Eating Organic on a Budget | 7 Days for £30 | By Zofia Page
A little Intro
Last year, I set up Gifts of the Earth – a community-focused initiative with a simple goal: to make organic and regenerative food more affordable and accessible to everyone.
This is something that I’ve been passionate about for almost a decade, but after completing an MSc in Sustainable Food, the urgency of switching to food grown in harmony with the earth and communities quickly became my core focus.
Why organic?
The facts are hard to ignore. Industrial conventional’ farming is killing our planet. Relying on synthetic pesticides, it has contributed to an estimated 69% decrease in animals, fish, and amphibian species since 1970[reference]. Meanwhile, the synthetic fertiliser it relies on to intensify production contributes to 2.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions and– due to its reliance on monoculture and overgrazing – 90% of the world’s soil could be degraded by 2025 (FAO 2020). Our waterways are also suffering, with agricultural pollution being the main factor in the degradation of inland and coastal waters in most high-income countries (Mateo-Sagasta 2017).
Human health is also suffering: artificial pesticides are linked to chronic diseases such as brain cancer, breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s (Ahmad et al. 2024); and cause an estimated 385 million cases of pesticide poisonings and 11,000 deaths every single year(UNEP 2022).
Yet, food isn’t just part of the problem: it’s also a potential solution. When grown using organic, regenerative, and agroecological methods, farming can restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and even help absorb carbon from the atmosphere. It’s also better for us research shows that organic food is higher in antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, and it reduces our exposure to chemicals, benefitting our health, as well as those who actually grow the food that we eat.
So, why isn’t everyone buying organic food?
Simple: the price. Coming from an extremely fortunate background, I know this might seem ‘rich’ coming from me. I want to make it clear that I am not directing this at everyone; and especially not at anyone struggling to put food on the table. But, being on a lower income than most of my friends and having lived on organic food for £25/week during my uni years (the same amount most spent on non-organic food), I do wish to inspire those that are fortunate enough to be able to make the shift to do so. Not just for the earth, but for the communities suffering the consequences of an exploitative food system.
Now, a quick disclaimer: organic food does cost more. But, with a few adjustments, it’s possible to eat a varied, plant-rich, and healthy diet that supports farmers, communities, nature, our health, and budget.
So how? I do this by implementing five basic principles:(1) buying refill and loose products not only reduces plastic, but it also massively reduces costs; (2) revolving my diet around pulses and legumes – some of the cheapest ingredients out there; (3) eating (mostly seasonally); (4)cooking in batches; and (5) savouring every piece, making sure that nothing goes to waste
Budget
The last time I did this challenge, I set a budget of £25 per week. However, due to inflation, things have gotten a bit pricier.
On average, people in the UK now spend around £42 a week on food – £34 on groceries, £8 on eating out. So, for this round, I’ve increased my budget to £30 per week, which doesn’t include cupboard staples like oils, salt, pepper, spices, and vinegar. I kept the budget lower to account for these ingredients, but in the future, I plan to do a similar breakdown with more detailed calculations on the cost of each meal based on the amount of each ingredient used (e.g., 1 tbsp of coconut oil = 15p, 1 tsp of cinnamon = 15p) to give a more accurate reflection of prices.
Produce: Seasons Wholefoods
Last time, I based the budget on produce purchased in bulk online, along with fresh ingredients from my local health food shop, Seasons. This time, I wanted to keep things even simpler, to minimise transportation, and to support a local business at the forefront of creating positive ripples of change. So, I bought everything exclusively from Seasons – a local business that is going the extra mile: not only is it committed to sourcing organic food, but it also has a considerable zero-waste station, only buys flight-free produce, is carbon neutral, and has recently become a B Corp! You can find the full breakdown of costs for both the fresh and dry produce at the end of the PDF.
Sharing and Donations
If this guide has been helpful to you, I’d be so grateful if you could share it with others and if you could tag me at @foodgiftsoftheearth and @zofiapage! And if you feel moved to, it would mean a lot if you’d consider making a donation to my PayPal at zofia.jade.page@gmail.com.Your support will help keep this work going.
Thank You
I hope this guide inspires and empowers you to make choices that you might not have considered otherwise, remembering that every single time that we eat, we have the opportunity to plant the seed for a future that nourishes us all.
With deep gratitude,
Zofia
