I love this recent post from Planning With Kids on how to eat organic food when you’re on a budget. As important as it is to me that my family have food free of chemicals and other less than delicious additives, it’s also important to me that we can afford to pay the rent Take a look at PQ’s post to see a list from Dr. Bob Sears about the fruit and veg generally coated in the lowest amount of pesticides.

Other ways to eat Organic on a budget:

• Shop locally. I find organic meat, veg and eggs far cheaper at the smaller locally run shops, for instance, free range eggs from a farm about 30km away from here run at the same price per dozen as the homebrand eggs in Coles, and there’s a definite difference in the taste.
• Grow your own! One way to guarantee you know exactly what goes into your food is to grow your own, start small with something foolproof like potatoes in a large pot or mushrooms in a cupboard, and you’ll be ready to take on more once planting season arrives.
• Make your own snacks. Organic snacks and treats are very expensive, but you can make organic biscuits and snacks for half the price at home, and they don’t have any preservatives, and you can opt for natural flavours and colouring if any is needed.

All of these options take up more time, so it’s simply a process of weighing up time verses cost. Unfortunately Australia isn’t yet at a stage where eating organic is an easy or cheap process, but it’s getting better each year, just a couple of small changes can help your budgetting and at the same time allow your family to eat healthier.