Getting Your Family to Eat Ethically on a Budget

As someone who cares about ethics, but also about keeping my budget down, I've thought long and hard about this, how one can do both, because ethical shopping often costs more money. How much do you sacrifice ethics for a bargain, and how much do you sacrifice frugality wise, for ethics? Here's a post from a reader on how you can feed your family ethically, while still maintaining a budget.

One of the most potentially difficult things about raising a family is deciding what to eat every day. We're not just talking about making sure all the kids eat their food anymore, either. Raising a family in 2019 means making sure that our diet is ethical, too!
It can seem daunting at first to find food that is ethical AND inexpensive. That's why we created a guide to help your family eat ethically on a budget.



1) Buy Local, Grass-Fed Meat

Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to go vegetarian or vegan to eat ethically. You can buy meat easily from local farms. Not only will you be receiving quality, grass-fed beef and the like, you will also help support your local farmers.
Not all of these ethical farm options are expensive, either. Seven Sons Farms, which sells all pasture-raised meat, offers meal options as low as $3 that can be delivered to your home. You can find many farms like them that you can buy from for cheap, or in bulk.


2) Shop at the Farmer's Market

Quit shopping for fruits and vegetables at the supermarket. These chains are often expensive, with poor quality control. Buying from the farmer's market allows you to buy many different fresh, in-season options. It also decreases your carbon footprint, as buying locally means your fruits and vegetables don't need to travel as far.

This will also help stimulate your local economy. When you buy from local farmers, you are supporting their business so they can continue to offer cheap, sustainable options to your community.

3) Grow Your Own Food

One of the best alternatives to buying anything anywhere is growing your own food. You control how much food you grow--this means it's all organic, and you grow food according to the seasons! Start a garden in your backyard, or raise small plants on your porch or balcony if you don't have much space.

This method does take time and effort. It is worth all the planning, though, when you make it a family activity. Gardening can be fun, and you can teach your kids to make the right decisions about their food intake when they get older.


4) Buy in Bulk

Buying your food in bulk will make your price-per-ounce decrease. This means you can choose organic options in a larger quantity, rather than buying nonorganic options in smaller packages.
This means you will also lessen the amount of packaging on each item you buy. Single-serving packages of mashed potatoes or oatmeal often come in small, plastic packaging that will just be thrown into a landfill or the ocean. Large packages for organic food can often be reused or recycled!

5) Waste Less

Take note of how much food you throw away on a weekly basis. If you plan your meals for the week and buy according to how much you need, you can waste less food. When you waste food, you waste money.

Be sure to freeze fruits and vegetables when they're fresh, rather than throwing them away. This will allow you to eat healthy in the winter months, when fresh produce isn't readily available.


In Conclusion

Eating ethical and sustainable food is rewarding in many different ways. It's not just about feeling good about your environmental impact--it's about saving money doing it, too!

Always research your local options for fruits, vegetables, and meat. Cooking with these options at home is always cheaper than eating out at restaurants or fast food joints. In the end, we should all recognize the value of sharing a fresh-cooked meal with our family. It makes the world a better place.

See my disclaimer.