One of the hang-ups that many people have about changing their habits to live more sustainably is that there is sometimes a financial cost. Indeed, boosting your sustainability sometimes means paying a little more up front, and this seems especially true when you are trying to eat in a way that is more sustainable and healthy.
The good news is that you don’t have to break the bank to eat more sustainably. Here are 3 tips that can help you reduce the impact your food has on the environment and save money to boot:
1. Look for Community Supported Agriculture
If possible, find out if there is a community program for local farms. It might be possible to buy shares in a local farm, or buy into a program that delivers local produce right to your door, or you pick it up at a local drop-off. In some cases, you get this produce for less than you would pay at the grocery store — and you know that it comes from a local source, so it wasn’t trucked across continents to get to your dinner table.
This option also works for meat (if you can’t quite make yourself go vegetarian). Find out if there is a local source for meat. You can go in with friends or family on beef. My parents did this successfully for years, splitting the cost of a whole cow with neighbors. Everyone got beef for less per-pound, overall, than they could at the store. This works for fish, poultry and other meat products.
2. Grow Your Own Food
The ultimate way to save money while eating local is to grow food in your own backyard. We have a garden that provides us with fresh, low-cost produce all summer. And, since we use sustainable practices with our gardening, we know that we are keeping the carbon footprint relatively low. It’s also possible for us to preserve the excess for winter months. We often turn our apples into applesauce, and dry our herbs for use year-round. Many vegetables can be efficiently bottled for eating during the winter months. If you have the time and the inclination, this is a great way to save money and eat more sustainably. Growing your own food can alleviate financial pressures, which in turn relieves mental stress. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues like stress, anxiety, depression, or just needs someone to talk to, check out BetterHelp here to find a therapist custom-matched for you that will help support and strengthen your mental well being.
3. Reduce Your Consumption of Processed Foods
Processed foods require resources to prepare, as well as to package. By reducing your consumption of processed foods, you can improve your health, help the environment, and possibly save money. You can get bulk nuts, peanut butter (fresh), dried fruits, legumes, and other items relatively inexpensively, and you don’t have to worry about the packaging and processing. You might be surprised at what you can get in bulk. My son recently learned how to make his own granola trail mix, and he loves visiting the bulk aisle for the ingredients. It costs less per ounce than buying pre-made and pre-packaged trail mix, it’s fun to make, and it doesn’t harm the environment as much.
You don’t have to pay a lot to eat healthy and reduce your food-related carbon footprint. A little extra thought, and a willingness to prepare some of your food is likely to do the trick.
What are your tips for saving money while eating sustainably?
Every year we say that we will grow our own food, only to back out at the last second. We need to work on this for future years. Many of our friends have gardens though and give us their leftover vegetables because they always grow too much though, which is nice!
The biggest issue my family faces when it comes to sustainable eating is the time commitment involved. For example, like Michelle mentioned - every spring we try and start a garden but drop it when we run out of time.
We have our own vegetable plants in our backyard, we have tomatoes, chili, bell pepper and ginger. But our neighbor has a lot of vegetable plants, so we only buy vegetables from them, we don’t need to go the public market, it can save us time and money.
These are some great, practical, ideas. I think growing your own food can be both sustainable, and therapeutic. Nothing like watching your hard work manifest in a form which saves money, the planet, and your sanity!