Most people know there are ways to save money on organic fruits and vegetables, but if you are trying to go as organic as you can in your diet, you will notice the sticker shock when you go to purchase organic meat! Here are some tips on saving money on organic meat that have worked for me.
You will often find that the price is double or more what you are used to paying! Even when it’s not organic, meat is hard to save money on. Here are some tips for saving as much as you can on organic meat.
How To Save Money on Organic Meat
- Buy a whole or half of an animal and split the cost. Get some friends or family members together and directly buy from the farmer. Many times, this is the cheapest way. Each of you can split the cost and the meat. Just make sure you have the freezer room!
- Be aware of portion size. The recommended size for meat is about as big as the palm of your hand, typically about 3 ounces. Use less meat and round out your meals with more vegetables or grains
- Look for wholesaler sales (like Zaycon) in your area. There are some great wholesale companies popping up that directly sell to the public via “events”. They ask you to pay for and reserve a large portion of meat (usually entire cases) and you come to the event, mostly held in business or church parking lots, and pick up your order at a later date. Many times, these wholesalers deal with farms that do not practice factory farming techniques such as corn feeding and often the food is natural and cage free.
- Buy from farmer’s markets. If you are lucky enough to have an expanded one held in your area, you can often get organic or grass fed beef and other meat at these events. Since they come directly from the farmer, you can ask questions and they are often cheaper. This is a great way to go if you don’t have the space for a whole or half of an animal.
- Check out wholesale clubs. These big box stores like Costco are starting to meet the demand from consumers to bring in more organic choices and one of them is meat. You can often find it much cheaper when bought in bulk at these low-cost buying markets.
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- Just like with meat that is not organic, the less desired cuts are often cheaper when they are organic as well. While these may take longer to cook, they are perfect for crock pot recipes!
- Check to see if your community offers a food CO-OP. This is kind of like a members only way to shop where it is run by volunteers (usually the members, so it might mean you will have to do some volunteer work as well) and collaborates with local farmers and producers to contract with them for a low price that is desired by the co-op community. Sometimes you can get organic and natural meat at 20-30% off store prices!
- Visit your local old fashioned butcher shop. He or she may have some great tips for you and insider places to buy from and they may even have some great sales themselves.
- Stretch your organic/grass fed ground beef with beans.
- Check the closeout section of your normal grocery store. I often find grass fed beef and organic chickens reduced because they go a new shipment in. When you find organic meat at a great price stock up!
Follow these tips and buying organic meat will be much more affordable!
How do you save on organic meat?
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This is a constant conversation in our house! Too bad we don’t live closer and could split a cow. We are lucky in that we have a really competitive grocery market here in East Dallas – about 10 grocery stores within a couple minutes’ drive, but it’s still pricey to buy organic. Although this is one thing that I will splurge on! And when Aldi has grassfed ground beef for 4.49, I fill my freezer. My favorite tip of yours though is about portions — no one really needs a whole 12 oz steak to eat themselves. I keep trying to tell Maurie Haywood that every.single.weekend. 🙂 Great post!
I’ve only lucked into the Aldi grassfed beef sale once in 2 years! It goes fast. Which just shows you how people really want to buy grass fed but can’t work it into the budget. LOL! Yep, a little bit of meat goes a long way (at least for me).
Steve and I have recently switched to buying 1 steak and sharing it. We find that we just don’t need or eat as much meat as we used to.
My husband and I are the same. Even when we go out we order 4 hamburger sliders and split it between us.
We have had no meat for a while now. I feel lighter and better, but I still want a roast chicken or a nice steak. We are fortunate in that we have a farmer’s market where we can purchase organic meat (frozen) for a reasonable price. If our son-in-law gets a deer, we are all set!
Really! Two years ago we went vegetarian for about 5 months. I really felt better and slept better but it was too hard to keep up. My daughter is a carnivore and she still doesn’t like too many vegetables. So what I do now is my husband and I have a huge salad or lots of veggies and a tiny bit of meat and she has more meat and a tiny bit of salad.
Great tips Manuela! We have been thinking of going in with our daughter and son in law on half a cow. It’s tough to pay the prices when you are frugal by nature, but I feel it is an investment in your health, and that pays off in so many ways!
It’s just me and my husband now and I eat mostly vegetarian, so my meat expenses aren’t too bad. I’ve been buying organic boneless chicken breasts at Trader Joes.
I’ve cut down on the amount of red meat I eat also. I try to fill my plate with more veggies than anything else, which isn’t that difficult for me because I truly love them. I’ve never heard about the potential for sharing a cow Manuela. Is that a regional thing? I’m going to do a google search right now to see if my area has anything like that.