your husband on $615 a month, you take the cheaper, no matter who you are.
In areas like mine (Charlottesville, VA) we have no Safeway or Safeway subsidized stores. Nonetheless the majority of people who buy "house" brands are buying them for two reasons. Reason one: They're cheap. Reason two: They're cleared for food stamp use.
Our family relies on food stamps to keep us alive. I know that I'm not the only one. Every parent would love nothing more than to feed our children safe and chemical-free food, but in this state you can't buy organics with food stamps. Trust me, I've tried. With nearly 1/3 of shoppers in VA on food stamps, we can't do anything to support the farmers who grow organics because (we as a whole) literally aren't allowed.
Our Kroger store has a gigantic organics section to choose from (and even better separates the organic fruits and veggies away from the "regular stuff"). The prices are higher on all of the organics, whether they're on sale or not. The difference normally is only 25 cents or so versus the comparable house brand, but when you have to feed 4 kids, you and your husband on $615 a month, you take the cheaper, no matter who you are.
So we are all assuming organic food is better for the enviroment then?
This kind of post is what turns people off to environmentalism: a heavy dose of guilt and sanctimony without much useful information. Two examples? If you want this post to convince anyone, try a little harder and make a real list.
Whether organic produce is better quality than conventional depends on where you are buying your organic produce. If you're comparing the shriveled stuff in the organic bins at Safeway to the conventional, of course conventional's going to be better. But think outside the big box and head to the local farmers' market, where the produce is much more attractive than anything you'll ever see in a grocery store, because it was picked within the last 12 hours and has spent very little time on a truck. Also the farmers' market tends to be less expensive than organic in the grocery store, and many farmers' markets will take WIC and food stamps.
Is organic necessarily better for the environment? Yes, especially if it's also locally grown. Conventional food production relies on chemical inputs in the form of fertilizers and pesticides that deplete the soil's natural fertility and, ironically, create more and worse pest problems than doing without. Bugs mutate faster than new chemicals are created, and pesticides kill predator and prey insect species alike - prey species bounce back faster, ultimately creating larger, stronger pest populations. Organic farming practices rebuild soil fertility and work with nature to fight pests. Organic farming practices also tend to promote biodiversity, both of wild native species (butterflies, songbirds) and crop species.
Also - one of the best ways to eat organic cheaply is to learn to cook. Of course Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese is going to be more expensive than Kraft. Stop buying packaged food and learn to make simple vegetable- and grain-based soups, salads and pasta dishes. Save money, save the planet.
Just remember not to feed your baby organic baby food. The exposure to pesticides and other contaminants prove to be harmful to the child.
American Academy of Pediatrics also claim that organic foods are no safer or more nutritious than regular foods
More info @ www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-baby-food
Personally, I buy all my organic products from this company called Holy Food Imports. Although there are a few organic retailers near me, Holy Food Imports provides excellent products at much more reasonable prices.
You can find their website at www.holyfoodimports.com