Can
You Afford to Go Organic?
It depends - if you just want to dabble and
kick factory-farmed meat and eggs into touch, hit the supermarkets.
If
you can wean yourself off giant sacks of chicken breasts, you won't break
the bank going for organic mince, bacon and sausages.
If
you're going the full monty, and want everything from your morning toast
to your evening cocoa to be organic, you may struggle to keep your shopping
bill as healthy as your shopping basket.
Cheap
tricks
You may want to venture further afield to specialist delivery schemes
but everyday items like organic tea and tomato ketchup are surprisingly
affordable and available. Look out for good deals like the organic Swedish
meatballs from Safeway. Just as cheap as the regular kind, and if you
don't let on they're organic, the kids will wolf them down as easily as
if they came from a tin!
Counting
the cost
See how we fared with our token organic
shopping basket bought from TescoDirect.
- Bread
Organic white bread 800g: 99p or 12p/100g
White
sliced sandwich loaf 800g: 59p or 7p/100g
- Milk
Tesco organic semi-skimmed 1.136 lt/2pts: 79p or 0.7p/lt
Tesco
pasteurised semi-skimmed 1.136 lt/2 pts: 54p or 0.48p/lt
- Mince
Organic Beef Mince 500g: £2.26
Non-organic
beef mince 500g: £1.15
- Fruit
and Vegetables:
Organic
broccoli 1kg: £2.39
Non-organic
broccoli 1kg: £1.29
4 organic Gala apples: £1.49
4
non-organic Gala apples: 88p
Tesco
organic tomato ketchup 310g: 99p
Tesco
non-organic tomato ketchup 340g: 42p
- Baby
Food
Organic
Vegetables with pasta and pork 125g jar: 54p
Heinz
Pasta Bolognese 125g can: 36p
- Baby
Milk
Hipps
Organic Infant Milk 900g: £6.49
Cow
& Gate 900g: £7.49
- So
the grand total?
Organic: £15.94
Non-organic: £12.72
The difference? £3.22
Good hunting
Good hunting grounds for cheap organic
and or locally produced food are WI markets, farm shops and farmers markets,
City Farms and pick-your-own schemes.
But a word of caution: the Observer
newspaper recently uncovered a massive scam in America where technically
'organic' food was being produced in just as cruel and industrial conditions
as factory-farmed meat and veg.
If in doubt, call the Soil Association or ring
the manufacturer and grill them about their welfare and production methods.
Disclaimer While every effort has been taken
to ensure accuracy at time of publication, this information may be subject
to change.
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