{"id":807,"date":"2007-02-02T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2007-02-02T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/2007\/02\/02\/eating-vegetarian-for-cheap\/"},"modified":"2023-09-28T15:34:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T21:34:49","slug":"how-to-eat-vegetarian-on-the-cheap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/how-to-eat-vegetarian-on-the-cheap\/","title":{"rendered":"How to eat vegetarian on the cheap"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently posted two articles for frugal carnivores: a guide to cheap cuts of beef<\/a> and another one on how to buy a side of beef<\/a>. GRS-reader Sally<\/a> has produced an introduction to eating vegetarian for cheap. Though her tips are for herbivores, many are useful to omnivores, as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

About a year-and-a-half ago, for health reasons, my husband and I committed ourselves to a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. At home we eat entirely vegetarian; when we eat out we allow ourselves to choose meat. It’s also a priority for us to avoid the pesticides in non-organic produce and the hormones that come with non-organic dairy products. Here’s how we eat a ton of fruits and veggies at a fraction of the price you might expect.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Our top strategy is to eat locally-produced foods as often as possible<\/strong>. (Actually, eating locally is a priority for us based on both our physiological needs and the need for Americans to reduce oil consumption. Produce at the grocery store has traveled, on average, 1500 miles to reach us!) Because we live in an Atlanta apartment with no yard or porch, we are unable to grow anything ourselves except for herbs \u2014 so we seek out local farmers. (If you’d care to try an urban garden, this video is a good resource.) Locally-grown foods are sold to us at the peak of their flavor and nutritional value, making them more enjoyable. Buying from local farmers, we are also able to ask whether the foods we are buying have been grown using pesticides. (The organic certification<\/a> process is expensive for small farmers, so some small farmers may use organic methods but not have government certification for years, if ever.)<\/p>\n

Local farmers are able to provide us organic fruits and veggies at a fraction of the grocery store price<\/strong> because the foods have not been sent through any middlemen \u2014 ConAgra<\/a>, anyone? \u2014 and because the foods have not had to travel long distances to reach us.<\/p>\n

There are three primary ways we get local foods:<\/p>\n