Let’s discuss buying organics on a budget as cancer fighting foods. More and more people are awakening to the high antioxidant foods as the best cancer fighting foods to make the mainstay of an anti-cancer diet. They are also beginning to think more seriously about toxins in foods from pesticide residue build up and consequently, the need to eat organic food where possible.
The spread of organic food stores is slowly growing. You can find a health food store with organic grocery products in most major Australian shopping centres. Equally you will find more organic shops selling organic fruit and vegetables in more suburban area. Most organic products are much more expensive and so it is clearly difficult to totally eat organics on a budget.
Another cost is time. You need to be on the lookout everywhere for clues as to where you can find organic food products that are reasonably priced and can fit within your budget that you can believe are really free of pesticides.
Organic Fruit and Vegetables for Organics on a Budget.
It’s hard to know if produce sold as organic fruit and vegetables are really organically grown without the use of pesticides. You will feel the need to assess and question every vendor when you are paying dearly for their produce.
Farmers Markets usually offer a range of vendors offering produce that is claimed to be organic or at least grown without the use of pesticides.
For organic fruits and vegetable produce, use a variety of Farmers Markets and question the vendors. Find out if the vendor is the grower. Ask about their pesticide control practices. Get to know them and assess their level of integrity. Then you will know if you can trust them enough to buy regularly from them and get the genuine pesticide-free fruit and vegetables.
Buy organic grocery Products online to get Organics on A Budget.
The cost of real estate in prime retailing locations throughout Australia is astronomical and makes up a large portion of the end price for all food products sold there. Many of these storefront retailers also sell online but at the same retail prices.
Look for direct to the public online sellers, often they are wholesalers that also sell direct to the public. Many of these businesses operate from a warehouse in an industrial area and so their premises cost is significantly lower allowing them to be profitable at lower margins. So, you can often buy the same or similar products, with the convenience of home delivery at a price that’s much better for your budget.
Organic Grocery Products and Organics on A Budget
You can focus on products that are certified organic by independent accredited assessors as a strategy to get truly organic products. However, the organic certification industry adds a significant cost to the products. Also, the certifiers really only turn up at their premises rarely and periodically and so realistically, any kind of ingredients can be used on over 95% of the time when they are not supervised. So again, it’s really about the integrity of the supplier. You are left wondering about that. Yet still paying through the nose for that certification logo on the product label.
Many Australian organic food manufacturers have actually given up on organic certification because of the high cost and wide recognition of its low integrity. Serious food brands recognise that consumers will probably be more likely to trust their brand than the organic certification logo. These businesses are already used to their own HACCP controlled manufacturing which is a major quality control system. They also recognise that consumers are aware that most Australian food brands are manufacturing under HACCP controlled environments and all are scrutinised by the Australian Food Authority.
If your trusted brand says its organic, then maybe you don’t want to pay extra for an independent certification.
So my advice is to focus on properly packaged grocery products that are labelled as Organic from long established Trusted brands that manufacture under HACCP conditions whether or not they have a certified organic logo.
Focus on Foods that are high in antioxidants and Organic
Eating organic is just one part of the equation. Cancer Fighting Foods are those that are high in Antioxidants and particularly the right kinds of Antioxidants that give you a better boost to your immune system. These are not only available from fresh fruits and vegetables but also from seeds or powdered forms of these super-foods.
Important super foods such as Linseed (Often called Flax seed), Chia Seeds, Hemp Seeds, Black Sesame Seeds, Pepitas, Bee Pollen, Sunflower Kernels as well as a range of vegetable and fruit powders like Acai Berry, Matcha Tea etc. can be purchased online direct.
Keep in mind Important wholegrain breakfast cereals like organic rolled oats and organic Granola that use these ingredients. These are all healthy organic foods that you can keep handy in your pantry.
Carefully Choose Other foods With The Least Pesticides.
The whole reason to eat organic foods is to avoid pesticide residues. Some foods are not able to be sold as organic but are grown without the use of pesticides. A good example of this is Almonde brand Almonds. Almonds are a wonderful food and nutrient source. Almonde focuses on distributing almonds from growers that are on the long road to organic certification and so are growing nuts without the use of insecticides. They are not yet able to be certified organic but are known to be grown insecticide free.
Raw honey is another example. Bees gather honey from about a 6k radius. If the hives are near crops or orchards, then it is probably not insecticide free. However wild raw honey from hives deliberately positioned in Australia’s vast eucalyptus forests, probable are insecticide free. Visit the manufacturers’ website and read their statements.
Another great tool for this strategy is the list of fruit and vegetable test results for pesticides by the USDA. From these results you can get lists of both foods with the most and those foods with the least pesticide residues.
If you think about this, you can translate this to Australian conditions. That is because it’s really a guide to which crops are more naturally resistant to pests and so need less of the pesticides used to grow them commercially.
On the top of the list of foods tested to have the least pesticide residues for example is Avocados. Organic Avocados are very expensive. So, when your budget can not afford to eat totally organic foods then choose Avocados as one of the fresh produce items. Or other produce from this list linked above.
Summary Strategies to Eat Organics On A Budget
- For organic fresh produce, use Farmers Markets and question the vendors. Find out if the vendor actually is the grower. Ask about their pesticide control practices. Get to know them and assess their level of integrity.
- . Vary the fruit and vegetable types and sources to spread the risk of getting pesticides.
- Buy organic food online direct, particularly dry goods and groceries to find the best price and avoid retailers who are forced to pay through the nose for high premises rent.
- Eat more packaged organic Grocery foods that are properly labelled from well-established reliable brands. ( Even if they are not Certified organic)
- Eat foods high in Antioxidants as well as Organic.
- Carefully choose the products to buy that are not organic: –
(A) Eat more fruit and vegetables from the list of fresh produce with the least levels of pesticide residues,
(B) Eat less fruit and vegetables from the list of fresh produce with the MOST levels of pesticide residues from the above link.