Organic has become the ultimate buzz word these days that almost everyone is talking about. Because, this period is considered to be the best time to purchase fresh organic produce, so that we could have a healthy and wholesome diet. I love buying every organic product that surrounds me, but the one thing that stops me or probably anyone around is its expenses. Known to all, organic can be a little hard on your budget making your shopping a daunting task. Hence, to figure this out I started going with a two way shopping list that would help me buy most of the organic products that I need but while going easy with the budget.
The idea of the two ways shopping list is simple, there are certain products in the market that have a high content of pesticides and then there are those that grow with comparatively less pesticides. I denote them as “Clean Fifteen” and “Dirty Dozen”.
Dirty Dozens
This list holds those vegetables and fruits that hold the highest amount of pesticides, so these are the foods that are always predominant on my organic shopping list. I always incorporate those with thin skins such as celery, cucumber, spinach, potatoes, bell peppers, apples, tomatoes, and strawberries in my list.
Clean Fifteens
Clean fifteen refers to those products that do not have too many pesticides. These are those veggies or fruits that are incapable of absorbing excessive pesticides. This is the reason why I’m least bothered about the items that belong to clean fifteen. Common examples include sweet potato, pineapple, avocado, aborigine, cauliflower, mangoes and asparagus.
Essential Tips for Getting Organic Products at Affordable Price
Even though I have a shopping list that helps me to distinguish the important products against the unimportant ones, yet there are certain essential tips that I do follow to make sure that I get my share of organic produce at affordable rates.
Buying Frozen
This might sound like a horrendous idea for those who always associate organic produce to be farm fresh. But, what I believe is buying frozen is not such a bad option especially when the produce is out of season. It is a lot cheaper, and if you make smoothies out of them then the taste is as good as the fresh produce. This means the traditional concept of frozen foods preserves the gift of nature i.e. organic foods without any complications.
Buying Seasonal
It is an obvious fact that the price of the food items would go down drastically, especially when they are purchased in season. As, this is the period when farmers support the market to a greater extent, helping to have optimal amount of fresh produce that would satisfy the needs of the consumer. I often prefer going with local markets, because these are the best places to discover fresh produce at cheap prices.
Organic Garden
At Home Having your very own organic fruits, vegetables and herbs garden is a great thing to do. Where you can get the high quality produce that you want right at your home.