Why We DON'T Eat ORGANIC
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
- Food for thought today.
45 Gallons of Strawberries Video: • Why We DON'T Eat ORGANIC
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Keep The Comments Classy Y'all :)
Ain't nobody mad atcha. We all see you're doing what you can where you can.
LOVE LOVE LOVE yalls channel! Love your response and your sweet kind character!
yes indeed me too
ART and BRI tell that you love Jesus Christ may God bless you and your family having a farm you're very hard-working woman God bless you and many more I hope and pray you love Jesus Christ what's I know you do and you can tell that you love Jesus Christ you can see happiness all over your eyes. Can see it in your husband's eyes and your children only seen one child though and this film I did in the other film I did only seen one little girl when she's eating the watermelon I'm sure you have more than one
Classiness has no place on TH-cam ;-)
Farmers reality is rich farmers sell poor quality food to poor people and poor farmers sell high quality food to rich people.
lol good one
PANTTERA1959 that is correct!!
Never thought about it that way, but that is sadly accurate.
Stupid people buy on propaganda and smart people buy on work. Organic is a hoax. You are being lied to. Just buy at the grocery store wash your produce and sleep well.
It's not just a matter of washing something. It's also (hopefully) using your dollars to support farmers that engage in farming practices you support. That's why I prefer to buy from local farms that do as much as they can in a sustainable and ethical fashion, even if they don't have the "organic" label
It makes me sad that you had to do this type of video but as a watcher of several different youtube channels people do tend to think they have the right to tell you how to live your life. :-) I'm glad that Art and you have had intelligent conversations and responses and have not coward down to the bully's. I think your channel is one of the best on the web! :-)
You are so far ahead of most of us.....the fact you think about your food and are intentional. You have a wonderful family and you and Art are doing wonderful things!!!!
We sell organic mangos but using the term 'organic' is too expensive for the average farmer because you have to have their technicians test your plants and soil twice a year and also pay for certification That cost has to be passed on to the consumer, and it often prices the produce beyond the budget of the average consumer. IMO the term, organic, is a vanity phrase.
EH CBunny exactly! its latest buzz word.
EH CBunny i agree maybe labeling like no pesticides used or label grown bio-degradably....i'm anoid when i c things like organic coconuts..."really"....that term is used loosely and price just went up
Many conscious farmers don't use hazardous chemicals because they know they are the first to be affected by its use. I prefer buying my produce directly from farmer's markets where I can talk with the farmer and find out what was used in their fields.
+melinda Lancaster I have a bottle of over priced coconut oil and that states it's GMO free. What the average consumer doesn't know is all coconuts are GMO free because no one has genetically modified coconuts
Exactly...not to mention 'who sprays coconuts' ...ppl will spend the money on the labeling.
If you pull the stem and cover leaves of the strawberries with your thumb and a tea spoon you will loose much less of the fruit.
Your videos give me hope that humanity is not to far gone and can be saved, thank you.
My grandma used a grapefruit spoon.
She's doing 5 gallons! She doesn't want to be switching between different instruments so she's sticking with a knife.
Those will not go to waste. In my house the kids would be grabbing them to eat the good parts off. I'm sure the chickens will LOVE them... and then they get turned into eggs.
Maria Hurley My chickens love,love the leftover part of the strawberry! I really love that nothing goes to waste.
My chickens go craaaaazy for strawberry tops!😂👍
Yes, I just twist them out with my fingers and there's no loss of a quarter of the fruit. I don't use any tools for that other than my fingers.
you hit the nail on the head! I have a very low fixed income and am on food stamps ( retired on disability, and a senior citizen ) I applaud you for bringing this topic up.
Same here m wait and i about fell out when i heard her food budget , the gov gives me 18 dollars a month for food .... good luck living on that. haha
You can buy any edible seed, herbs, trees, plants etc with foodstamps.
Jess Hahn a disabled senior citizen may not be able to care for plants in order to grow their own, and might not have the room for it either. I live on the 3rd floor, am not allowed to have more than 2 houseplants ( no fruits or veggies) on that balcony, and am not allowed to use the shared lawn in our condo complex to grow anything. I am also too sick to get down the stairs on my own, so I rely on grocery delivery to get my food to me. Not everyone owns or rents a home with a yard that produce can be grown in...
Yes, sweets08816 - You tell it like it is!
