Well, its been a week of buying only organic food for myself. We are still phasing out all our old foods so trying to keep track of how much money we are really going to be spending won't come till later. So far I'm still trying to tweak out what I'm trying to accomplish and make everything work into my overloaded schedule. So far, its been pretty hard. The hardest part has been breaking years and years of habit. The supermarket marathon, running to each food item you have been buying for years popping it into the basket and move on. Usually at least for me you have a child in tow, touching things, running up and down isles, asking/begging/whining/crying/and or full blown melt down mid isle on the floor screaming, eating and opening packages behind your back, etc etc etc. So I've needed to be in and out which when you have to read every package and label for organic labeling and or no GMO's it makes it difficult. Fortunately for me I have worked in natural food stores and know by the labels and name brands what are good to buy and which are less expensive relative to each other. Doing your research will really be helpful in the end. Also I have found that even asking someone where so foods are or where to find them helpful as well.
This month I shopped only at Market Baskets near where I live to see what I could find closest to my old food items. It was relatively easy to find most staples of our diet in organic brands, eg. yogurt, bread, milk, eggs. Where it started to get tricky was when we were at the veggies and fruits, in Market Basket and most super markets they only have one small isle with both organic vegetables and fruits on one side. Meat, beans, and cheese were almost impossible to find organic. I was able to find "all natural" chicken but it wasn't organic and it was very expensive.
Over all it was disappointing, mostly I believe because of where we live. I have had to make many changes in our diet over night mostly because we are no stretching our food budget much thinner. However, on the positive side I am becoming much more efficient and creative with my cooking. Moreover, the food has tasted infinitely better and our energy levels have increased. It being mid winter when usually we spend most of our time laying on the couch, now we are playing outside and have not been sick nearly as often as last winter.