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How to Afford Healthy Foods

How to afford healthy foods (Updated 10-28-09) can begin by reviewing the following options and follow the links or... scroll down to read the titles that interest you.

Buy bulk nuts and seeds and save on packaging costs - Natural Zing and Love Street Living Foods are great places to save money buying foods in bulk plus... so much more.
Learn how to dehydrate food to save money on healthy snacks - more to come on this soon.
Grow sprouts instead of purchasing them - Raw and Living Foods has valuable information on sprouting as well as some great recipes.
Grow a vegetable garden on your patio or backyard - You can watch a short video about the Earthbox at The Patch, a page contributed by a friend in Clearwater, Florida.
Shop your local farmer's market to get higher quality for less cost - more ideas along this line... Organic Food Sources

Earn extra income by learning how to make money online - just scroll down to the bottom of this page and watch a short video. This is really a great way to afford healthy foods!

Please feel free to Ask a Question here.

Buy Seeds and Nuts in Bulk

When you buy in bulk, you save quite a bit as you avoid the packaging costs. Some health food stores have bulk bins where you take as much as you need at a reduced price.

There are some problems though that you should be aware of. I am finding that many seed products are imported from other countries. Companies here in the United States can buy from the same agent. The quality of seeds and nuts may be good, but there's more to know. Here are three things I look for in quality.

Grown Organically, Sustainably or Wildcrafted by reputable sources.
A customer service that provides honest information about their products when asked for.
The company accepts and uses feedback from their customers to improve their product quality.

Example: I was happy with one company until I found plastic residue in my chia seeds. When I called their customer service, it took a lengthy conversation to find out what the plastic residue might be.

She finally consulted the packaging supervisor who indicated it was clippings from a larger bag when they sorted the seeds into the smaller 5 lb bags. I was told they would be more careful next time.

I was told by customer service that it was my responsibility to look for foreign particles that may get into seeds, nuts and beans during processing. There was no apology, and there was no indication on the bag that there might be foreign particles inside.

This same company packaged the bulk chia seeds in very thin paper bags and then placed each bag in a plastic bag, (not zip lock). Upon opening the plastic bag, the seeds spilled out easily in all directions, and I had to have help getting them into another container.

When bringing this to the attention of their customer service, I was told that was the standard way they packaged their bulk and there was no indication to me they would change when I asked.

There are many companies out there. Some are better than others. Customer service plays a big role in keeping customers happy. Building trust is a major part of that. The above three points are important to know when trying to save money to afford healthy foods. It can be quite time consuming and costly to correct products or discard them from uncaring companies.

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Dehydrate Food and Save Big Time on Snack Foods

We were buying the raw, organic, dehydrated sunflower and pumpkin seeds every week. They are lightly salted and are a great way to get extra high quality protein. Glen and I each eat about 1/4 cup every day as part of our breakfast. We were paying about $25 a week, for these seeds. It's very hard to afford healthy foods when you are paying these kind of prices.

Finally we purchased a dehydrator and found a company (now looking for a better one) over the Internet that sold the raw organic seeds in 5 pound packages. We now make our own dehydrated seeds. This reduced our cost of these two foods to about $7 a week. That's a 72% savings. The dehydrator has definitely paid for itself and we now have more money to spend on other items.

If you are in to snack foods, definitely learn how to dehydrate food. You can save a lot on healthy snack foods which is really a great way to afford healthy foods.

We will be adding more on recipes for dehydrated foods. This is really a great way to save money on snack foods.

Growing Sprouts Has Many Rewards

When you grow your own sprouts you add variety to your diet and increase your nutrition. They are fresher and less expensive than the ones you find in the stores. And, this is another way to afford healthy foods. Good quality seeds are alot cheaper than sprouts.

When seeds get wet, they start to grow. Enzymes come alive and begin processing the elements from the air, the water and the seed itself. The result - more nutrients from the seeds.

"On an average, sprouting seeds triple their amount of Vitamin A, increase Vitamin C from 5 to 6 times, and grow the Vitamin Bs alone by a whopping 300% in just 3 to 6 days. Complex starches are converted into simple sugars making sprouts easy to digest raw and quick to cook." -Referrence: http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Sprouts

Grow Your Own Vegetable Garden

Growing a vegetable garden on your patio or backyard is very do-able. This is a great way to increase your ability to afford healthy foods. There are excellent books on this subject. You don't even have to have a lot of room. As food prices increase, we would all be wise to take a look at this option. Here are a few books you might look at to gather more insight.

Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
Grow Vegetables: Gardens - Yards - Balconies - Roof Terraces

Shop Your Local Farmer's Market for More Savings

You can get the best foods at the lowest prices from your local farmer's market if you have one. Even local farmer's sometimes have roadside stands with fresh organic or sustainably grown produce. When I began looking for new ways to afford healthy foods, this was my first choice.

One more thought here. You may be close to farmers that provide food through a . This option provides the highest quality foods but you'll have to examine how it affects your costs. It may vary from area to area.

The greatest solution on how to afford healthy foods is simple, make more money. If you haven't done so yet, take a look at how to make money online before you leave this page. It will give you something to seriously think about that is a good option in affording healthy foods.

Or, just Make Extra Money...

We found a system that is easy to learn through a step by step program. You learn and then do that step, then learn some more and do the next step, and so on. You end up with a completed website that actually generates income. It's a remarkable system.

If you have a real desire to increase your income, this is something you may want to look into.

Here is a short video to see if you want to look further.

Please feel free to email me if you have questions or comments. I am always happy to respond.

Or... Go here right now to Ask a Question. You'll be sharing your question and responses with others.

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