Same boat here. Life is about balance and sacrifice sometimes. I too would rather save money by buying conventional food and be able to put that money towards being able to produce my own food in the long term. i wish there was a way to afford to buy local organic everything at the same time, but right now we have to choose, and we choose the former too.
Great video today Bri!
A little about me and my eating habits: I live on my own now, left home at 17 in 2007. Over the years my tastes have changed and cravings for junk food went way down. I learned that what I ate was mostly packaged (even the juice/beverages) And living in a shared home with roommates doesn't really give me wiggle-room to grown anything in the yard. I started small, no more sugary juices/pop (I put a pot of boiling water in the fridge with a teabag, next morning I added a bit of apple juice for sweetener.. LOVELY iced tea everyday now) Next I gave up using the microwave, it encouraged me to use my frying pan to heat all my leftovers, etc (plus I actually.. ya know... COOKED instead of buying instant burritos lol) Nowadays I have noticed I cant even eat chocolate & chips too much without feeling ill. So I like to think my body is much better at rejecting garbage foods than my earlier self ahha
cheers!
I applaud your bravery, transparency, and polite response to critics. We have had to make similar sacrifices that we end up keeping out of our video content to avoid the critical (almost hate speech) commentary. We used to pay 10$ a gallon for organic, grass fed, non homogonised milk. It was something the budget could not sustain long term! Because we had bought property with fencing, albeit old and abused, we were able to buy a family milk cow as soon as the funds were there. If, like you, we had a property w/o fencing we would absolutely would have had to go back to regular old non organic milk till the fencing was in!! :) Awesome video guys!
So thankful we do not have to buy milk any more! We are drinking the healthiest most delicious milk available right now.
Art and Homesteading The cows are eating GMO corn etc and is toxic, even if labeled no Brst hormones...Glyphosate goes by beyond your brain's defenses!!! Through the blood brain barrier and causes harm and they know it but don't care...population control. It is outlawed in EU. Suggest switching maybe to coconut or almond milk until you can go back. We have Trader Joes $5-6 fir gallon organic but drive there. Costs more than gas... another idea I add purified water to whole milk to stretch it in my coffee and do fine. No lil ones running around anymore they are grown. lol but maybe save jugs and water them then use organic and make 2 1/2 or so from it.😉
I was very happy to find a local dairy that sells raw, whole "Pet Milk". (Selling for human consumption is illegal in FL, but we just drink the "Pet" milk fresh from the cow, at $7.00/gal) I would never drink any pasteurized or homogenized milk, as it is poison.
@@sueregan2782 I found some of that "pet" milk here too ....curious to go buy some. They said bring a 5 gallon bucket and 20 bucks...fresh from the jersey cow! :) so exciting can't wait!
I am not a homesteader but I'm on a fixed income and I just can't afford to buy any organic its just too expensive and I can barely buy regular food it's so expensive to eat healthy and it makes no since to me why a salad cost triple what a hamburger cost blows my mind I am growing my own this year is my first year having my own garden so hopefully the Lord will have His hand on it and it will flourish and I can eat healthier love y'alls videos
God bless your garden! Try to plant a little more than you hope for to allow for pests & failures so you don't get discouraged ;) Hope it goes beautifully!
It makes perfect sense. Being of frugal, Scottish extraction, I was getting frustrated watching you 'waste' the tops of those strawberries (I always just flick out the stems.), but then I realized they won't be wasted, because they'll be a treat for your chickens and eventually end up inside you guys, anyway.
Yes 'organic' food from the grocery is so much more costly. I can't justify it either, but I do like to shop the local farmer's market in the summer.
I love this video! I seriously did! Lots! To support our homestead, hubby works 2 jobs which equals 70-80 hours a week, I work 40, sometimes it seems not enough, but we do what we can with what we have when we have it. We are raising our own turkeys (4), laying hens (13) and meat birds, 30 of them that will be processed in a few weeks - then we'll do 30 more.
Our friend is raising a pig for us and a few ducks. So by the middle of fall, we'll have 60 chickens, a 350-400 lb pig, 4 turkeys and a few ducks in our freezer. All in all I think that we will have spent about $500 for all of that meat (purchasing the animals, feeding and housing them). Buying that kind of meat in the store, the local organic meat. would be more than double that, considering an organic chicken sold in our local organic store is a good $14/chicken.
