What are your must have organics?

[Purple*Lotus]

My doctor wants me eating as organic as possible with the goal of having me eliminate animal products.

Money is an issue here. I simply can not afford to go all organic although I have sincerly tried.

So I wanted to ask what your "Must be Organic" list is. I already get organic versions of "The Dirty Dozen" so that is good. I eat red meat rarely and it is raised on my Aunt and Uncle's farm, grass fed, no hormones administered and they only raise 20 cows a year, so I figure that is as organic as I am going to get.

What are your others? Is regular peanut butter worse off than organic? That kind of thing.

Also organic on a budget tips are appreciated as well

[dogmom327]

I have to make this quick but it sounds like you have a fantastic beef source so stick with that. Animal products in general are really important to get organic if at all possible as well as any food that's heavily treated (like peanuts--definitely stick with organic peanut butter).

Ultimately you can likely save money by just knowing a lot about where your food is from rather than focusing on the "organic" label. Almost all our food is organic--but most isn't certified--that would be too expensive. We get veggies from a CSA that uses organic practices but isn't certified. We get our meat from the same type of source you have. We get our raw cheese from a supplier where organic practices are used but again, they aren't certified.

Another money saving tip: do you have any co-ops/buying clubs in your area? Like UNFI or Azure Standard? That has really helped my budget.

We also don't eat out and I make a lot of stuff myself.

[JoyMC]

DEFINITELY organic dairy products (or organic-practices, like Dogmom said). why does your doctor want you to eliminate animal products?

there are quite a lot of good blogs with recipes and tips if you google frugal/organic/thrifty/whole foods, etc. here are a couple i like:

http://www.organicthrifty.com/
http://frugalgranola.blogspot.com/
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/

and this is a GREAT article on Going Organic on a Budget: http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-...anic-550324501

[Princess ConsuelaB]

We don't waver on potatoes, green veggies, tree fruit, berries, eggs, milk, yogurt or peanut butter/jelly. That's all I can afford to do, the rest I will buy organic if I see a very good deal, otherwise I buy conventional. I can't afford to buy "good" meat so I just buy less of it.

[staceychev]

Dairy, definitely
The Dirty Dozen, esp. apples, berries, bell peppers
Potatoes and onions--things from the ground--are they dirty dozen, too?
Almond butter
Tortilla chips, more to prevent GMO than for the actual pesticides

I buy most of our meat at Whole Foods. Not organic, but I'm just more comfortable with it. When it gets too pricey, I opt for less meat, rather than lowering the quality.

[HollyBearsMom]

For us it is:
any fruit or veggies where you eat skin
eggs
meats
dairy

Often though I will choose local over imported organic. I will eat convential cheese and other dairy foods from the local farm up the street, same with eggs from neighbors free range but standard-fed chickens.

I am sure there is no scientific proof but food that travels less seems to taste better to me. My neighbors blue hen eggs are so fresh and so totally "eggy" with incredibly bright yellow yolks. The organic ones at WF that travelled across 2 states just dont taste as good....

[dogmom327]

There are also things for which it doesn't matter. For example, avocados and onions have almost non-existed pesticide rankings (they are at the bottom of the larger list that the dirty dozen is part of). If organic is the same price as conventional, I'll buy the organic (since it is important to support organic farms and we vote with our money) but honestly, I'm not spending extra money to buy organic for those items because it doesn't make a difference for our health.

[LeighB]

Originally Posted by Princess ConsuelaB

We don't waver on potatoes, green veggies, tree fruit, berries, eggs, milk, yogurt or peanut butter/jelly. That's all I can afford to do, the rest I will buy organic if I see a very good deal, otherwise I buy conventional. I can't afford to buy "good" meat so I just buy less of it.

Yep. This is basically what I do, just add tomatoes and carrots to that.

[Purple*Lotus]

Thanks ladies

My doctor thinks that animal products caused me to go temporarily blind. I try but it is hard to eliminate dairy from my diet.

[be11ydancer]

Is there a close-out style grocery store anywhere near you? I found out about a grocery store in the next town over from us that sells overstock, discount, damaged, about to expire, and from places going out of business. I think they must get a lot from natural food stores because they always have the best assortment of mega cheap organics. I can fill my cart for about $60. 25 cent org yogurt, cases of org pears, $1 farm fresh eggs, etc. The stock is constantly changing so sometimes they don't have the essentials. These stores are getting more popular so maybe you can find one near you. Good luck.