How to Save Money and Minimize Food Waste

It's safe to say that the current climate and economy is making it harder and harder to eat healthy at an affordable cost. This is putting a lot of fear into those of us who want to live a healthier lifestyle and take care of our bodies when we constantly hear horror stories about contaminants in the foods that we THINK are healthy and then are told otherwise.

The last thing I want is for people to be so afraid of eating the "wrong" things that they stop consuming enough food and nutrients entirely.

In a perfect world we wouldn't have additives, chemicals and pesticides. In a perfect world, we would all have a liveable wage, allowing us the luxury of buying the best of the best when it comes to our health products and groceries. But sadly, this isn't the case for most working class individuals, which makes up the majority of the population. So, I've come up with a few specific hacks to help alleviate some stress financially for those who can't afford to buy all organic everything at all times.

Limit your organic purchases to the meat and veggies that are well known to have pesticides, GMOs and hormones. This means:

Do your research. Every year, be sure to look up the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists, which you can find below for this year.

Start with the Dirty Dozen & Clean 15

2024 DIRTY DOZEN:

• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Kale, collard, and mustard greens
• Grapes
• Peaches
• Pears
• Nectarines
• Apples
• Bell & Hot Peppers
• Cherries
• Blueberries
• Green Beans

2024 CLEAN 15:

• Avocados
• Sweet corn
• Pineapple
• Onions
• Papaya
• Sweet peas (frozen)
• Asparagus
• Honeydew melon
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Watermelon
• Mushrooms
• Mangoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Carrots

This means that the list of the DIRTY DOZEN produce is best to purchase in organic form. If you can't afford to purchase organic, limit the amount of these foods that you buy and when you do buy generically farmed versions of these items, wash them well in a mixture of vinegar and water or a natural based specified vegetable wash. I often find that buying the frozen bags of these organic fruits and veggies ends up being more affordable in the long run.

The CLEAN 15 has a bit more leeway as far as just buying the regular old cheaper versions at the grocery store but should always still be washed accordingly!

• Be diligent in looking for deals — when wild caught fish and organic meat goes on sale. Buy multiples of each and FREEZE them so that you have a good source of protein on hand.
• Always check best before dates — make sure to check the best before dates on all of the products you're looking for/through and get the ones that are going to last the longest. They generally have the things that will expire the soonest at the very front.
• Buy fermented things — and cheeses that have a longer life in the fridge.
• Do NOT buy farmed fish — of any kind. Not only is the farming of fish much worse for the environment, but they are known to be pumped full of antibiotics, have polluted living conditions and are known to have antibiotics and pesticides used on them.
• Buy bone-in meat — if you are a meat eater and SAVE the bones in the freezer to make broth with later. Bone broth is excellent for collagen production, digestion and gut health. SAVE the skins scraps and ends of the vegetables you cut up in the freezer as well. These are easy to simmer for a few hours to make a healthy, nutrient filled veggie broth for soups, sauces or just for sipping. The bones and the veggies can be simmered together for an even more nourishing broth.
• Limit your meat consumption — in general and when you do purchase it try to always get organic/grass fed/local butcher meat. Again, hunting down sales and deals and freezing these things is key. Try to stick to whole foods and veggies for the majority of your portions and choose unrefined flours and carbohydrates when it comes to rice and bread.
• Use the loose bulk sections — of the grocery store for purchasing things like organic rice, quinoa, nuts and seeds. It is significantly cheaper than buying the pre-bagged items from the isles that are simply easier to notice and have flashier advertisement.
• Make your own sourdough — for bread, try to learn how to bake your own sourdough (I swear by sourdough as it's fermented and therefore is the most easily digested type of bread), or find someone local who will sell you sourdough from their home. Alternatively, often local bakeries have loaves that essentially cost the same as those from the grocery store but with substantially less random and icky additives. Bread is another item that you can slice and freeze half of if you know you won't get through an entire loaf within a week. Even if you have bread that does go stale you can use it for things like stuffing or breadcrumbs for certain meals!
• Pre-chop and freeze vegetables — a hack that I swear by is purchasing larger heads or quantities of things like broccoli and cauliflower when they are on sale, and then pre-chopping half or three quarters to freeze in ziplock bags. I think we're all guilty of buying larger produce items and having half of them go to waste in the crisper when we don't get to them in time. Life is busy and we can't always utilize one type of product within a short time-frame. This is especially true for single adults who ideally want to be cooking a smaller portion size for their meals. Taking that extra ten minutes to wash, chop and freeze the veggies you won't be using within the week can end up making a significant difference financially.
• Pickling — extra vegetables that may be on the verge of unusable is an excellent way to utilize them and minimize waste as well. You can pickle virtually anything with an extremely simple mixture of sugar water and vinegar. I will post the link to my quick pickled onions recipe at the bottom of this page.
• Freeze ageing fruit and veg — with fruits that are starting to look wrinkly and less than desirable either freeze to throw into smoothies throughout the week. The same can be said for veggies or greens that are beginning to wilt. They are an excellent addition to a daily smoothie. You can also turn your less appealing fruit into JAM. It's easy to make a simple jam by simmering your chopped up fruit in a little bit of water/lemon juice and adding some pure maple syrup/organic honey and some chia seeds for a gelatinous texture and extra protein.
• Download grocery apps — download any available apps for the grocery stores you frequent so that you can be alerted of certain deals and possibly earn points towards free items in the future.
• Check online flyers — do as the older generation did and pay attention and make note of the sales/coupons in online flyers for the shops nearest you.
• Grow what you can — at home depending on the season. Even in the winter you can generally have an indoor window herb garden or invest in mini greenhouses to have indoors for these sorts of things. In the summer if you have a yard or even a balcony there are many veggies and greens you can grow yourself quite easily. Just set up some planters on your patio and it's simple. Growing salad greens is cheap for the seeds and usually will get at least 3 sets of regrowth after trimming from the base. As someone who worked briefly at an organic farm I can also attest to the mental health benefits of not only getting your hands in the soil but the joy you get from knowing you've cultivated your own food source! It's also a great excuse to get outside and get that sunny vitamin D.
• Stock up on non-perishables — purchase affordable non-perishable items that will last a long time in your pantry or cupboard but contain a high level of nutrients. Sardines is one of my all time favourite examples of this. Small, oily fish are known to be much higher in omega-3s and are also less contaminated with toxins because they are feeding on smaller and safer things such as algae, which contains many of its own beneficial properties. Sardines are actually much better for you than canned tuna, which has increased in price exponentially over the years sheerly by popularity. When buying things such as sardines, mackerel and mussels, always look for those that are in OLIVE OIL. Ideally with no added salt or very minimal amounts. Avoid those canned fish that come in other oils such as soya oil, and read the ingredient list to ensure there aren't multiple other additives that can be potentially harmful. Stock up on other canned goods such as chickpeas and other legumes which are a great source of extra protein when thrown into dishes such as soups, sauces and even salads.
• Use Costco for bulk organics — use places like Costco (or milk the membership of a loved one) to stock up on bulk items of more affordable organic products that can be kept in the pantry for later consumption.

Most of us have busy lives and schedules and often end up just popping by the grocery store last minute on the way home from work, school, etc. This results in us not really calculating the difference in spending until taking a look at our bank statement later on. Carving out the time in your month or week to follow these steps and plan ahead as far as what staples you will need can genuinely make a noticeable impact on our spending habits, quality of food/diet, overall lifestyle and WALLET.