We have a good size garden that we just planted onions, radishes and horseradish into. We have to wait a few more week until after our last frost to plant everything else. Hubby actually mapped out the garden this year so we can plant more and have more control over what goes where.
We cut our monthly food budget down a bit by doing a monthly menu. It's getting more difficult because I can not longer eat gluten or dairy - so the price goes back up to get those products.
I just figure that when we're old and grey and rocking in our rocking chairs on the front deck, we will then be self sufficient :) But it's worth waiting for and working for :)
Great job Bri! You seem so much more secure and confident since the conference! You go girl! 😆
My husband and I are putting together our homestead. Cost and building infrastructure is the backbone of a homestead. We too needed a fence to keep the deer and chickens out. In the mean time we planted using a simple cheap low tunnel over each row. This kept the crops warm and the animals out. BUT every time we took the covers off we had to put the chickens away and make sure we covered everything up before we left. Last year we just put an orange plastic snow fence around it. This year we got fence for half price at our farm store and finally on Saturday put our fence up. It is amazing what a fence does for a garden. I totally understand the need to sacrifice in one area to be able to move your dream forward. You are doing it right.
They had a low tunnel on a crop and the deer ripped it off and ate all of the plants so that is not a reality for them. A neighbor takes in baby deer and releases them so they have an unnaturaly large population there.
Oh that is terrible. We have many deer that walk right up to our house, but none of them have pulled off my low tunnels. Wow, Those are motivated deer.
Yes, our deer are not afraid of humans. They will walk right up to us and just hang out.
Talk about healthy meat! A couple of deer for the freezer is always a welcome site in my cabin!
I completely agree! We are a family of 8 and doing our very best to raise what we can. Like you said do your best. I love what you are doing.Keep up the good work!!
We had to make a sacrifice like that 8 years ago when I got sick, up until that point, I cooked all our meals, we only ate out when traveling and I made sure everything was as clean and fresh as possible for where we live, no refine sugars, no processed grains. Then I got sick, I suddenly could not walk or even stand, my husband had never had to cook or shop for groceries so he ordered take out for most meals, he brought me sugary cereal for breakfast or over cooked eggs and fried hot dogs, he was trying the best he could because he was still working full time. It took years to get a diagnosis and even longer to get any kind of treatment that did anything.
You gotta do what ya gotta do and no one should judge until they walk in someone elses shoes.
I agree. Been in a somewhat similar situation, except that I am the caregiver for an elderly parent. When I'm ill, sometimes, just gettinng a decent meal--even if all or part of it is a pre-packaged something (forget organic, at that point), is better than nothing or just junk food. When I feel up to it, I cook--and use organic at that point. I've learned to give myself permission to buy pre-packaged food or partly prepped veggies, especially if it will mean that we eat a better balanced meal. Better some veggies, even non organic, etc., than none.
You expressed it so well Bri. One step at a time. You are not alone in this, many of us know the struggle. We do what we can when we can. I just want to thank you and Art for sharing your heartwarming journey with us. It is so encouraging and positive, a ray of light and hope in a sometimes very negative world.
I am so glad you did this video because I feel so guilty when I don't buy organic. My husband works two jobs just to pay the bills. I'm disabled so all I can do is feed the animals and gather eggs. I bake bread often. We don't ever buy store bread I even make hamburger buns. Anyway back to the point. ALDI is my hero too. Especially since they carry so much organic and Trader Joe's but they are 45 minutes away so I only go there when I have dr appts. I feel so much better knowing I don't have to be embarrassed about not being able to buy organic only. Thank you.
Lets face it, even when you buy "organic" at the store, You are doing so only because the sign says it's organic. But truth be known unless you grow it yourself you don't really know if it is organic or not. There are many companies these days who use the word "organic" so the get more money for their product. So the best you can do is to wash your fruits and veges in vinegar anyway.
Sarah + ... you are right
I work at the Cleveland Fruit Terminal in Ohio and I work in the shipping of fruits/veggies and I just want to say, they're not as strict on "organic" produce as ppl might think.
Everything is a trade-off. When you eat whole foods, instead of cheap processed foods, you're overall health is better. Therefore you save money in other ways, such as staying well and not being sick and at the doctor's office all the time. Bottom line is try to make the best choices possible for your family and looking at the big picture :)
Tammy Tenison awesome comment! For 4 months I mainly ate raw veggies and fruit. I always complained how expensive and how many times I had to go to the grocery store. But I was losing weight and just feeling better which has more value than money.
