where should i shop?

[zzmmmommy]

Hi, I am beginning to transition my family from regular to organic- I have started with milk, yogurt, chicken, meets and some cheese products. However, I have 4 kids with very hearty appetites and this is getting expensive. Does anyone have any suggestions where the best place to purchase organic meets, poultry and milk would be? I live near the following:
costco, target, walmart, publix or whole foods

I would appreciate the suggestions!

[strivingmom]

Originally Posted by zzmmmommy

Hi, I am beginning to transition my family from regular to organic- I have started with milk, yogurt, chicken, meets and some cheese products. However, I have 4 kids with very hearty appetites and this is getting expensive. Does anyone have any suggestions where the best place to purchase organic meets, poultry and milk would be? I live near the following:
costco, target, walmart, publix or whole foods

I would appreciate the suggestions!

I'm not really answering your question completely but I hope my suggestions help. Yogurt I say make your own with organic milk and you will save a lot of moola you can check my blog I have a link to where I got my yogurt recipe. I would seriously consider growing your own organic veggies.

I basically pick and choose my battles because I too have a large family and can not afford to buy all organic. However if you do want to buy all organic I would shop at different places.

Costco I get:
Organic Spring mix 4 bucks for a large container
Organic whole chicken but I never buy it so I'm not sure of the cost
Organic Peanut butter purchased there is much less than anywhere else I've seen.
Real Maple syrup if I don't make my own fako stuff
Organic coffee can be purchased there
Organic yogurt there is about 12 in the case...I forget the brand but it's a popular one I think it's $10.00 for the case
There is organic chicken nuggets too...just saw some the other day.
They have Kashi cereal etc...

Eggs and organic fruits and veggies your local farmers markets. Also research online for organic local farmers.

Whole foods may be the most expensive option

I got a book from the library a while back that explained what organic means and different labels and comparing things to natural and just regular foods etc...I can't remember the name of it sorry but it helped me in deciding what I really want to make sure if organic and how important it may or may not be. You can also choose natural foods or just make sure your food does not contain certain ingredients that you are against.

I hope this helped and made sense.

[jtjohns]

Have you looked at the meat case in your supermarket for mark-downs (typically items that are about to hit the sell-by date)? As long as you're freezing or cooking it the same day, you shouldn't run into any problems. It's hit-or-miss in that you never know what you'll find, but I can usually save 30% to 50% off the regular price of natural/organic meats.

~JJ

[kristen.c]

It took me a few months of buying organic to figure out where exactly I was getting the best deals. I would consider getting a little notebook and writing down some prices of meat, dairy, and maybe a few other staples at each store you go to just so you don't have to remember what you found where. In my area there is an entire gaggle of different supermarkets, so sometimes I would think that it was Safeway that had the best regular price on organic pork when in actuality it was Weis market.

After doing this awhile, I've honed in on where the best deals are for what we purchase. My "regular" routine includes a trip to Costco- like Strivingmom said, they have a great selection of organics, and a lot of those items are cheaper than I can get elsewhere with coupons. In addition to Costco, I also make a run to Trader Joe's and a locally owned natural grocer called My Organic Market. It's about 7-9 miles to get to those stores and about a 15 minute drive from where I live.

I have a string of grocery stores that are just down the road from me that are much closer- within 1-2 miles- and much more convenient for me to get to. However, I know that if I do a regular shopping trip at each of those I'm going to pay more (for lesser quality items) than if I travel a little ways to the other stores. I do know which one of the close stores I can get the best deal on organic milk, or other items that I might run out of so if that happens I don't have to drive the 9 miles to the organic market which is usually where I buy my milk. About twice a month I'll do a quick shop at one of the closer supermarkets for a few things- if they're having a triples event, a sale on tissues, orange juice, or another product that I don't usually buy at the natural grocers. If I have time I usually swing by their organic sections and check and see if they've raised or lowered prices on any of the organic products, so I can update my information. Once every couple of months I'll go to one of the other natural grocers in the area to "coupon shop" and collect a few Delicious Living magazines, Healthy Clippings booklets, or get a few coupons from the different tearpads that they have up in the stores. I know that these stores area overpriced from my usual place, so I only go there for the coupon variety. I'll plan ahead by looking at their sale flyer and see what I can purchase that's a better deal than what I can get where I normally shop, or plan to get a product that I know my regular store doesn't carry. Some people might not have any qualms about going in just for coupons, but I figure if I'm going all that way I may as well find a deal too.

Just like regular coupon shopping, it will take a little while to find your stride, and when you finally do you'll be able to spend less time planning trips and organizing your list/menu plan.

Hope that helps!

[OHeather]

One thing that you can take advantage of, since you don't buy all organics, is the cereal deals going on now. Some stores are having deals where if you buy 4 of a certain cereal, you get a FREE milk catalina. Then you can use that catalina on organic milk.

I would also suggest that you try to find or trade for some rebates. When you have a $15 rebate for buying $15+ in chicken etc., then I would buy organic chicken.

Walmart is the cheapest place I think to buy dairy--at least yogurt that I know of. My friend buys the Stonyfield Oikos there for ~$.50 after coupon. Milk seems to be cheaper there too, although I don't buy any milk anymore so I wouldn't take my word on it. (And I don't have a Costco or Publix for a reference).

HTH