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…

In our recently submitted article about organic food in Singapore and what a booming market it is, we have gotten many views and feedbacks on our article. Organic Food Singapore would also like to post some of the recommendations here so that people who do not have access to the article can read it here.

Organic food in Singapore is an upcoming, large booming market. With the increased push from the government to educate people on the benefits of healthy living using popular media like television and radio, people have been looking to Organic Food Singapore is also one of the major markets in the South East Asia region where the consumption of organic food is higher.

Although the market of organic food in Singapore is small, but it consist of a very loyal following. Organic food products store in Singapore has reported high growth and this trend look set to continue growing in the next few years.

If you are a US exporter of organic food, you have a huge advantage in the Singapore Organic Food market because products from the States are considered to be one of the most safe, developed and innovative source of organic food and health food promotions on the market today. However, to get the maximum distribution of your products in Singapore, you can consider working with a local distributor for your organic products.

Marketing your organic food in Singapore is also an important step for any new distributor to take. Package your organic food products in small packaging with attractive cover images to attract people to try your organic food. The small packaging encourages consumers to try the organic food and you can also encourage them further by offering discounts and having recipes in your organic food in Singapore.

Of course, since Singapore is a tropical country, do remember to ship and pack your organic food to withstand the tropical sun heat, the high level of humidity and insects. Since organic food has a relatively short shelf life, proper storage and transportation is important. Usually, Singapore Organic Food is wrapped in foil or vaccuumed packed and shipped in an air-conditioned transportation for freshness and protection against the harsh heat of the sun.

This blog post talks about the benefits of eating or consuming organic food in Singapore. Organic Food Singapore has done surveys and have discovered that although many people know that they need to be eating healthier, they turn to organic food for their health food needs. The association of health is linked with the consumption of organic food. However, when asked what health benefits over conventional types of food, the people survey are not too sure.

Organic Food in Singapore is not a new fad in healthy eating. In fact, Singapore Organic food has existed for many years with a loyal but small albeit growing community consuming it. According to these loyal organic food consumers, there are many reasons why one would turn to organic food.

First, organic food is healthier because it is farmed or grown with little or no pesticides at all. Pesticides in high amount is very harmful to human beings and its the cause of many organ damage in modern day people. People with cancer are usually found to have high levels of pesticides in their kidney and liver. Hence, the consumption of organic food in Singapore prevents this problem by offering food that are not pesticides treated. Thus, consumers are eating the natural, original food.

Second, according to a research done, organic food contains higher levels of selenium and  other types of vitamins and anti-oxidant properties. Some studies have also shown that organic food appears to have the potential to lower the incidence of common conditions such as cancer, coronary heart disease, allergies and hyperactivity in children. Heart disease and cancer is one of the top killers in Singapore thus Organic Food Singapore understands that these consumers take it because they would like to prevent these related diseases for themselves and their family. Prevention is better then cure.

Next, a common reason why some people prefer organic food is because they do not contain any additives like monosodium glutamate,aspartame and other hydrogenated fats all of which can cause cancer, high blood pressure and heart diseases. Since all artificial colorings and artificial sweeteners are banned from organic food in Singapore and Singapore Organic Food is tightly monitored by the authorities, people choose it because its a healthier choice.

Organic Food Singapore is not always the common thing even just a few years back. In fact, the reputation for organic food in Singapore is that you have to be really rich to buy it because it is usually very expensive and not much people can afford it. Just a few years ago, only the top supermarkets right in the center of town stocks them and even so, these supermarket does not carry a wide range of organic products, just a few Singapore Organic Food produce and some imports on nuts and fruits.

Fast forward to the present, U.S importers are increasing their product reach into the region and into Singapore. We can now walk into any supermarket, even the small ones in the heartlands and can usually find organic food or even a corner that is dedicated to the organic foodstuffs. Singapore organic food has also increased in range and quantity with some of the farms producing locally grown organic vegetables.

The increased production and  imports are due to the recent outbreak of SARS and bird flu. People are more concerned about what they eat now and are more health conscious then before. Hence, more and more people are looking to organic food in Singapore for an alternative source of health food which they believe can increase their body defences to such viruses. It is true to some extend that these foods provide a healthier source because they do not contain pesticides and have shown to have higher levels of vitamins compared to traditional food sources.

Although the prices of organic food has not come down much throughout the years, people are still buying organic products. A survey has shown that both the young and old in Singapore are aware of the benefits of organic food and eating healthy in general. Moreover, some organic food like rice are highly popular among Singaporeans. Singapore, which is an asian country, consumes rice as its staple diet. Thus, organic food in Singapore like the organic brown rice and oat bran are very popular among its people.

In the recent ministerial meeting, the government master plan is to attract as many foreign talents as possible to work here. So how does this affect Organic Food In Singapore ? While most of the consumers are mainly Singaporeans, in the recent years, more and more foreign workers are coming here to stay in Singapore. In fact, they create a sizeable expatriate community here in Singapore.

These people are mainly Westerns and Japanese who may have originally consume a diet of organic products and coming here to Singapore, they bring their practice with them. This places increased demand on Singapore Organic Food. Organic Food Singapore also understands that these people also hold activities which spreads the word about health benefits of organic food to the locals. This will become a positive feedback loop which also place increase demands on the consumption of organic food.

All in all, a rapid change in lifestyle in the cosmopolitan city of Singapore and the increasing education and government push to consume healthier food also increases the demand for Singapore Organic Food. All these factors have collaborated to produce a booming health food market here in Singapore, creating tremendous opportunities for organic food exporters. This has also benefits consumers because exporters now bring in wider range of organic foodstuff at cheaper prices.

Singapore is also a shipping hub for many asian countries and its widely considered to be a gateway to SouthEast Asia. Since the SARS outbreak, Singapore is setting an example and considered a trend-setter in the organic health food area. Usually, new food products will appear in Singapore first before any of its asian neighbours. It is this reason why some of the people in other countries also imports locally grown Singapore Organic Food for their own markets.