Tammy Tenison They're buying the cheaper still immediately wholesome food and washing it carefully.
That's an honest reflection, Brianna. You are exposing the brokenness of the system. Food is expensive everywhere in the world but we are so used to subsidized (cheap food) that we think organic is too expensive. We wrestle with the same things your family do. And, yes, we too homestead in order to be able to afford healthful food. We are just about to start a new chapter/challenge in our family eating habits: we are going local/seasonal. Inspired by the work of Barbara Kingsolver (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle), we are documenting our journey and, in the process, hoping to create an awareness of the same issues you are raising. You and your viewers are all invited to be a part of this because it is only collectively that we can really make significant improvements. Blessings to all
Very cool! I have been thinking of doing the same thing in our home as well! I look forward to watching your journey.
Hi Bri, unfortunately I'm a city dweller that's why your & live.love.life channels and the likes get my attention. Hard, but simple kind of life, fresh air beautiful green fields which I only dream of. Not being stuck in 40 min to an hour both ways to work, in line for the bank to grocery store. So can't speak to homestead, but I'm older been around a while learned a few things and I've done enough natural health and food summits to know clean eating is good for the earth but also our health. So you're doing what you believe is good for your family to get you to the point where you can put clean food on your table from your own garden. Wish you speedy success for the sake of your health and that of your little ones. Love ❤️ and Peace ✌🏼 to you all!🌞
what a humble and intelligent response!
I couldn't have said it better myself, thanks for sharing your big picture! Cleaning with vinegar is taking care of most of the pesticides. I think of it like this, eating non organic is better than NOT eating fruits and veggies at all! Aldi rocks!
So true!
Many farmers, including Paul Wheaton, speak on the damages of organic gardening; stripping the land of everything needed for one crop wonders. This is an issue for vegetarians to take a look at as well. Organic gardens do not mean 'natural', as neither do the crops at the grocery store. All we can do is all we can do and you all seem to be doing a great job with your many blessings!
I get that! Aldi's, hard to beat for the price! those strawberries look good, so does your homestead! blessings.
I think the key is to not turn organic/homegrown/local eating into an idol or our identity. I know so many people who have (including myself at times), and the obsession over what they can and can't eat because it's not organic overshadows common sense sometimes. Do we do as much organic/homegrown/local as possible? Yes. But I know that ultimately, the Lord is the one who watches over our health and wellbeing and have to trust that He will take care of that, not the farming/food industry. Thank-you so much for this video, sometimes folks need to hear "it's okay to________" from someone else to validate their thoughts.
Farming In My Apron. well put!!!
What a cute online name :) love it!
No the lord gave you the ability to look after your own health. He provided us with a brain that is able to understand what we need to do, the resources and strong bodies to do the work required. Neither the Lord or the food industry are going to take care of your health or well being.
Aditya Bondyopadhyay the Lord I believe who she is referring to is Jesus Christ of Nazareth the son of God who came to this earth and died on a cross for the sins of humanity and rose again to be seated at the right side of God the Father. He is our High Priest and Savior. His story is found in the Bible (I use the KJV). Personally for me He is my Lord and Savior and He desires to be yours as well. If you truely want more info please message me back here and I'll give you my email address. Hoping you have a wonderful day filled with the Lord's blessings. --Doris < > <
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11 KJV
bible.com/1/luk.2.11.KJV
Seriously yall need to take a step back not everyone wants to hear your thoughts on god or religion in a farming channel, Religion starts more trouble on channels than politics. Leave this channel what it is a very down to earth Real! family providing the best for their future and their children.
What a great video! As a producer of livestock for market we've even came to the point of choosing to raise our animals on corn/soy/gmo free grains rather than organic just so we can sell our product at a price people can afford. The organic feed is out-of-control expensive and we just don't feel good about charging what we would have to if we went organic. We also have 11 kids and before we raised our own food, all organic was out of the question. I'm so grateful we have the ability to raise our own food now and offer some to other people at a decent price.
Hey Bri, very truthful video! At one point out animal feed bill was more than our family food bill every week! Starting a homestead is a learning curve for sure!
