Minimizing lifetime cost of food

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ben2000s
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Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ben2000s »

I want to minimize my lifetime food expenses: canned fish, grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables. I really prefer organic because it is eco-friendlier.
My 2 on-going topics of research.
1. Where do I source these organic items in bulk for the cheapest price?
So far, I can only think of amazon.
2. How do I store these for the long run without losing nutritional value?
I am starting with this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Year-Without-Gro ... 1984037048

Any advice/answers to either questions.

jacob
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by jacob »

https://www.azurestandard.com/
5 gal buckets w/ gamma seals for the dry goods.

AxelHeyst
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by AxelHeyst »

+1 Azure standard. That book looks interesting. Another place to look for information is the LDS, they have a ton of resources and have been doing food prep for quite some time. Look up the LDS Preparedness Manual for starters, which is free.

mathiverse
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by mathiverse »

If you live near farms or if you can get to them, then you can buy meat and some produce and grains in bulk from them. Even if you live in the city, you may be able to find a source that will deliver for a reasonable fee. For example, this guy on reddit called around to farmers near Toronto and found one who delivers to a store near his house and got cheap delivery that way. https://www.reddit.com/r/leanfire/comme ... g/iqjkjmf/

I also read in Possum Living that you can find cheap human-edible grains at a feed and grain store, but given that you are in NYC, those probably aren't near you.

ben2000s
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ben2000s »

jacob wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:25 pm
https://www.azurestandard.com/
5 gal buckets w/ gamma seals for the dry goods.
Azure standard is recommended in the book but the reviews are conflicting.

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/azurestandard.com
https://www.facebook.com/azurestandard/reviews

Do you guys use them?

ben2000s
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ben2000s »

mathiverse wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:00 pm
If you live near farms or if you can get to them, then you can buy meat and some produce and grains in bulk from them. Even if you live in the city, you may be able to find a source that will deliver for a reasonable fee. For example, this guy on reddit called around to farmers near Toronto and found one who delivers to a store near his house and got cheap delivery that way. https://www.reddit.com/r/leanfire/comme ... g/iqjkjmf/

I also read in Possum Living that you can find cheap human-edible grains at a feed and grain store, but given that you are in NYC, those probably aren't near you.
I love that idea. I can talk to local farmers at farmers' markets.

bostonimproper
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by bostonimproper »

Never used Azure Standard, but have found bulk commercial suppliers to be pretty good. Many are regional, but I use Webstaurant for a decent number of dried goods.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by Western Red Cedar »

For some inspiration on extreme approaches to minimizing food costs, you should check out Rob Greenfield and Mark Boyle. Greenfield has a pretty large YouTube presence and provides different options for acquiring high-quality food based on different living circumstances.

https://www.robgreenfield.org

viewtopic.php?t=11013

Boyle is a big advocate of dumpster diving. It might not be the right strategy for you, but other forum members have confirmed that you can, in fact, find organic food that is tossed for various reasons. He talks about other strategies as well. Here is a link to a free PDF of his Moneyless Manifesto:

https://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive ... Boyle).pdf

Growing your own or connecting with a local farm or community garden is going to be one of your best bets from an ERE perspective. I'm guessing that isn't too easy for someone in NYC though. I live in an apartment with pretty poor light, but I've managed to grow a few different varieties of herbs in my windowsill year round, which is a small but simple way to cut down on grocery prices and add a pop of flavor to my cooking. I can expand on that setup in the summer on my patio.

I generally stay away from Amazon as much as possible. We use Vitacost - https://www.vitacost.com - a few times per year to purchase certain organic staples, vitamins, and some household items. They usually offer discount codes at least every few months so we get 15-20% off the total and free shipping.

We also have some discount stores where I am able to source organic products. That can be a game changer in terms of cutting costs.

Our household approach ultimately comes down to a combination of growing our own, getting fresh produce in the summer from my parents' garden, vitacost, discount grocery stores, ethnic stores, and regular grocery stores. We also freeze and ferment regularly which is a good way to leverage low-cost or homegrown, in-season produce.

AxelHeyst
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by AxelHeyst »

ben2000s wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:57 pm
Azure standard is recommended in the book but the reviews are conflicting.
...
Do you guys use them?
Yes. I started using them in 2020, and began using them again now that I'm back in one place. It's my first choice of getting bulk food and equipment (caveat again: I'm relatively new to this space).

guitarplayer
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by guitarplayer »

mathiverse wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 2:00 pm
I also read in Possum Living that you can find cheap human-edible grains at a feed and grain store, but given that you are in NYC, those probably aren't near you.
I have been recently wondering if there is something especially inferior about peanut kernels sold as bird feed. Saw someone giving a package away recently.

I got inspired by this thread and went to the website of the UK wholesaler we have been using. Got 70kg of dry beans and grains for about $145 (needed to stock up on pulses and grains anyway) and because of discounts around this time of the year, we got 2kg of organic nuts as a bonus. So thanks!

sky
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by sky »

The Seventh Day Adventist church promotes a vegetarian diet. Where I live, the best place to buy bulk food is a store run by this church. I don't know if is the cheapest, in fact, it may be more expensive to get organic food. Maybe you have something similar in your area.

