Wednesday, April 22, 2015

How To Green your Grocery Shop on a Budget in Lindsay


The top three things we can do to shop green is buy local, organic, and seasonal. Easier said than done.


If it was easy and affordable I would buy all my produce at the farm stand, all my pantry items at the bulk food store, all my health items at the health food store, and dairy products at the dairy barn, but let's be honest there is restrictions to doing that. Timing- the farmers market is only open Saturday mornings and in the summer months. I'm lucky enough to live close to a farm stand that is open 6 days a week in the summer months, but that doesn't help in the winter. Money- I'm all for organic but sometimes it is too expensive. Stopping 5 times isn't easy either, especially with children. So I have stream lined my grocery shops to Food Basics, Nesbitt's, Kawartha Whole Sale Bakery, and Jo Anne's and Burns Bulk Foods once in a while for specialty items. Here is why I love shopping where I do, and below some other tips to reduce your waste and footprint while protecting your health and wallet.

Food Basics
It is a Canadian Company.
It supplies local jobs.
It composts is produce waste.
It always has the most Ontario grown produce, every season.
It is the cheapest place to shop in town.
It has boxes if you forget your cloth bags.
It has a small organic produce section.
It has a great international section with natural products.
It carries these eco/organic products at the lowest prices around...
  • Organic Butter
  • Organic Bananas
  • Organic Cooking Oils
  • Organic Sugar
  • Organic Ketchup
  • Organic fair trade coffee
  • Organic yogurt
  • Organic Apple Juice/Sauce
  • Eco Friendly Dish Soap and dishwasher tabs/rinse aid
  • Eco Friendly Toilette Paper
  • Natural Peanut Butter
  • Quinoa
  • Natural Bacon , Hot Dogs, and Sandwich Meats
  • Organic/Natural Cereals
  • Organic Canned Tomatoes
  • Almond Milk
  • Organic Baby Snacks
Kawartha Whole Sale Bakery
After Food Basics I head over to the bakery, conveniently located right behind food basics for easy access. I buy bread here because I cannot seem to find a brand name bread that is soft and fluffy without allot of random ingredients, plus it is always fresh and the prices are great. I still have not come up with a way to eliminate the plastic bags for bread, but give me some time...

Nesbitt's Meat Market
Nesbitts' has an organic frozen section and the organic ground beef is very near regular prices. The rest of the regular meat is the same price as buying regularly priced grocery store meat. I think there is a misconception that buying at the butcher is more expensive, but I have not found that to be true.

Other tips for wallet and planet friendly grocery shopping...

Meal Planning
Right down 7 dinners/lunches/breakfasts and their ingredients, add your usual's if you need to and voila- you will waste less food and be more prepared for the week. When I first started this I saved
almost 50% off my bill! Another eco and cash saver is to add a few vegetarian meals to your list.

Trip Planning
Do it all at once and in a way that doesn't zig zag you all over town, saving you gas, money and time. You could always walk or bike too!

Reusable Bags and Containers/No produce Bags
Reduce your waste and your footprint by remembering your cloth shopping bags, ditching produce bags, and buying bulk and counter items in reusable containers. You can also ditch the single serving items.

Buy Whole Foods
The resources that go into processed food adds allot of waste and Co2 to the environment, not to mention the questionable ingredients. Cook from scratch with whole foods.


Thanks for reading my blog.
Julia Taylor

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