I buy organic everything, IF ITS AVAILABLE. If not I don't stress about it. I have discovered that organic foods last a lot longer so I save money in the long run. You have to do what is necessary to run your household and save money. If you are like most people you have to be on a budget. I buy local at our farmers market when veggies are in season. Most of our local farmers are my neighbors. I know how they grow their produce. I am very lucky.
I love your way of saying this, we are doing about the same at this point in time. We are putting in our garden fences this weekend and hope to plant but the end of the month. We are in Montana and have had hard frost the last few nights hoping that is about over for the season. Thank you for keeping us motivated.
Perfect explanation! I'm a stay at home mom of two and my husband is in the military. We are often finding ourselves going paycheck to paycheck but we always make it work somehow! My grocery budget used to be $350 every two weeks (I only grocery shop twice a month) and I would try to get as much organic as possible/available. I've since been able to cut our budget down to $200 every other week and would love for it to be even lower than that. I've been trying to not buy something if there isn't a cheap store brand version, a coupon or a sale. Also buying some things in bulk has helped us a lot!
To be honest, a lot of organic growers have been caught buying cheap fruits and on selling that fruit as organic, and charging way more. I feel our health dept. here look after us well, and we can wash the produce ourselves.
I have the same story! My husband was working to FEED US!! And we were always hungry with little in our house to eat, no vacations, no fun activities, no extra expenditures ... and it hit me exactly the same way!! "What am I doing?!"
I have slashed our grocery bill in crazy ways and we now do all of the above. Thanks for sharing this!!!
Great to meet yall at the conference.Me and Wanda spend around 175 dollars a month on food we raise the rest.If deer get to be a problem we just take them out to eat.It really helps with our meat prices.Organic is not all its cut out to be i have been organic before.Have a blessed day
Great to meet you guys too! I wish we could have had more time to pick your brain! I am really hoping to grow sweet potatoes this year, so I will be heading over to your channel to get all of you wonderful information! Wanda was telling me that she cans butter! I am going to do this once we get our cow!
Those strawberries look absolutely perfect and delicious
I completely understand. You have to do the things you need to do in order to maximize your yields in your garden. The garden makes you the most food with the least cost, best taste, and no guilt. Don't let anyone make you feel any kind of way about that. You're doing the right thing for your family and others should emulate you, honestly.
IMHO, you and Art (and your incredible children) are AMAZING! Thanks for such a rational intelligent discussion on the issue. I have never understood the mentality of Organic groupies who insist they are saving the planet by buying organic fruits and veggies that were picked weeks before they were ripe, and then flown thousands of mile from Mexico or California to their local market. Strange way to save the planet, IMO. I like your plan better.
I agree with you. I'm retired from a 35 year factory job, and don't have a family to support. I do organic gardening, and go fishing when I can. I am not 100% organic, but I believe in being balanced, and you are balanced, smart and informative. I approve of this video!!!
Bri, an idea is to blend your well washed strawberry tops in a little water and strain and add to a glass of other juice. We all do what we have to do. I am in Ontario and non organic fruit and vegetables are expensive to buy so I rarely buy organic. Thanks for your input.
Thank you for this Bri...we are in the EXACT same boat. Life/homestead goals are dictating our budget right now! We hear you on the fence...we didn't have a good one last year and the rabbits knocked a lot out. Fencing and LGD helps a lot. Thanks for a fantastic video!!!
Great talk Bri, you remind me more each day of my mother's method(s) used raising 6 kids on a rocky soil less piece of land in the Catskills. Sometimes you just have to make due with the cheaper foods, until you can grow your own. Thanks for the reality check-up.
Hopefully you'll be back in your house soon Bri. Your garden this year (2020) is inspiring. Even though you put in strawberries and let them run this year you still had a few delicious volunteer berries and all them and the new plants will be there next Spring for your family. Planting a garden is sowing hope for the future.
