Groceries…Organic or Not

It was such a beautiful day outside I decided to spend it at…THE GROCERY STORE. 

Technically, it wasn’t my first choice for a day trip, but grocery shopping was long overdue. We were out of almost everything – no fruit, no salad fixins, no chips & hummus, no fresh veggies to munch on. We had a couple of avocados left and some old zucchini that I’d forgotten was in the fridge — hardly an appetizing combo.

Earlier in the week I had received a $5 off coupon as a grand opening welcome to Natural Grocers. Only a few weeks old, I knew they advertised organic produce at a conventional grocery store price. Somewhere, in all my morning logic, I decided it would be a good day to check them out and compare prices with the other stores I shop at. (That didn’t sound too complicated.) At home we eat mainly organic (something we started about two years ago), so I knew that meant I’d be visiting Sprouts, Whole Foods and maybe Wal-Mart as well. (Thankfully, all these grocers are just down the street from me or I probably wouldn’t shop around so much.)

Armed with my grocery list and my camera (because I just had to share my discoveries with you) I headed to the first store.

“Well hi, how are you?” the cashier was enthusiastic as I walked in.

“I’m good,” I said, looking up and then laughing.  Of course I would run into someone, I know. It was the girl who used to check me out at the neighborhood Goodwill store.  We had visited often, I knew she liked health food, working out, studying supplements and talking.

“I wondered where you were off to,” I told her.

“Just here, so now you know,” she said with a smile. “We have lots of stuff that you are going to like.”

I had just snapped my first photo when I heard someone say, “You are taking pictures?”

“Yes. I’m doing it for a price comparison for my blog,” I said, not turning around.

“Oh, well, you need to show some of this.”

I turned and looked. A nice man was holding a jar of salsa.

“Is it good?”  I asked. The label read El Rancho. I had never heard of it.

“Very good.” he said. “It is made with all good stuff. See…” he said, showing me the label.

Sure enough, the ingredients read: Tomatoes, Jalepeno Peppers, Garlic, Comino, Salt.

“No sugar?”  I asked.

“No sugar.”

“Then that would work for us,” I told him, putting a jar in my basket.

Eventually we introduced ourselves. It turned out that he is the creator of that Oklahoman-owned salsa. (Read about its history here.) He was there stocking the shelves at 9 am. Neither of us were shy with words so about 30 minutes later after conversation about salsa ingredients, diet, faith, drinking water and natural foods, I started my actual shopping (but not before putting another bottle of salsa in my cart).

I make pretty good soup, but for quick lunches we grab a can of Amy’s.  I first started using this brand when I was on a Daniel Fast a few years ago. Amy’s soups were quick, good and easy and almost all of them were safe for my fast. Since then her soups have remained a staple in our diet and have become available at all the stores I shop at. (Her cream of mushroom is what I use now in recipes. It doesn’t have all the salt and fillers that the red and white can I used to use does.)

Zucchini

Natural Grocers zucchini was $2.69 per pound.

Whole Foods was out of organic zucchini but their conventional (meaning not organic) zucchini was $2.99 per pound.

Sprouts had conventional zucchini too. It was priced great, $0.99 per pound, but looked old. (Unusual for them.)

Wal-Mart is doing a good job of stocking some organic items now. However, I had to laugh at the price of their organic zucchini…$2.50 EACH. UGH! No thank you!

All the stores carried Rice Milk. (We don’t do regular dairy)

Another thing I eat a lot of is Lara Bars. I normally do not eat sugar and they are a great alternative to give me something sweet. I pack them in my purse and take them with me on the school bus in the mornings.

While we usually don’t even have sugar in the house…I must confess I bought a Reese’s at Wal-Mart today. I still haven’t eaten it…but it is there on the counter staring at me, begging me to open it. A little indulgence every now and then isn’t too bad is it?

All the stores have their good points. Each offers a few items that are cheaper than others.  When I started eating this way I was overwhelmed at the cost of organic foods. How could we do this? They don’t call it whole-paycheck-foods for nothing. (FYI — I started before Larry, he joined me about six months later…he has lost 100 lbs, I lost 12. Life just isn’t fair sometimes…)

I basically figured out that it was a trade off.  I traded off portion size for portion quality — the higher quality food would feed my body and I needed smaller portions anyway.

I also didn’t buy as much meat. We have had off and on stints of eating no meat, but usually eat it no more than two to three times per week.

When you get used to eating this way it becomes easier and you can’t imagine any other way. (In fact, I decided to have a can of Dr. Pepper about a year ago.  It made me  ill. It is not even a temptation now. The thought of fast food makes me equally queasy.)

Here are the things I liked best about each store.

Natural Grocers – Friendly people and good prices on almost everything. They did have a smaller produce section, but what they had was fairly priced and certainly cheaper than most organic foods. I will go back and explore some more.

The only thing I didn’t like was the parking lot.  I parked next to the building and it sloped so badly it was hard to unload my cart even with it turned sideways. Next time I’ll park a row back.

Sprouts – still where I get most of my produce. I love this store. They have a great selection, almost always cheaper than anywhere else (even Wal-Mart). I also buy hummus, raisins and olive oil potato chips (nothing but potatoes and olive oil).

Whole Foods – I would love to be able to walk in and buy all I want…but that has NEVER happened. However, the things I like are worth it. They have the best meat of any store. It is more expensive, but they run great sales weekly. I like to stock up and freeze for future use. (I recently bought stew meat for $5.65 per lb there. That afternoon I saw the same cut of meat at Wal-Mart for $5.43. Not much difference in price…certainly worth the $0.22 extra.) I love that they have butchers who will cut my meat the way I want it and I’m addicted to their jalapeno bacon (although the last three times they’ve been out of it).  I also love that most of their items are Non-GMO Project Verified. (Read about it here.) It means that you can tell if you are buying products that are GMO free. I buy nearly all my corn products here.

Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market – When we first started buying organic there was slim pickin’s at Wal-Mart. They have done a good job the last couple of years adding products.  It is random…sometimes they have organic apples and potatoes, sometimes not. Usually you can get carrots and organic lettuce cheaper. I also buy Uncle Sam’s Cereal (non-GMO), Lara Bars, Amy’s soups, Gluten-free cornbread mix, rice milk, and paper goods. They also carry KerryGold Butter at nearly $1 per block cheaper than other stores.

Usually my Wal-Mart run is fast, but today I ran into another friend while I was on the toilet paper aisle. (Awkward!) A retired pastor that I’ve known forever, we actually joked about the TP and then visited for another twenty minutes.

I made it home FOUR HOURS later. (I can usually do three stores in less than two hours.)  Sometimes I just talk too much….sigh.