Country Life Natural Food
https://countrylifefoods.com/

horsewoman
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by horsewoman »

Not to be flippant, but the best way to spend less on food long-term is to eat less.
GERD issues forced me to drastically reduce my food intake - I probably eat half of the calories I consumed 5 years ago, and while I lost some weight, I'm still just a regular slim person.
The first few months suck, but after getting used to smaller and fewer meals it's just normal.
I'm kinda amazed these days how I stuffed myself all those years.

ertyu
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ertyu »

horsewoman wrote:
Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:04 pm
Not to be flippant, but the best way to spend less on food long-term is to eat less.
GERD issues forced me to drastically reduce my food intake - I probably eat half of the calories I consumed 5 years ago, and while I lost some weight, I'm still just a regular slim person.
The first few months suck, but after getting used to smaller and fewer meals it's just normal.
I'm kinda amazed these days how I stuffed myself all those years.
Will you tell the story of how you ate before vs how you ate after and what changes you made? Now that you're at your "new normal" do you feel differently? Do you observe having different amounts of energy day to day, for instance?

ZAFCorrection
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ZAFCorrection »

@horsewoman makes a good point about considering reducing consumption quantity if you have some margin there. I found significant savings in cost and time by cutting back on how much I ate. I also got my weight back down, which has other health/energy benefits.

horsewoman
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by horsewoman »

ertyu wrote:
Tue Nov 29, 2022 9:51 pm
Will you tell the story of how you ate before vs how you ate after and what changes you made? Now that you're at your "new normal" do you feel differently? Do you observe having different amounts of energy day to day, for instance?
The main change was going from 3 sqaure meals + snacks + sweets to 16/8 intermittent fasting. Due to reflux I can't eat after 5 in the afternoon without suffering for it in the night. So that is my cut-off point for the day, there will be only tap water after 5. On most days I have my first meal around 9 in the morning, sometimes 8.

I don't know about energy levels, but I used to get nauseous and faint pretty quickly when I did not eat at my usual hours. This has completely disappeared, skipping meals is no big deal these days. At first, I lost quite some weight, and dropped into "slightly underweight" territory (due to my height that happens easily).
But I've regained some of it, and now I’ve been for months at a very healthy place (BMI of 22, in Germany 21-27 is considered "normal weight"). Now that I’m slowly approaching menopause I note a slight "love handle" growing, so I’m cutting back on sweets. :lol:

I have to add for context that 5 years ago I worked a physically demanding job (cleaning up after 10 horses 7 days a week), and now I sit at a desk for 5 hours a day 4 days of the week, with only 4 horses to care for. So I probably need considerably fewer calories right now.

This whole experiment has rally opened my eyes to the way we tend to overeat in the "first world". I will not lie, the first few months of eating so little were really miserable. I was hungry and irritated constantly, until I gradually got used to it. My guess is, without the psychological and physical strain the reflux imposed on me, I would not have kept at it. But it is worthwhile in the end, not only for health reasons but also in respect to save resources (food & and money), and to be less dependent on external supply (greater resilience in hard times).

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by Western Red Cedar »

This is a great point @horsewoman! Experimenting with fasting is an excellent way to limit food costs and while providing other benefits (simplicity, health, mental clarity, discipline, etc.). I've been utilizing intermittent fasting for a couple years now, but would like to incorporate longer fasts at some point in the future.

ben2000s
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ben2000s »

jacob wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 1:25 pm
https://www.azurestandard.com/
5 gal buckets w/ gamma seals for the dry goods.
Sadly does not deliver to NYC.

ben2000s
Posts: 44
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:13 pm

Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ben2000s »

Western Red Cedar wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:03 pm
For some inspiration on extreme approaches to minimizing food costs, you should check out Rob Greenfield and Mark Boyle. Greenfield has a pretty large YouTube presence and provides different options for acquiring high-quality food based on different living circumstances.

https://www.robgreenfield.org

Boyle is a big advocate of dumpster diving. It might not be the right strategy for you, but other forum members have confirmed that you can, in fact, find organic food that is tossed for various reasons. He talks about other strategies as well. Here is a link to a free PDF of his Moneyless Manifesto:

https://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive ... Boyle).pdf
Thank you for introducing me to Rob Greenfield. Because you shared him, I am 4 days free of plastic packaging.

ben2000s
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by ben2000s »

So far, amazon.com has the best online prices for organic, bulk goods. I like the idea of negotiating with farmers for bulk deals, but in NYC farmers market prices are insane, so I can't imagine succeeding there, but I'll try.

shaz
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Re: Minimizing lifetime cost of food

Post by shaz »

So far this is the best I have found that will deliver for free (with minimums) to my house: https://essentialorganicingredients.com/

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