I can relate to this on SO MANY LEVELS. I'm so grateful you made this video. I think about this topic often. We are a family of 5. We raise meat chickens, turkeys and quail. Of course we also raise these birds for eggs. We raise a large garden every year with tons of vegetables and fruits - too many to list. And we just started keeping bees this spring. We bought a quarter of grass-fed beef and went in on a hog for the first time this year, both from local, family owned farms. We too pick local strawberries & we do try to visit one of our many, many local farm stands once (or so) per month just for the atmosphere & we'll grab a cantaloupe or other small amount of vegetables to show our support while we're there. NONE OF THIS would be possible if we bought totally organic fruits & vegetables to feed our family. If we didn't visit thrift stores 80% of the time & cook dinner every night & tailor our budget to a "T" then we'd never have been able to afford to buy our homestead, build our coops, invest in our bees, put in our gardens, feed our flocks, etc. I'm desperate for a small barn(ish) structure & good, reliable fence so we can get goats or a small cow in the future, but the reality is that if we were to feed our family strictly organic, we wouldn't be providing ANY of our own food for ourselves & this homestead would have never come to fruition for us. Congrats on being able to look at the big picture, know the importance of eating well, supporting local agriculture & growing your own. But most important, congrats on realizing that balance, frugality & a realistic approach is what will allow you to do all of those things over time.
Bri, I am a Market Gardener- Business "Fileys Pride" and tend two Farmers Markets and we are just small and are in heavy deer country and I have 43 chickens. We free range our chickens in a pretty wide area and when we can we let them run everywhere, but we use 4 foot plastic fence and 5' metal stakes and just zip-tie them fast. You can change there yard space fairly quickly, just by yanking the stakes and moving it. As far as the deer and ground hogs, get a dog that will kill the ground hogs and keep the deer at a distance. We bring our dog in at night, but is free to run all day. If our neighbors and us didn't have dogs we wouldn't have a garden either. They use to destroy our strawberries, any more, very little damage. Thx
Bri you are right! It takes a lot to build a homestead. We are on the start of our 5 year journey to get ours going, but we started 7 years ago. Most people like us that are still City Dwellers can plant small gardens, learn the skills they need to know, pay off that debt, and always remember even baby steps will get you there. Mike & Jeni are always taking about you guys so I might need to check out more of your videos. Thanks for sharing - Jeff
Great response, thank you for explaining your sacrifice. BTW I love watching your little family working towards your goals.
Bri, I loved this video! I'm a single mom raising 4 teenage daughters living in the burbs. I'm working on seeing up my gardens, also back to Eden. Fences and beds are expensive and it shook had to come from somewhere. I appreciated the vinegar tip! At the end of the day, brushing in your back yard is the very best.
I love this! I love you guys! This hits so close to home especially now that we are on a second attempt at being a one income family. I have a family of 3 with dietary restrictions (auto immune, GF, soy free, etc)...our typical month was $12-$1400!!! We did the same thing.. cutting our budget in half! BUT, we still have those diet restrictions. It's not optional. BUT, we are surviving! It's THIS mindset. It's remembering the WHY behind your goals that gets you through! Y'all are always in my prayers! Thank you for your families heart! God bless!
Great Thoughts Bri! I'm on the board for a rural farmers market in Wisconsin. We always have to stress to the vendors when they bring in produce that isn't certified organic that they cannot use the word organic, but to label their produce as all natural. Needless to say, theres a 90 yo old lady that doesn't listen to us no matter what, but shes the only one. Wisconsin will fine produce sellers who use the organic label if they aren't truly organic. I just look for labels of all natural/no pesticides at every farmers market I go to and there are many within an hour of me. Keep up the good work!
Something to consider to help keep deer out of your gardens. Most herbs are deer resistant, and pretty to look at including sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, lavender, Chives and others.
Hanging bars of soap from trees or stakes Helps to deter them as well. Irish spring works great for that.
Bri what a great video! I started watching thinking 'why is she even addressing this?...bump the hater comments about those who don't eat 100% organic!...she doesn't have to explain anything to them...' But as I listened to your reasons why, i thought "yeah" maybe you do have to explain to some people about what it's like to have to make hard choices and sacrifices today to set up their tomorrow.
Taking your monthly food budget from $1200 to $700 is some real $ savings- $6 grand a year! You can buy a lot of fences and goats with that kinda coin! Sure you could go get a full time job and put your kids in public school and pay for childcare and uniforms and therapy- and have plenty of money (and stress) to buy everything from Whole Foods - or not. Choices.
