Tips on Saving money when buying organic

*The average Australian family spends more money on prepackaged meals and takeaway food then on fresh food

Why does Organic Cost More?

When you go to the produce section of the grocery to buy your daily requirement of fruits and vegetables, you notice that the prices of organic foods are more expensive than the others. You wonder why they are even higher than ordinary, conventionally-made foods when they don't have to spend on fertilizers, preservatives and other such chemicals. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, organic products that are certified are generally more expensive than their counterparts because of several reasons.

First, the supply of organic foods is limited, but the demand for them is great. Since it is labor intensive to produce organically-grown foods, only few quantities are made. The cost to produce organic foods is more expensive than that of the conventional methods' since organic foods need more laborers to accomplish the work and the production cost is almost at par with its profit. The handling of the harvest also entails higher costs since both organic and conventional produce have to be divided for processing and transportation. Because the volume produced, marketing and distribution is insufficient, costs can further increase.

There are also other factors aside from production costs that affect the price of organic goods more significantly. But it should be taken into account that there are also factors that have no monetary value attached to them but are very important in maintaining balance in the ecosystem and for the welfare of the people involved in production. Examples of these factors are the environmental enhancement and protection to avoid expenses from pollution control and mitigation; higher animal-welfare standards; prevention of health expenses by farmers since they do not handle pesticides, thus decreasing the risk of disease and injury; and for rural development since organic production needs more workers therefore the labor force is increased.

Several members of the organic industry and some observers believe that to be able to increase the volume of these organic goods beyond their present level, they need to decrease the production costs and price. There is already some evidence of a decline in the prices and premiums of organic products, based on interviews with the growers and distributors. Although unstable prices are still evident, they have been able to even out and often match the prices of conventionally-made produce. This observation is supported by the economic theory by Blank and Thompson wherein high prices and high profits act as incentives to the innovators and adopters of organic products, thus attracting new suppliers and consequently bringing down the prices. This, however, is not an attractive deal to organic farmers who are content with the price their products cost since they also reap higher profits.

Save Money, don't eat Rubbish

The demand for organic foods increases and the ways of bringing down costs of production, processing, classification and marketing of organic produce are on the way. Some do not give importance to the costs but are content to be able to eat healthy foods, to help improve their health, lowering their risk for any other illness. But you do not have to sacrifice health for more dollars. Organic products are still the healthy choice. There are simple things that you can do that might help a bit in minimizing expenses so as to fit organic food in your budget.

Firstly if you choose to buy organic food it shows that you are already proactive in seeking a healthier lifestyle for you and your family. Therefore further small changes that not only make sense can help you save money and offset the more expensive food. You can do this simply by reducing the amount of takeaway, prepackaged food and otherwise unhealthy food you purchase.

If you are a newbie in "organic food" trend, you might be inclined to trying out prepared foods, offered by fine-dining restaurants. Sure, you experience the same sumptuous delight and are served with certified organic-foods recipes, but you also pay a lot. Thus, dining out is not a better idea if you want to save money when buying organic foods. The same applies when you buy organic frozen dinner meals or prepackaged organic food. They tend to cost more since it gives you the convenience of not preparing the food since it entails at least a couple of hours more work to prepare a meal for one. But, preparing and cooking the food by yourself actually costs the same, often even much less. It is better that you buy your own organic food, at a cheaper price and fix up a healthy meal for yourself and know exactly what you are eating and making it exactly according to your taste. You save money and you are sure that the food you eat is truly organic.

Shop Smart

When buying organic products, you can first try to compare prices of the different brands of organic products. Several major groceries offer their own organic brands, which may cost less than other branded ones. Since these are all organic products, as standardized by the government agency assigned, they all are similarly produced, although with a great difference in price.

You can also save money when you stock up on organic products that you frequently buy, when they are on sale. Furthermore, you may also make bulk orders of the products. If you do this, you do not only save money because of the discount given to you for ordering in bulk, but you also save time and effort. You can stock up on staples like beans, rice, flour and others. You can also try out a different organic product that is on sale or at a good price (of course, a good price depends on your budget).

Another wise thing to do to save money when buying organic foods is to clip out coupons and discounts in the paper and grocery coupons.

Fresh produce are usually a lot cheaper when they are in season. For this reason, you should take note of the specific schedules of the foods you are to purchase and make sure that you purchase them from the source. A good place to ensure this is to shop at the farmers' market. Not only will you be guaranteed of the freshness of the products, you will also be offered lower, if not discounted prices since the products are abundant in supply.

Moreover, it will also be nice if you participate in signing up at various shoppers’ clubs that actually offer savings cards. Most of these organizations offer the service for free. However, also available are bonus cards, which are actually integrated in some sort of programs set up by supermarkets.  They do this, especially supermarkets that are serious in promoting organic foods, in order to collate sufficient data concerning their customers' buying habits. Thus, if you are a member of such program, you will be provided by the supermarkets with enough stock of the products you usually buy, alleviating your problem of hopping from one store to another and buying high-priced organic foods only because they are sold in limited numbers.