Geelong's Gym

Have you wanted to buy more organic foods but get put off by the price?

I’m sure you know it’s so much better for your body to eat foods which are produced without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation or bioengineering.

Most of us would like to eat better than we do and we’d love to buy foods that actually taste the way they’re meant to, rather than loaded with chemicals and preservatives.  But the cost of organic food can be seriously off putting.

Organically grown carrots are easy to grow and taste great!

So here are a few tips on how to eat more organically without blowing the budget:

• Buy directly from the farmers – keep your food dollar in the community and cut out the extra costs of delivery etc. which Supermarkets add onto the price.  Try somewhere like Aussie Farmers Direct and they’ll even deliver directly to your door!
• Know which foods you should definitely buy organic (known as The Dirty Dozen) and which foods you don’t need to buy organic.
• Create a weekly menu before you go food shopping and use each organic vegetable in more than one meal, i.e. use broccoli in a stir fry one night and as a side on another night during the week.
• Cut down on the amount of meat you use in a dish (organic meat is very pricey) and replace it with more vegetables.  For example, add spinach and mushrooms to your lasagna and reduce the amount of meat.
• Grow your own veggies and herbs that you use the most – this is seasonal and space related.
• Buy those fruit and veggies which are in season – they have the best flavour anyway and tend to be cheaper than greenhouse grown produce.
• Where possible, buy in bulk – you can always cook up and freeze what you don’t use during the week.
• Pay in cash so you can only spend what you’ve got in your hand.

So here’s to greater health and well-being without breaking the bank!!!