10 Reasons Why You Should Buy Food in Bulk
Buying food in bulk just makes good plain sense, here's why:
Save Money
Okay, this one may seem obvious, but I really believe that people underestimate just how much they can save by buying in bulk. One great example is rice, since it is an item that most people purchase regularly. I buy 25 lb bags of brown rice for $15 dollars at the Bulk Food Outlet in Athens, OH, which comes out to 60 cents per pound. At Walmart, 28 oz packages of Mahatma Long Grain Brown Rice, is sold for $2.26, coming out to $1.29 per pound. That's more than twice as expensive!
At Honeyville, one of my favorite online bulk food stores, I can buy 50 lbs of ORGANIC red wheat berries and grind it myself for just $56 (including shipping), or $1.12/lb. At Walmart, just two pounds of organic red wheat berries, costs $6.46, or $3.23/lb, which is almost three times more expensive!
I know that prices vary by location and season, but this just to show that you really can find huge savings on bulk food.
Afford More Organic Food
When I first started buying food and cooking on a very tight budget, I often lamented that I couldn't afford organic food. This is an argument against buying organic that I hear often from others as well. Well, with the money I save buying food in bulk, I am able to afford more organic options. I can't afford to buy organic, whole wheat bread from the store or farmer's market, but if I make my own bread and buy wheat in bulk, it is definitely within the budget. Not to mention that I can make many other items with that wheat, like waffles and pasta!
Online, from Honeyville, that 50 lb bag of organic red wheat that I was talking about above is only $5 more expensive than the 50 lb bag of conventionally grown wheat that they sell. At only 10 cents more a pound, that is something I can fit into my tight budget.
Learn How to Cook From Scratch
When you buy most of your food in bulk, you don't have ready made food products, you have real ingredients. If you've been wanting to learn how to cook, buying bulk food is a great first step to push yourself to do it. When you have real food ingredients on hand, you have to learn how to use them up, and it can be a pretty steep learning curve for some people. When you learn to cook like your grandma did, though, you food will not only be better for you, it will be much more delicious than any frozen meal you can buy.
Have a Healthier Diet
Most storebought food with more than one ingredient, even organic food that is seemingly wholesome, usually has a whole plethora of preservatives in it. These preservatives are necessary when the food that your buying isn't fresh, but cooking a fresh meal from scratch eliminates artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. You also have more control over the amount of each ingredient in your food. Many packaged foods have extremely high levels of sugar in them. If you make it yourself, though, you will be able to see exactly how much sugar you are adding to your food, making you less likely to over do it.
Stop Running Out
Isn't it annoying when you come home late from work, you're rushing to get dinner on the table, and you realize that you've run out of a key ingredient? Well, when you have huge quantities of food on hand, you are much less likely to run out of anything, giving you endless cooking possibilities!
Save Yourself a Trip to the Store
When you don't run out, you don't have to run out to the store. This not only saves you time, but also money on gas and impulse buys. Can you walk into a grocery store without buying something that wasn't on your list? I know I can't, so if I'm going to save money I have to minimize the number of times I go into a store. Buying in bulk means I only have to go to the store once or twice a month.
Emergency Preparedness
I am not a prepper, this is not a prepper blog, but it does give me peace of mind that if a natural disaster happened or we became completely broke and had no income, we could still eat for at least a couple of months. This is especially important if you live in the city where you could lose all access to food in a number of hours in a disaster.
Build Community
In order for buying in bulk to work, you have to buy large quantities of food. But what if you only want a smaller portion, but you want it at the same low price? You can go in on bulk food with your friends, family, or neighbors and then split it up between two or three people.
No bulk food stores close to you? You can buy online and get free shipping! One company that allows you to do this, *Azure, sells bulk food with non-gmo and organic options. They way that they reduce shipping costs is by sending your order, and other people's orders, by truck to a drop off point once or twice a month. You do have to go pick it up, but in most cities, there are many points, so finding one close to you shouldn't be a problem. If there isn't one, you can start your own and get others in your community to sign up too!
*not a sponsor, I just think it's cool
Make Money
The great thing about starting your own drop off point with Azure is that they actually pay you to do it! For every truckload worth the minimum $1000 worth of product sent to your drop off point, they pay you $15 and $5 for every $500 of product after that. What this means is that you get $15 off every single order with them minimum and the more people you convince to join your drop, the more money you get!
Reduce Food Packaging waste
Plastic food packaging sucks! Americans produce millions of pounds of trash each year, 220 million to be exact, a large percentage of which is food wrappers. This pollutes our land, water, and air, making the earth a much less hospitable place to live, not only for flora and fauna, but for us, our children, and our grandchildren. Buying food in bulk reduces the amount of waste we produce because larger quantities simply need less packaging in the long run than many, small packages. Bulk packaging also tends to come in packaging that is reusable, recylcable, or compostable. Much of it comes in 5 gallon buckets, which can be reused for many years. Other bulk food, like flour often comes in large paper bags, which can be reused as bags, mulch for your garden, drawing paper for kids, whatever you want, or can simply be composted or burned in your woodstove.
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Disclaimer: This blog is just my opinion, nothing more. While I try my hardest, everything may not be accurage or complete. Do not hold me accountable for anything you do to harm yourself or the world around you. I do make money from this blog. If you click on any of the links in this blog, I make a small amount of money from it, at no extra cost to you. I am not sponsored by any of these companies, I just honestly love these products and want to give you the resources to find them. I am not a medican practictioner; consult a health professional before using any herbal remedies. I am not claiming to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any ailment.
