Can I eat a mostly raw, somewhat organic, vegan diet on the cheap?
Queen Turnip,
Lately I’ve been really driven to try a bunch of new alternative therapies. Why? Because I’m a health junkie and a writer. I want first-hand experience, not recycled articles with agendas. This past month I had a little downtime so I decided to give oxygen treatments a whirl. I had been reading about their benefits for years, saved some money from my speaking gigs, and dove head first into goodness and madness.
Recently, several comments regarding the cost of a healthy lifestyle have stuck in my mind. Forget my out-of-the-box treatments; the main problem is the raw, vegan, organic diet, and all the goodie-boosters that go with it. It’s expensive! Some folks get really miffed at me for promoting this way of living – if they can’t afford it then I shouldn’t write about it. Now that’s not fair or constructive. My point is to address problems and find solutions. But clearly I have more work to do.
Our system is broken and it makes me angry. I promise to do my part in a more constructive, inclusive way – or at least to try. In these times we all need to dig as deep as we possibly can to find and share cost effective ways to improve health, spiritual wealth and happiness. Will I always succeed? Will you? NO WAY. Bottom line: It’s cheap to get sick and expensive to be healthy. Integrative medicine should be covered by insurance. Insurance should be affordable. Advertisers should be more responsible. Your doctor should know more about nutrition – and so should you/me/us. I want to “eat my veggies and shake my ass” but I don’t want it to break my bank. Since my diagnoses I have spent most of my money on chow. How about a vacation? Or better yet, some home repair and my credit card debt!
Listen up Mr. Obama (who I love and crush on), if you really want to bring the troops home in the war on cancer (and other dis-eases), don’t just focus on new drugs. Get uber serious about how you’re gonna’ spend the money allocated for “prevention”. Seek advise the RIGHT people. If one more nutritionist tells me to boil my skinless chicken I’m gonna’ snap! We’re wasting tons of cash chasing our tails. Bring me on board, Mr. Prez, I’d be happy to sit down over a green drink and give you some pointers. :)
But I digress…
A vegan, mostly raw, organic lifestyle costs more than McDonalds – or so we think. It’s pricey because it’s not subsidized! The costs of a fast-food, nutrient-deficient diet are hidden. That burger may be 99 cents today, but its cost to your health and the health of the planet down the road are huge. Kids are fat and loaded with diabetes in our country. Cancer is a shit pickle that you don’t want to find yourself in and yet it’s cheaper to follow a lifestyle that promotes it. The poorest countries in the world struggle with infection – we come a long – westernize their diets – BAM – stroke. Heart disease is virtually non-existent where indigenous diets of rice and beans are king.
Good foods, on the other hand, may cost more now, but in the big picture, they’re actually a bargain… But of course that doesn’t solve the elitist problem right now for someone trying to get through a busy day. Add superfoods, supplements, potions, powders, raw snacks and forget it.
So I’m gonna challenge myself to be thrifty. This morning I downloaded McDonald’s menu but there were no prices so I called the location of the nearest drive-through feeding trough. Here’s a sample of what I thought an average day would look like if I ate this way:
Breakfast:
* Egg McMuffin – $2.40 * Medium OJ – $1.70 * Large Coffee – $1.50
Lunch:
* Big Mac – $3.80 *Medium Fries – $1.55 *Medium Ice tea – $1.40
Dinner:
* Premium Salad with chicken – $4.95 *Oatmeal raisin cookies – $1 * Medium Coke – $1.40
Total: $19.70
I can certainly eat healthy for $19.70 per day but not if I don’t make it myself! How about $10? $5? Not if I jam the juice.
Join me. Save your receipts, blog about your experience. Be honest and be healthy. Ramen noodles and ketchup don’t cut it. I know that I can slice my food bill by buying a combo of organic (for the 12 most sprayed) and conventional fruits/veggies, bulk grains etc. I’ve written about this stuff many times but have I ever REALLY tried to limit myself? What about the staples I’ve stocked? You know the oils, Braggs, hemp seeds, dulse, spices, nut butters, etc. Do I start from scratch or can I average that stuff in? Hmmm. As many of you know, the big $$$ gets laid out in the beginning. Once we stock the basics it’s easier to save do re mi.
How do you cut costs and live this lifestyle on the cheap?
PLEASE share. Let this blog be a solution and not a bitch fest.
Peace & coupons,
Kris
74 Comments
Great ideas, Kris. I’d love to have some meal plans for going raw, aligned to what folks grow in their gardens. I’m sure that matching meal plans with succession gardening is the way to go (e.g., starting a row of lettuce every three days so you don’t have it all come in at the same time). And for those in colder climates, you can grow ALOT in a cold frame!
