Paying extra for organic, free range, etc?

Options
dfwo
dfwo Posts: 6
in Food and Nutrition
What do you feel is worth paying extra for at the supermarket?
«13

Replies

  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
    Options
    No.

    Although free range eggs do taste better.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Options
    Nothing.
  • camelid2
    camelid2 Posts: 53 Member
    Options
    I've always wanted to avoid paying for "labels", but have really starting to rethink if this is paying for the label or extra effort and a better product. Meats, the "dirty dozen" of produce, cheese, and a few other things are what I've ended up shelling out the extra money for at the store. I would love to do more, but there is only so far the budget will stretch. I also tend to like to find local vendors and will pay a little more so that I can have a slightly better product and help support somebody that is literally around the corner! :laugh:
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
    Options
    I guess it would depend..on a recent trip to the local farmers market the Amish now have a sign on their booth that proclaimed "organically grown" and jacked up the prices from the previous visits. I had to laugh as it was grown in the same cow dung in the week before but somehow now it is so much better for you
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    Options
    agree with no here.
  • rvagnoni
    rvagnoni Posts: 75 Member
    Options
    *
  • cliprunner
    cliprunner Posts: 19
    Options
    No.

    Although free range eggs do taste better.

    I agree about the eggs. We have chickens that are free range and the color and taste are much better than store eggs. I cringe when I have to buy eggs at the store:sad:
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    Options
    Depends on how gimicky it is. Organic oranges are gimick because you remove all the pesticide residue when you peel it. Organic apples, though, are another story, and I have noticed a difference in taste and quality. I also prefer to buy my eggs free range because I feel bad for the chickens (even though "cage-free" doesn't mean "happy and frolicky in the grass" in most places).

    Short version is, I am willing to pay more if I get better quality for it.
  • ixap
    ixap Posts: 675 Member
    Options
    For eggs, dairy, and meats I will buy as free range / etc. as possible b/c I'm concerned about animal welfare, and I think it's probably healthier.

    For fruits and veggies, I buy organic for the "dirty dozen."
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,676 Member
    Options
    At the supermarkets, I am not convinced about their offerings of organic.
    However, I try to buy at the farmer's markets, local stands.
    I just buy the highest quality chicken I can, not always organic.
    I try to keep a stock of locally grown (a local private farm) beef.
  • anacsitham5
    anacsitham5 Posts: 814 Member
    Options
    I actually buy grass fed, free range beefalo once a year. It tastes better and it's nice to know that it isn't loaded with pink slime or other chemicals. Last year I bought a quarter, I will have to get a half this year as I ran out of some of the cuts. It was $3.70/lb. With that you get all cuts of beef. It's cheaper than buying it in the store and it's locally raised.
  • littlehedgy
    littlehedgy Posts: 192 Member
    Options
    If I wasn't poor I would buy locally raised meat. I feel better about it, not necessarily morally which sounds awful, but because I get really freaked out about meat. I also like organic tomatoes more than normal tomatoes. But not enough to shell out the dough right now.
  • Glasgow_Vegan
    Glasgow_Vegan Posts: 209 Member
    Options
    It's mostly for the sake of the environment and animals. It's definitely worth it if you consume meat, poultry and dairy. Especially eggs.

    I don't usually eat organic but I know it's better.
  • quill16
    quill16 Posts: 373 Member
    Options
    I normally don't buy specifically organic, but if the cost is close enough I buy a few things. I grow my own veggies in the garden and do not buy packaged goods. I make all my meals from scratch.
  • dfwo
    dfwo Posts: 6
    Options
    the "dirty dozen"?
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    Options
    No.

    Although free range eggs do taste better.

    ^This^ and organic coffee beans too. Chicken & beef too!
  • needamulligan
    needamulligan Posts: 558 Member
    Options
    Eggs. When my kids were little, I bought hormone free milk and meat.
  • gabrielled
    gabrielled Posts: 247 Member
    Options
    What do you feel is worth paying extra for at the supermarket?

    Store bought eggs are two or three weeks old. Find a local who will sell you eggs, at just a fraction more. Or if you have the room, consider a small flock. You can always raise some for meat too.

    Everything else I try to buy from local farmers and ranchers. If you are into beef, you can find someone who will go in with you to buy half a grass fed and finished cow. Much better for you. Pork? Ehh. If you really gotta, buy from a 4-H or FFA kid. I avoid pork as much as I can, but baaaacoooon. Yum.
  • gabrielled
    gabrielled Posts: 247 Member
    Options
    the "dirty dozen"?

    http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
  • m_wilh
    m_wilh Posts: 362 Member
    Options
    I purchase free range eggs from a friend who charges $2 a dozen (not much more than the regular supermarket). I buy 6 dozen at a time. I buy all my veggies at the local farmer's market and I buy organic beef from a local farmer. The hamburger isn't much more than what I see at the grocery store and is a much better quality of meat. I can't find free range chickens that I can actually afford though so I buy poultry at the supermarket. If I could find free range poultry for a reasonable price, I'd do that too. Everyone talks about how expensive organic is (and it is pricier) but if everyone would stop eating the processed junk on the shelf and start eating clean, the price would come down and we'd see a much healthier nation of people.

    However, I realize that many (especially with the American economy the way it is) purchase the cheapest foods possible to keep their families fed and they just do the best they can do. Personally, when I quit buying all the bagged chips, cookies, soft drinks, boxed cereals, etc., it freed up more money to purchase the healthier items. My grocery budget really hasn't gone up that much.

Categories