Why do organic plums taste so good?

[Blueberry]

I'm going to throw out an unpopular opinion:

Sometimes, it's a matter of how much work you are willing to put in and how many convenience foods you are willing to give up in order to be able to afford to eat food that is 1) organic and 2) grown in a more sustainable fashion. If you don't plan, don't want to put in the time to cook, and don't want to be organized about packing food, then yep - it's expensive.

When DH and I were in college, we did not eat out. We couldn't afford to. We cooked all of our own meals, and just didn't eat much meat.

Even now, I make my own granola instead of buying pricey cereal with who knows what added to it; I usually cook my own beans instead of buying canned; I make my own yogurt instead of buying it - organic milk is way cheaper than organic yogurt; I buy foods in bulk instead of pretty packages; I shop the same farmers at the market and know who will give me a deal/save extra good stuff for me (and they, in turn, know I will buy from them in preference). You still can't drag me in a Starbucks - if it's the only option when I travel, I will get a drip coffee. I will not buy their convenience foods (scones, sandwiches, etc.). I do eat out, but it's selective. I know where I can get good, healthy food, and not break the bank. However, I'm going back to school. My budget is getting ready to be more limited - and I'm going to prioritize my organic rolled oats over eating out; same with my organic milk.

I do recognize that there are some people whose budgets are so limited that they are already doing all of these things and they can barely afford to get by. Those are not the people I'm talking about. I have a LOT of sympathy for those people. I have too many acquaintances who will say they're too poor to eat well and that we spend "so much" money on food, and then stop for a latte and a scone twice a day, eat sushi takeout for lunch or Chipotle, order pizza for dinner, go out for Chinese food several times a week, etc., etc. They need to re-prioritize a bit, IMO.

[GLC1968]

I have too many acquaintances who will say they're too poor to eat well and that we spend "so much" money on food, and then stop for a latte and a scone twice a day, eat sushi takeout for lunch or Chipotle, order pizza for dinner, go out for Chinese food several times a week, etc., etc. They need to re-prioritize a bit, IMO.

I totally agree with this. In fact, today is day 30 of a 30-day stretch of 100% super clean eating that my husband and I have been doing (Whole30). As part of this, we have been spending quite a bit more on food than we usually do (did you know that Starkist albacore tuna pouches are packed in soybean broth? - to avoid that, I'm buying Wild Planet tuna pouches at $3.50 a pop!) and eating a very large quantity of it. At first, we both balked at it quite a bit. BUT, when we realized that 98% of all meals MUST be made at home now, we realized that in fact, we were saving money. For us, eating out and groceries were from two different budgets and I'm sure we weren't the only ones to think of it that way. When we put both costs together, the ridiculous amount of money we are spending on groceries now is tempered quite a bit by our lack of dinning out.