Eating GMO-free on a budget

Eating GMO-free on a budget

It’s a new year and it’s a great time to make resolutions. I am hoping that many more of us will make a resolution to eat GMO free in 2011.  Organics can be expensive so how can you eat GMO free on a budget?  Here are some tips for healthy GMO-free eating on a budget. You can do it, and it will be good for you and your family.

Buy whole foods and cook from scratch – cooking from scratch is less expensive and healthier then buying pre-made meals. As long as you avoid the common GMO ingredients you can use non-organic products. Buy fresh and in season fruits and vegetables, meats, from local farmers if possible, grains (other then corn) and olive oil.  Add some fresh herbs and you can make amazing and wonderfully GMO free meals.  We have a number of great and easy recipes, right here on Moms for Safe Food

Join a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture is a great way to eat GMO free and support your local farmers as well.  When you join a CSA you are buying a share of the years crop, given either weekly or bi-weekly. We belong to a wonderful CSA and get fruit, a wonderful variety of vegetables, spring mix and herbs every week for much less then we’d pay at the store. If you want to find a CSA near you, go to http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Buy directly from a farmer – other then CSA’s you can also shop at farmers markets, and find a local farmer, raising grass and pastured meat and buy directly from them. It will save you money and support our wonderful farmers.

There’s a link to U.S. Wellness Meats in our links section. They have a wonderful variety of grass fed and pastured meats and cheese.

If you eat some processed foods, contact any company you buy processed, pre-made food from. If the food contains, canola, soy, corn, High Fructose Corn Syrup and even ‘sugar’ (a lot of companies are using GMO Sugar Beets), it is most likely GMO. They are using GMO ingredients because we have not yet made it clear that that is unacceptable. You can tell them,

“I would buy more of your product if it was GMO free, otherwise I’m looking for alternatives and will stop buying your product.”  If they hear this from enough of us they will look for alternatives.  Also let your supermarket know you want non-GMO options. There will be a ‘tipping point’ – when they hear from enough people that it starts to make a difference.

So the biggest budget saver, to avoid GMO’s is to buy real, whole foods and cook them yourself. Your family and health will thanks you.

Here’s to a GMO free 2011! – Mom

Read more, great Fight Back Friday posts here: http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-january-7th/

Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/01/pennywise-platter-thursday-1611.html

Read more, great Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/01/real-food-wednesday-1511.html

Read more, great Monday Mania posts here: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/01/monday-mania-132011/

7 Responses to “Eating GMO-free on a budget”

  • Jenny:

    White corn is not GMO’d, I am told…though cross contamination is still possible. I buy OG or white tortillas or corn masa as my only corn product. You also have to be careful of products made from corn or soy…distilled vinegar, citric acid, MSG, xanthum gum etc.

  • Mom:

    Hi Jenny,
    Yes, sweet corn is supposed to be okay as well. And thanks for mentioning food additives. Soy Lecithin is usually GMO as well. Those additives are another reason it’s so much better to just cook from scratch.

  • I’m all for a GMO free 2011!! Thanks for sharing this post and its great ideas at Monday Mania! 🙂

  • Mom:

    Thanks, Sarah. I think this is the year!
    I have wanted to join your blog carnival for awhile but I’m always late in getting my weekly post up. You’ve given me inspiration to try get it up by Monday morning. 🙂

  • I am very careful when I shop, I ry to eat as muc organic as I can and I do not buy any proessed foods. I have recently found your website and I can tel you as a mother, all the information you share is very important to me! Thank you thank you!
    Viv~

  • Mom:

    Thanks, Viv. 🙂

  • A GMO free 2011 is a great idea – and your post is full of very useful suggestions. I love this site!

    Thank you so much for what you are doing!

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