Organic September : The cost of making One Small Change

When I talk to people about going organic, the comment I get most often is "I'd like to but it's too expensive".  So with Organic September in full swing, I thought I would do a bit of research to see if I could disprove that statement.

Let's have a look at fruit and vegetables.  Certainly if you buy your organic vegetables from a supermarket, it will be expensive.  But source your produce elsewhere and the cost isn't so daunting.

We get a family sized organic veg box from our local greengrocer.  This week, my box contained: 1 cauliflower, 1 large green cabbage, 1 iceberg lettuce, about 2kg of potatoes, 4 large parsnips, 3 white onions, 2 red onions, 1 bulb of fennel, 1 large head of celery, 4 courgettes, 6 tomatoes, about 250g of mushrooms, 3 peppers, about 1kg of carrots, 2 whole sweetcorn and a cucumber.  Cost: £18

How much would it cost to buy the non-organic versions of all this in a supermarket?  I looked at Asda's produce, as they are generally the cheapest of the Big 5 supermarkets.   Much of the produce sold by Asda is pre-packed, so where a loose version was not available, I estimated the cost on a pro-rata basis by weight, to get a fair price comparison. The total cost? £16  

So, making that one small change to organic vegetables could cost as little as £2 a week - less than the price of a take-out latte - isn't that worth it?

Organic veg box schemes are widely available and most of them offer fruit options too. There are the companies that deliver nationally, like Riverford and Abel & Cole, as well as retailers like Ocado.  Or you could try a smaller, local scheme or farmers' market, where you have the added bonus of knowing that most of the veggies will have been grown locally.  The cost is often lower too.  To find a veg box scheme or farmers' market near you, just pop your postcode into this website 

http://www.findlocalproduce.co.uk/Veg_Box_Schemes

It's also worth asking your local greengrocer, if you have one, as many now offer some sort of box scheme.

What changes are you making in Organic September?


Annie x