You can save money on organic food when you buy it in bulk. Sometimes, you can even save over the cost of a non organic product. Here is how we did it.
If you do a lot of cooking at home, and hopefully you do since it can save money and be better for your health, you can really benefit from buying certain organic items in bulk. We make a trip about every five or six months (depending on how our schedule works out) to the bulk natural food store to stock up on some items that we need.
The store where we shop is located in Lancaster County and is run by an Amish family. There is no electricity in the store, but the building is constructed to let in a lot of natural light, and some of the bulk food is temperature controlled in a separate room to keep it fresh.
At this store, we’ll purchase 25 pound bags of organic flour, quick oats, evaporated cane sugar and long grain brown rice. We also get smaller bags of organic raisins and prunes, plus a few treats, such as dried fruit or granola. I also sometimes pick up some TVP. This is textured vegetable protein and is a cheap and healthy way to add additional protein to dishes when the food budget is running low.
This time, I also couldn’t resist picking up a peck of organic apples. The apples aren’t in season, so I didn’t get rock bottom prices, but they were still less expensive than buying organic apples at our local grocery store.
You might be wondering if it is worth storing all of that bulk stuff and if there is any waste. We generally use our bulk purchases up within 6 months, so there is no waste. As for storage, we like to separate things out into individual containers, and store the excess flour, rice and oats in the freezer. We also purchased two clean metal garbage cans (and sterilized them) for storage. A 25 pound bag of flour or rice easily fits into one of these cans, and the cans can be stored in our dry basement. The smaller items can be stored in the pantry.
As a precaution, I always store flour and other grains in the freezer for at least 24 hours. This prevents bugs.
Having the bulk food on hand not only saves me money, but makes things a lot more convenient when it comes to pulling together a recipe at the last minute.
Saving Money on Health Food and Vitamins
Preparing for the Warehouse Grocery Store