Nutrition

How to eat organic "on the cheap"

Easy ways to incorporate organic food into your diet on a budget

by copyright Healing Cancer Naturally, © 2004 & 2017

...even when you don’t have a garden

• Generally, look for foods available in season rather than insisting on having your favourite fresh food year-round. Vegetables and fruits in peak season are sold much cheaper than the same crops out of season. Additionally, the former will be more nutritious than the latter which are frequently grown in greenhouses or imported from faraway lands (adding to their cost, not exactly environmentally friendly, and likely picked very unripe).
  
  Apart from saving you money, eating seasonally is likely to benefit your health simply by allowing you to live in greater attunement with the cycles of nature.
• Buy bulk quantities of food items that can be stored for a while. (Make sure to properly store them to protect them from fungi, pests etc. (mold is a proven cause of cancer).
• Ask shop owners to make you a deal when you buy larger amounts at once (don't be afraid to haggle — some traders will be happy to oblige).
• Increase the nutritional value of items such as organically grown seeds (sunflower, cress etc.) by sprouting them. This typically increases their nutritional value manyfold. Use the sprouts in salads, blended into a smoothie etc.
• Shop around, you may find that there are vast price differences in various shops. I know one health food store which actually offers certain organic vegetables cheaper than the pesticide-laden variety on sale in discount stores.
• Many stores or market stall owners greatly reduce their wares in the evening, shortly before closing time or on weekends. Depending on the store, one can make huge savings simply by shopping at the right time.
• Shop online, often the same item can be found cheaper on the internet than in a brick-and-mortar store.
• Find and join an organic food cooperative where you live. Buying in this way (which cuts out the middleman) can save large amounts of money.
• Grow your own tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini/courgettes and pumpkins on your window sill or balcony.
• Grow your own herbs in pots and liberally add them fresh to meals.
• Learn about and gather edible wild plants (there are hundreds of them). Wild herbs are some of the healthiest foods one can eat. They are not genetically modified or artificially fertilised, they grow in season adapted to natural cycles, and are typically (much) richer in vitamins and minerals^[1] (likely even when compared with organically grown produce).
  
  In fact some herbs not only are extremely rich sources of nutrients but additionally boast powerful medicinal properties — and they tend to be the very ones most commonly found!^[2]
  
  The seeds of many wild plants can also be used (example: nettle seeds).
  
  If you visit forests, you will additionally benefit from the amazing healing potential of "therapeutic landscapes".
  
  Tip: if you have a sensitive stomach, start with small doses of wild herbs (some of which are quite bitter — excellent for the liver) and gradually increase amounts to allow your system to comfortably adapt.
• Some may need to learn to prioritize and put first things first. Healthy food is a number one priority particularly for those who are already sick. So spending on healthy food should be considered more important than spending on other less indispensable, frivolous or even noxious items.
• Last but not least for those who truly depend on nonorganic produce, there are webpages such as www.ewg.org/foodnews/ which provide a list of fruits and vegetables which are best and worst regarding pesticide content.
  
  Currently (2018), the "relatively safe" list includes onions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, honeydew melons, kiwi, cantaloupe, sweet corn, frozen sweet peas, asparagus, papayas, mango, eggplants (aubergines), avocados, and pineapples (with the caveat that sweet corn grown from Roundup Ready GE seeds should be avoided.
  
  It's wonderful to see that consuming some of the most health-giving and cancer-fighting vegetables "conventionally grown" does not necessarily put one at risk of offsetting whatever benefits they provide.
  
  This is underpinned by epidemiological studies showing for instance that (any type of) garlic, onion and other Allium vegetables help against cancer as well as (any type of) cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli...).
  
  Still, make sure to clean nonorganic produce particularly well using a brush and water with baking soda.
  
  Since the EWG is US-based, try to find a listing relevant to your country of residence.
• A final thought: You may find (as others have) that organic food makes you eat less since you feel sated more quickly — which of course translates into less expenditure for food.

Footnotes

1 See the explanations given under The importance of minerals and trace elements for health and cancer prevention

2 See for instance the broad range of scientifically established medicinal effects of nettles and dandelion as well as the Urtica membranacea cancer cure (a German physician successfully used stinging nettles for healing benign and malignant tumors) and Cure testimony: terminal lung cancer with metastases healed via detoxification with wild herb cocktails and raw foods).

Sponsored Links

Related content

• Quality matters: organic vs conventional food and cancer
• Rising atmospheric CO2 decreases micronutrients in plants world-wide
• Chlorine dangers: “Cancer-fighting nutrients become deadly when combined with chlorinated tap water”

Related section

• Nutrition