Your video does remind me to re-evaluate my own circumstances and goals and better fine tune what my food budget organic vs. non organic ratio should be. I do think a lot more of us need to choose to spend more money on quality food than we already do- especially if were inclined to just throw up both hands and say "organic is too expensive"...Do what you can. I love Aldi- but i love the farmers market too. I have recently been struggling with dropping buying regular eggs from Aldi (this week .69 a dozen) and start buying Pastured eggs for about $7.00 a dozen. I usually buy 5-6 dozen for 2weeks/2people. It is soooo hard to decide what to do. I was listening to a video or podcast or something and I heard the presenter say that regular eggs had 15 times more Omega 3's than pastured eggs....? Lord, I need to research this more to understand if it is true....If so- it doesn't matter how much salmon or DHA I eat/take- i will never have a healthy Omega 3/6 balance unless i let the cheap eggs go? Say it ain't true!? No backyard chickens in my town....Julie P.S- sorry about the novel :))
May I suggest a Deer Fence that uses posts which have Clear Fishing line running from post to post, several layers high. The Deer will go up to it and not be able to walk through and will walk away, due to confusion and fear. They can jump a high fence so no matter which fence you make you have to make it high and I read they need to be put in a certain direction if you do not use fishing line. Also... making the edge of the gardens with high plants such as corn and Tomatoes deters them from trying to jump. Hope that helps... love your personalities... they draw me in... Bri and Art
I totally understand. We signed up for a CSA which is 30$ a week and a bunch of goodies come in it. We also have a local veggie stand that has a buy 40$ and get 15$ off every Wednesday which is all local. I am very grateful for both of these because it usually means we get all out produce for 55$ a week. I am starting our own garden too. So I hope that cost goes down in the future. We are eating less meat than usual to cut our cost. We generally eat meat once a day at dinner, except eggs for breakfast.
As an off grid forest homestead, over 7 years in the works, we are an organic forest homestead. We eat 90% organic constantly. Here is my suggestion. We shop soley at a discount grocery store near us. It is called Shetlers Discount grocery and stocks mostly organics. We buy organics at dirt cheap prices. A can of organic soup cost $4 or more in a regular store. In Shetlers they are sold all day for .79 cent. Seriously....So here is my suggestion. Look for a discount grocery store and if they do not stock mostly organics, talk to them, and seriously most discount stores will take suggestions for improvement and they have control over the types of organics they get trucked in. Hope that helps.
this is my second time watching this video and I love that you are sitting in the kitchen just talking to us like we are there with you chatting in the kitchen :)
Bri, I totally agree with your philosophy. Making sacrifices for long term benefits is a smart idea. I haven't really thought about this topic before. You have given me great food for thought. Homesteading is expensive in getting it established (ie. fencing, sheds, barns, shelters, coops, etc.) I've struggled with that for the last seven years as we've tried to build our homestead. Thanks for sharing.
Consider an electric poultry fence for around your garden. Keeps critters out. They are flexible for expansion or move when you don't mind the critters back in portions of the garden in the winter. You can turn it off and the animals still respect it.
Bri you have the best way to tell us about your life and your choices... You are both very smart and kind people... I hope all people can understand your reasoning... IT MAKES GREAT SENSE... and I wish your family the best every day... SOON you will be harvesting your own veggies and fruits and organic chicken and all other nourishing foods and attitudes!
Our children are grown with children of their own... We still try to eat organically and locally... but there are limits for most of us... and we have some challenges, too.
Bless you for having the strength to video such an important and informative video. I JUST BET you are helping to ease the guilt of many other families who are not able to afford organic all the time. We do what we CAN, when we CAN.
LOVE to your sweet family... Keep these videos up... They show honest, kind, hard working life on the homestead!
we loved your presentation at the homesteading conference.. thank you for your time and for sharing your journey. you have given me some great things to ponder as we try to establish a more sustainable life style.
We have a family of 5 and we've been eating hearty meals on a budget of $400 per month for many years. $1000 per month is 2 house payments for us.
I'm excited about growing some produce. I'm expanding our garden space by turning part of our yard into a garden. I would like to grow more so that we can give some food to a couple of families in need in our community. Excited about canning as well.