I feel like I am commenting a little late, but I have a couple cost saving tips. This is for medicine though for those of us greenies who still have to listen to the doc and take some drugs too. For perscriptions: shop around. One friend was charged over $500 for Tamoxifin at one pharmacy and $24 at her grocery store. The other tip is to ask your doctor for samples. My perscription was costing me $100 a month and my doctor gave me a 1 month sample. I don’t think she realized it was like handing me a $100 bill. Now they know I am willing to accept samples whenever they get them in.
Hope this helps someone
In jamaica we go to the market,which is like u guys farmers market,much cheaper…..Eat whats in season and buy only what u need as fresh spoils fast.
I`m fighting the fight with you girl
cancersurvivorx2.blogspot.com
I am not going to repeat the many suggestions already posted. One of the things that is difficult for our family is that we are fairly rural, and we lack a “big name” organic market which usually helps offset prices since they can purchase in higher quantities. So yesterday, when I laid down $17.21CAN for 3 cups of cashews it brought this blog to mind. The same amount of non organic nuts at my market would have cost $6.57CAN
Gayla Trail (yougrowgirl.com) could be an awesome CSL Gardening Goddess.
I second the Costco suggestion. I know some may not like it for not being local, but for cheap organic it is the best option. Organic blueberries are twice the quantity and still cheaper than WF (and the EXACT same brand). Costco also has a HUGE box of organic spinach/lettuces that is very cheap. Second suggestion, many farmers markets discount substantially (25-50%) during the last 1/2 hour or so because they need to get rid of the produce. Early bird gets the worm, but the late bird saves a bit.
Here is what I have found.
A.) buy organic foods somewhere that the food comes in fresh daily. We only have Fresh Market here but what I buy there for two weeks. For 50.00 I can make last two weeks because it is fresh.
2.) foods stay fresh longer if packaged right. In the real world I cannot buy fresh greens daily. But I can come home package them in green bags with paper towels between each leaf (yes it is a lot of paper) and they will stay bright green and happy for about a week and a half if I change the toweling if they get damp.. make sure all greens are dry when packing.
4.) call you local farmers market or grocery provider wholesaler and get a friend to go in with you on a bulk load of fruits and veggies more folks in the mix the more often and cheaper you can shop.. and if one person doesn’t like grapes and all the others do her 50 cents helps you and you buy something you dont like for her. Just let whoever like the veggies take them.
5.) if Duncan and I ate out we would spend 30 dollars a day. As opposed to 50.00 every two weeks on our veggies and then 50.00 on our juicing supplies.. that allows us to budget for smoothie ingrediants, cacoa, and tasty oils and herbs..
6.) collect reciepe that you see because if you get bored you will go for the burger. And that will blow all your good work.
7.) start small if you work a detox plan you are beginning and by the end your pantry will reflect your new life.
I love this life. All I have done is leave the meat out. Duncan eats meat, and cheese and milks so that is not in this plan. It is not that hard if you plan the week and buy accordingly.
Kris thanks for considering all the options. And thanks for caring about the issues. I like you want to wring a neck everytime someone says go to weight watchers to get healthy………..what…………………………… or buy pre packaged food to lose wieght. You can eat all day and never meet the calorie intake of one big mac on this plan… so eat healthy.. love ya.. Prevention and Prep.. is key. Callie
Oh and huge hint if you go and talk to you folks at your farmers market.. and tell them what you are doing and you will pick up and cart off everything they dont sell that weekend and give it to your cancer posse, many will give it to you because they cannot sell it after the weekend in the sun and it takes money to load it back up and truck it back home. Keep asking some will and some wont be we have tons of food here at the mission that is donated that way.. you may have to throw out some not so perfect little things.. but sooooooo it is free and plentiful just ask and you may just receive. hugs callie
These are the sites/people I turn to for gardening tips:
Patti Moreno (urban gardener/plenty of informative videos) http://www.gardengirltv.com/
Family bring back victory gardens and a whole lot more:
http://www.pathtofreedom.com/
Eliot Coleman
Provides information about 4 season gardening:
http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/
Let’s do this!
My method of controlling the cost is that I plan every single meal before hand, and make a shopping list for those exact items I need for a few meals. I do not waste or let anything spoil. I don’t clip coupons either, because I’ve noticed that coupons are geared towards buying more than one item for a few cents less. If I use that particular item often, its justified. If I don’t, than its “bullshit spending.” I comparison shop and phone around for things that I use a lot to see if I can get a bulk rate (like grains or other random items). Also, like other women have mentioned, I grow my own herbs.
Reality though, I cut back my spending on entertainment and nights out to pay for focusing on my health…in the end, I’ll have that with me longer than a bottle of nail polish, tube of expensive lipstick, or $150 jeans.
