One of the arguments I’ve heard over the years is, I can’t afford to buy healthy food. However, with disease rates skyrocketing as a result of decades of unchecked, unhealthy food consumption, it’s cliché... but I’d say you can’t afford not too.
As I’ve relayed in earlier posts, my diet consists mostly of fruits and veggies, the majority of which come from the farmers market and semi-weekly deliveries of a produce box full of goodies from local farms. Packaged goods are also a necessity in my house though, especially with a hungry spouse and growing tween. The goal is to make sure what packaged goods we are eating are organic/non-GMO as much as possible and are not highly processed, filled with chemicals/preservatives, dyes, etc.
These products ARE going to be more expensive, but it’s possible to to purchase them and not break the bank.
Eating a consistently healthy diet doesn’t need to be outrageously expensive. As I mentioned, a truly health-giving, nutritious diet is definitely going to be more expensive than a cheap, health-sucking, nutritionally void diet. But over the years I’ve learned some helpful tricks about how to shop and where to shop that I’m eager to share.
In case you were wondering, I have received no compensation or anything like that from any of the companies mentioned below. As always, just trying to pass on what I’ve learned.
WHOLE FOODS (especially with Prime discount) - For numerous reasons, I am hesitant to promote Amazon-owned Whole Foods, especially over the neighborhood co-op store, but since we are talking about getting healthy food on a budget, I can’t ignore it. Whole Foods was famously dubbed “Whole Paycheck” for many years due to it’s not so affordable pricing, but ever since Amazon took over Whole Foods in 2017, it’s much easier to find really great deals there.
Their 365 house brand has tons of organic items at very reasonable prices. There are often really good sales on things like organic berries and other organic produce, sockeye salmon, and kombucha, to name a few. And if you are an Amazon Prime member you get an extra 10% off sale prices - note that you do have to have a smartphone and scan the barcode in a specific Whole Foods app in order to get this added discount.
COSTCO - I can’t speak for the other warehouse/bulk style stores (though I’ve heard many of them are similar situations), but I’ve had amazing success in recent years at Costco. They have incredible prices on many things that are staples for my family, including nut butters, frozen and fresh fruit and vegetables, organic honey, organic chicken and grass fed beef, gluten free pasta, raw nuts, olive oil, tuna/sardines, organic hummus, organic gluten free crackers, and more.
I do face a bit of a conflict of interest here, however, being that I fancy myself a minimalist and most of what I buy there comes in bulk, but I’ve learned to solve this problem by making a dedicated pantry overflow space - under my bed! One minimalist approved advantage of buying in bulk is often when we are out of something I only have to go as far as my bedroom to get more, instead of having to add another errand to my schedule.
Costco does have a $60 membership fee, but between the items listed above + their ridiculously low prices on other necessary things like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I easily make this up within the first quarter every year.
THRIVE MARKET - Thrive is an online website that boasts “top-selling, organic brands at wholesale prices.” They really do have great prices on a huge variety of non-perishable organic goods and make it easy to find products that will fit with your lifestyle by allowing you to search by “gluten free,” “vegan,” etc.
They do have an annual membership fee of $59.95, so you’d have to make sure you would use it enough to make it worth it. That being said, if you live in an area where there aren’t a lot of (or any) nearby organic stores to physically go shop at, Thrive is a great way to still be able to get healthier packaged goods, delivered to your door. Check it out at thrivemarket.com.
BULK AISLES - When I go to the non-corporate health food stores, I love to hit up the bulk aisles. Non-corporate/independent stores like co-ops are naturally going to be more expensive for many items, but it’s SO important to support them. The bulk aisle is the best of both worlds because the best prices can be found there - and many of the bulk foods are also the least processed. I like to get things like dried beans, dried fruits, raw nuts, seeds, nutritional yeast, and gluten free oats, among other things, in the bulk aisle.
For many people, being able to consistently buy organic products is just not possible, and while I wish that wasn’t the case, I do understand that. If only our society allowed the healthy food to be cheap and accessible to everyone instead of that only being the case for the unhealthy food - but that is not our reality. My advice is to simply do the best you can. The first priority is bringing as many organic fruits and veggies into your home as you are able to, then add organic products as you are able. The more fruits and veggies you can buy, the more they crowd out the other stuff anyway.
I hope you picked up some helpful tips here today. I would love for you to share some tips of your own with me too!
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
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