Shopping for food during the winter can be a challenge. Organic foods are often very expensive in winter and the price of many diet staples has increased dramatically in the past year. What are your best strategies for eating healthy while still getting a good value for your grocery dollar?

* Buy in season -Trying to eat organic summer vegetables in the winter will quickly put a dent in your food budget. Right now, root vegetables, potatoes, and winter squash are at their cheapest and their tastiest. Apples are also fresh and reasonably priced, and citrus comes into season around the holidays. Use in-season vegetables and fruits to fill your family’s table with affordable nutritious goodness.
* Think ahead - Shop once a week, and don’t shop for food while hungry. Buying all of your food on one trip avoids the trap of running to the store several times, which burns extra gas and can add extra impulse buys to your basket.
* Make a plan - Planning your weekly meals and sticking to it keeps you from buying whatever sounds good when you’re shopping. Always shop from a list.
* Buy in bulk - We try to have the staple foods on hand at all times, buying a month’s worth or more and storing it in the pantry. Many co-ops and health food stores offer discounts for case quantities and bulk bags of grains. Most grains, beans, and flour is sold in 25 or 50 pound bags. 25 pounds of grains fits perfectly in a 5 gallon bucket, keeping it fresh and safe from bugs or rodents. Check at hospitals or school cafeterias for free food-grade buckets.
* Cook at home - Eating out will burn up your cash, and many restaurants serve food with dubious origins, so cooking from scratch makes the most sense to us. If you do eat out, find a local place that serves real food, clean food, food made from scratch, not a can (and organically grown, or at least MSG and GMO-free). There’s a place here in my neck of the woods that makes their own tempeh and has a 2 for 1 tempeh burger special (Tempeh Tuesday). The four of us can fill up for under twenty bucks.
* Eat simple - For families that eat meat, cutting back meat-based dishes to once or twice a week means being able to afford organic or grass-fed choices. Fill out a dish with grains or beans. Making a casserole or soup can keep the menu simple and affordable.
* Make extra - A large meal cooked once a week and served as leftovers or sent for lunches helps to save energy and water. It’s less stressful for the cook as well. If you do eat out, find a local place that serves real food, clean food, food made from scratch, not a can (and organically grown, or at least MSG and GMO-free). There’s a place here in my neck of the woods that makes their own tempeh and has a 2 for 1 tempeh burger special (Tempeh Tuesday). The four of us can fill up for under twenty bucks.
* Raid the fridge - I’m the king of the end of the week random ingredient meal. I make a pot of rice (or beans, millet, etc.), sauté onions and garlic with other random veggies, mix together, and serve wrapped in a tortilla.

Stay green and clean, and stay under budget…

According to TNS Worldpanel data seen by the Financial Times that sales of organic produce in Sainsbury’s and Tesco fell by 3.8 percent and 1.3 percent respectively in the three months to August 10. The Sales of organic goods in supermarkets are struggling and suggesting that shoppers are ready to sacrifice their green credentials in favor of cheaper food.
According to the most recent data, spending on organic produce in the whole market has fallen by 19 percent this year from £100m to £81m. Asda and Morrisons fared better with 3.1 percent and 24.6 percent growth, although their cheaper end of the grocery market in coming from a lower base. Figures demonstrate the way in which consumers are swapping their allegiances as they seek cheaper prices.
Marketing manager for organics at Sainsbury, Sophie Firth, said conceded sales were “flat and have started to dip off” and this was a symptom of the time. She also said “people are still buying core items but I guess few people are buying into organics as a whole.”
Organic agriculture is inherently more expensive than intensive agriculture and there is evidence consumers are not willing to pay the extra cost. Among the hardest hit have been sales of organic eggs which fell 18 per cent in the four weeks to the end of August.

Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer which owns Kroger are among the big names that carry certified organic versions of shopping cart staples from meat, milk, cookies and crackers and everything in between. Organic food once was the domain of specialty grocery stores but big chains are getting into organic in a big way.
Donna Eggers a spokeswoman for Albertsons which operates stores in much of the West Coast said supermarkets now account for more than 60 percent of the organic food market. Fred Meyer spokeswoman said “People are trying to eat healthier, or watching what they feed their family. It’s a huge growth area for us.” Despite recent setbacks tied to the economy. Spokeswoman also said “It’s becoming a mainstream.”
Whole Foods has seen its income and stock value plummet this year U.S. organic food sales are projected to reach an all-time high of $23 billion in 2008 and continue increasing 18 percent a year through 2010 according to the Organic Trade Association.
Prices for organic items can be double or more for conventional brands. As the organic food market continues to grow, stores and manufacturers are starting to court shoppers with more affordable price. Organics products are still a hard to sell, especially in a stagnant economy where people are responding to rising gas and food prices.
Fred Meyer and Albertsons sell organic under their own store brands and the prices are generally 10 cents to $1 higher. Though instances are rare, organic products are sometimes the same price or even less than non-organic products.

Ph.D. Pam G. Marrone is reports a development of a new “green” pesticide obtained from an extract of the giant knotweed, in a report scheduled for presentation at the 236th national meeting of the American Chemical Society. The booming consumption of organic foods creates a pressing need for natural insecticides and herbicides that can be used on crops certified as “organic”.
Founder and CEO of Marrone Organic Innovations Inc., Marrone said, “the product is safe to humans, animals, and the environment.” The new biopesticide have an active compound that alerts plant defenses to a range of diseases, including powdery mildew, gray mold and bacterial blight that affect fruits and vegetables. Marja Koivunen, Ph.D., director of research and development for Marrone Organic Innovations said that the product will be available this coming October for conventional growers and a new formulation has also develop for organic farmers and will be available in 2009.
Biopesticides are derived from plants, microbes, and other natural materials and are proven to be safer for humans and the environment. The Marrone Organic Innovations or MOI R&D team is working on an organic rice herbicide based on an extract from a marine microorganism, and also on insecticides and nematocides to kill insect pests and soil inhabiting, like parasitic roundworms that affect plants and animals.
The synthetic pesticides sales dominate the $30 billion pesticide market and the use of biopesticides is increasing. Marrone Organic Innovations officials estimate that global sales will hit $1 billion by 2010 and grow 10 percent a year on average and the biopesticide could make up 4.25 percent of the global pesticide business in 2010, up from 2.5 percent in 2005

This is that time of the year that smorgasbords of the finest organic produce, along with entertainment throughout the day and night and with a free bar. The free bar is available courtesy of Maggie May’s Bar Loughrea. Menus features delicious organic chowder from Marco’s Catering with organic vegetable soup, steaks, chicken fillets, and burgers, Kinvara organic salmon with organic brown breads, baked potatoes, vegetable curries, salads, and a delicious breads and desserts from Foods of Athenry.
Organic coffees, cappuccinos, lattes and hot chocolate will be available to you to drink. This event will feature a range of entertainers including Mike Flavin, Abba International, Sean De Burca and Stephen Simmonds, Gary Quinn, Celine Hession Dancers, Oddity, and the comedian Frank Forde of MidWest Radio. The Monster Organic Ball proceeds from this year will go to AIDS Partnership with Africa, Irish charity works to alleviate the suffering communities in Ethiopia and Tanzania decimated by the HIV/AIDS.
Last year Monster Organic Ball raised €100,000 for the charity which was used to unite thousands of orphaned street children with family relatives or foster parents, purchase medicines and other materials. Organizer of the event extended their thanks to the many dedicated and committed sponsors who make the event possible, including C&F group, main sponsors Cashla Quarries, Tossie Mogan, Ard Precision Engineering, Castle Ceilings and Partitioning, Global Group Ireland, Ger McDonagh and sons, Curly Holdings, MF Dolan and John Earls, Seamus and Huge Lambert, Bill Madden nurseries, Mike Burke of Pier Head, Newell Roofing, and Declan Corry. This event will be on October 11 from 2pm to 12 am in Tossie Mogan’s field in Oranmore, tickets are cost €200 and it includes food, free bar, and entertainment and to purchase tickets just visit www.monsterorganicball.com or www.monsteroganicball08.com .