Great blog post on gardening with no yard:
http://littlegirlbigvoice.com/2009/02/28/v-is-for-victory/
We at the missions have a community garden and those who work get to share.. if you have a piece of land that can be a blessing plant.. if you have friends you trust and a good system share those victory gardens and plant for a few families with everyone helping we have also taking the idea of a community garden into the poorest areas here and we are all planting.. so that everyone can try if they want to eat better.. working together can really cut cost and add up and a lot of feed and seed placed with help with extra seed if you are making community gardens for a little word of mouth and advertising. I love the gardens.. hugs. callie
i just found your blog and it is wonderful and i ordered your book. i was diagnosed 3 months ago with stage IV breast cancer at 33, so thank you for such an amazing resource. the big challenge besides money for me -having the engery to cook good, organic, healthy meals every day. my medicine makes me completely exhausted every day, so after work, it just doesnt’ always happen in the kitchen.
The government just passed(3-20-09) a bill that will make it easier for genetically altered seeds to basically do away with traditional farming. These seeds spread to normal fields and render the seeds worthless because they can not be used again because they make the nongenetically altered seeds unable to reproduce. Our liberties are being taken away every day and your hope in Obama is truely a mistake. Ron Paul 2012!!!!!!!!!!
Even if you are paying more isn’t it an investment in your future? Pay more now for healthy foods, pay less in medications for diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol drugs later.
Here’s a few of the things I do to stretch my budget.
First I think simple, and raw.
The last half of the month is hardest for me, here’s what I was doing this last week:
1. I wanted to have green smoothies, enough to have a cupful before my meals.
2. Start with 2 or 3 bananas, add juice of 1/2 lemon, about 5 sprigs each of parsley and cilantro, two stalks celery, 1/2 cucumber, 4-6 leaves of romaine.
3. I vary this sometimes by adding things like: 1/2 apple, flax seeds, alfalfa tablets (4-6) powdered vitamin C, vitamin D tablets, a days worth (I hate to swallow lots of pills) sometimes 1 spoonful of spirulina, 1 T. whole rolled oats (uncooked) 1 small potato raw. These are optional and I vary things day to day, even using brown rice protein 1 T. on some days.
4. I clean greens when I bring them home, let them drain and wrap with paper towel. I lay the parsley/cilantro bunches out on 2 sheets of PT and make a roll, they keep up to two weeks.
5. I use a citrus veg. cleaner to remove petrol smell, and greasy coating on various produce.
6. Buy the bananas, most standard greens, avocados, broccoli, carrots, etc. at Costco. Once I tried the box of mashed avocado/guacamole, that had 4 bags, and the equivalent of 14 avocados, for around 7 dollars, it was a bit less than fresh, and at a time when I had found a few black avocados. Costco’s pre-mashed avocados do have some garlic, and citric acid.
7. I find having the smoothie up to three times a day helps with regularity (sometimes the smoothie becomes like pudding, and I eat with spoon).
8. Or I might use a cup of the smoothie with some diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and sweet onions for a soup. (In which case I’d prefer to use avocado, rather than banana for smoothie).
9. About every fifth day, I make a fruit smoothie, using a cup of berries with the bananas, and only the 1 T. oats, unless I’ve had other grains that day.
10. I have been feeling really good with this combination, and I realize it’s a stage in my development as a raw food person. Once these things become routine for me I’ll change, and try some new ideas. Small steps.
11. When my family takes me out to eat, I box up 2/3 of my dinner (say Thai phad vegetable) and the next two days have a 2 egg Thai phad skillet dish, cooked on very low temp. covered to heat just until eggs set. Slide that out on romaine, or baby greens, top with about 8 cherry tomatoes that are quartered, add some fresh squeezed lemon juice, and there’s my gourmet breakfast!
I feel like it is anyway.
12. It’s all about color. Sometimes I’ll thin slice sweet onion and red/green bell peppers and use a pita or wrap and fill it up add a little lemon, EVOO, sea salt and pepper. I do things like this often, and maybe once a month get into superfood ideas.
13. However I don’t think I’d overdo the nuts. I have limited my intake of nuts for years, by the recommended amounts, and that’s what I am used to.
I have a limited income, there’s so much more that I do to make things stretch, and I use everything. It would sadden me to toss foods that got rotten, and this “life style” RAW, is like a solution!!!
14. I am using a standard blender right now, I think it’s a HB, and it has a tool that I use in the lid to stir the leaves and cut up stalks, etc.
15. I put 2/3 to 3/4 of the smoothie into a mason jar.
16. I just started making sprouts again.
17. At the first of the month I get some bigger, or more exotic fruits and veggies. (Kirkland EVOO, kale, fennel, potatoes, yams, bag of sweet onions, oranges, apples, romaines and celerys in multiple at Costco).
