When I grocery shop, I do not look at the price unless it is excessive. I instead try to decipher through labeling (yes, click on this link and you might learn something new about how they try to trick us) what I should buy for my family to eat. My husband was the leader in our movement toward organic a couple of years ago. Now I too look for USDA Certified Organic, which is the best we can do next to going to a farmer's market, growing our own, or hunting and gathering. I also look to see from where the product was shipped. I'm interested in the food that has the most nutrients, fewest contaminants, and was grown closest to home.
It is not stressful to shop this way, but it is expensive. However, I do think it is less expensive than buying packaged and processed food, because that you tend to eat more of because of the low fiber and nutrients and also waste because it doesn't taste that great. We usually spend over $200 every week or two. This week we already had a lot of vegetables, some fruit, cheese and free-range chicken eggs on hand, so the bill was only $100. Not much packaging to recycle. Mostly fruits and veggies. And a pack of markers, for our son's preschool class. It would be a bit more if I had to buy soap or toilet paper, but our diaper bill is really nothing, just the cost of electricity for the washer, maybe $5/month. There ya go, boys, compare that to what you eat and spend on your families 30 years from now.