That’s some of where I am right now…
I love this post and all these comments–wow, thanks everyone. In Paris our version of Costco–EDs–begun providing organic options in 07 or 8 and it is AMAZING now: one year later and almost every grocery store has an ever-expanding organic section. Just last week I found a guy running a tiny shop (fair trade and homemade beauty products, etc) and he organizes bulk ordering so now for 12 euros I get a 4 kilo bag weekly. I applaud us all for spending our money in the right ways/places because this is the best way to bring about the changes that are underway. I am so grateful to spend my money on these items and the trend is growing. People are talking (this eggplant has no flavor!)and things are changing (our purchases are bringing the prices of flavor-rich foods down). I am super short on cash also by the way, and even have experienced twinges of class related hostility around New Age beliefs suggesting I’d do XYorZ if I loved myself, as if being poor meant not loving oneself. So I am siked that this topic has been broached and amazed by what a frugal, smart, innovative and CREATIVE crazy sexy bunch we are. There is nothing more political than food and water and I am so grateful to have found people to share secrets with on this path to planetary and personal health. Our creative solutions do take time and effort but it is sso worth it. More and more folks are coming around–for flavor or for health. When I started on my own path of creative solutions years ago I found that just adding a clove of raw garlic, fresh lemon juice and a carrot or something raw was already a huge bolt to health (no colds) and CHEAP. Yeah: Rock on everyone!
I eat all vegan, nearly 100% organic for $4 or $5 a day depending on the month. There is a caveat, and that is I gank most of the really expensive stuff I can’t afford but like to eat (olive oil and mangos mostly). Would probably be $7-$10 a day if you figured everything in.
maybe one day i’ll lose this sense of entitlement and get a job!
nah
peace
Oh.. and raw almonds. DAYAM they are expensive. You think I can afford that!?! I gotta eat!
Just as I always have-before Whole Foods Market, before Trader Joe’s, before Lara Bars, Goji Berries and Organic (Do You remember?); even before going vegan: I shop around for what I like, buy it where it’s cheapest, may it come in bulk (which it usually does) or if it’s going to be tossed because it cannot sell at the going price (you can ask for this at the end of a shift at your CoOp or closing time at the Farmers Market) or if possible grow it on your fire escape or your grandparent’s Victory Garden. Luckily a great, mostly produce (dirt cheap -you are likely best using what you buy there the same or next day), natural gourmet market has opened near me and I can buy most of my produce there. But, I still shop around. I find China Town to be very inexpensive too. There are so many ways. I do find eating raw (and simple) to be less expensive than anything.
I, my partner, our dog and four guinea pigs eat completely vegan and organic food and spend about £50 per week if we’re being careful.
We get a vegetable box delivered to our house (a bit like CSA schemes in the USA), order bulk foods through our local health food shop, and make everything from scratch.
It’s not hard, people who say it’s too expensive are probably shopping in supermarkets looking for organic ready meals or something!
I lost my job a year ago, so my budget has shrunk considerably! Here’s what I do:
Trader Joe’s for goodies like agave nectar, recycled paper products, frozen berries, tempeh, and tortilla chips.
Whole Foods for specialty items like flaxeed, hemp powder, my fave vegan burgers, and vegan makeup.
Market Basket for pretty much everything else. It’s a family owned market that is growing in Mass/NH that has the lowest prices around, especially when I can’t get to the farmers market for fresh produce. They have organic produce, and I get my frozen veggies here too.
Ask your friends if they have a juicer/food processor/blender they aren’t using anymore. I got a $100 juicer for free, almost new!
Good health to all!
Last Spring my husband and I went through a major lifestyle downsize and our income was reduced by nearly 80%.
We are vegan and committed to eating 100% organic and managed to continue to do so with just $80 per week to spend on food for the both of us.
The key was to eat extremely simply and make everything from scratch. Yes it got boring and we were sick of salad and tofu or salad and beans for dinner and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch every day, but it was organic and delicious and we could afford it.
I have had a growing interest in raw food but my husband isn’t really into it – so now I am exploring the raw lifestyle more now that our financial situation is better. We still prepare nearly all of our food from scratch.
No matter what your diet, if you’re buying the fun, yummy prepared foods especially the raw products ($8 packets of raw crackers, $20 tubs of raw nut butters, $3 cans of coconut water) you are going to spend a ton.
The key to eating all organic on a limited budget is to keep it simple and make it yourself!
Hey good people!
I work directly with the long-term homeless population in my city and I spent all last year very sick with seemingly every contagious thing you can think of and some special ‘undiagnosables’. Yuck!
I switched this year to a mostly vegetarian, mostly organic (I’m not striving for perfection yet!) diet and I haven’t been sick yet.
My medical bills surpassed my income some months last year, and although I am spending more on food I have yet to spend more than I earn because of the food costs. It isn’t cheap, but certainly has proven cheaper than illness for me. I am happy I switched to better food and can’t imagine long term health costs had I not chosen to change.
P.S. Every one of my co-workers has been sick at least once this year, I think good eating has helped me dodge the illness bullet!
March 4, 2009