I completely understand and agree with you. I'm in the same boat. Aldi is my go to place for now in order to save for my future homestead. I still feel guilty but I know what I personally have to do to get to where my family needs to be in the near future. I've been watching your channel for a couple of months now and I have to say y'all are on the right track. Keep up the good work... God Bless y'all
I really hope your family's dreams come true because I have the same dreams for my family. I still have to get our land and start the struggle of starting from scratch like you guys. We are at the best 3 years away from getting out of the city so I will be watching you guys and hopefully learning from your mistakes. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
I shop at aldi mostly for a family of 5. Our budget is $125-150. We try and grow as much as we can. So don't feel bad. You are doing all you can for your family. Be proud
I love the fact you are doing what is best for your family TODAY and within your budget. If you see boxes of strawberries or packages of celery from Oxnard Calif. That's where were are. We have a Smuckers plants here that bulk (55 gal drums) of strawberries for their products.
this is something my friends and I discuss, often. we do what we can but, we all live on a budget. for our family of 5, we spend $170/ week. that includes even toiletries and household products. do the best you can with what you have. make sacrifices to reach your goals. your family is amazing and your raising some awesome little ones. keep on doing you!
Good job Bri, totally agree with you. It was sure nice meeting you and your family at the conference. Those strawberries look awsome. So jealous right now.
Bri, Survival is the single most important aspect of life. We all do what we have to to survive and your efforts and logic go a long way toward a family's ability to survive. When the funds are available take advantage of all the good (better) things that you can. Your strawberries are a great example in that you have taken advantage of a good deal and the alternative could easily have been to just buy a bag of frozen strawberries as you need. Kudos to you and Art for doing the best you can and please keep it up, you are inspirational to many TH-cam followers and I appreciate all your vlogs as a break in my busy day . Thanks, Bill
I’ve known a farmer who farm strawberries organically, but it’s not labeled organic.. the reason is that to get organic certification cost about $1500.. and it’s not worth it to get the certificate, as he’s a small farmer.. he did show us how he grows the strawberries.. personally, I don’t eat everything organically either.. it’s so expensive ... nowadays, I tried to grow my own veggies like I used to do years ago..anyway.. am glad that y’all be transparent about this..
I'm right there with you. Each person chooses and makes their decisions on how to provide for their families. No one should ever make you feel bad for what you choose to do with what's best for your family. Stay strong.
p. s. put the deer in the freezer as often as possible lol I have five children and know how much it takes to feed a family of that size, every little bit helps. my kids grew up wiyh me having a garden even when we lived in the city and now do there own gardens in the city of Lexington ky,,I'm happy they learned how to do so from me,it makes me so proud . thank you dear and carry on the good work,lisa bray
I worked on a 5 acre organic farm and we grew all our veggies without herbacides or pesticides and the produce wasn't beautiful, but it was delicious. We sold to local people at farmers markets and had CSA memberships. Nobody was getting rich but everyone got paid and we did it all over again the next summer. I don't know any small farmers where someone in the family does not have a job off the farm.
My husband and I are working alot of overtime to realize our dream. We are about 8 months from retirement. We bought 10 acres in AR with a house, 40x60 shop, and two ponds;which we will have to fence soon so we can get our cows. I love watching your videos. You remind me of my oldest daughter, Leslie because you are so naturally beautiful.
8 months! Not long!!! Good luck following your dreams!
My husband and I are having to do the same thing to get on our homestead. Sometimes I feel like I’m being counterproductive because I want to do the homestead for health... but know I can’t afford to eat better unless I do this in the short term. Praying we find the perfect homestead by the end of the year!
I believe you are using wisdom with your food choices. Organic is crazy expensive, and I say that as a market gardener. I hope you can get all those strawberries done up. If you get in a time crunch you can freeze them whole, without stemming, and deal with that after thawing.
The study included the amount of water being used to clean cloth diapers, the amount of Chlorine, you need to follow the complete process of a diaper. I was first introduced to this when we had to figure out the cost of a paper napkin to a cloth napkin. It’s the entire process, from beginning to in.
I agree. I am buying as much organic as I can afford but I'm picking my battles. Some things are just too expensive. I hope and pray some day to have a garden again. Thanks for sharing. ☺️
At first, I was like " Why can't you eat organic, it's good for you blah blah blah". But now I completely understand your view and think that you are doing what you need to do. Hope you get your garden started soon.
Thank you for your honesty! We all do the best we can. I buy organic whenever possible. I want to support those farmers who are working so hard to provide clean food. Someday you will be able to do the things you want because of the sacrifices you are making now. I love your videos.
Bri, I do understand completely as we go through the same. We try to buy organic here and there when we're able to, but it definitely costs more. My husband and I are able to swing the price more so since most of our kids are out of the nest.
Cleaning the non organic food is a good decision and wise.
What brings me comfort and peace about our food, whether eating organic or nonorganic is this:
" For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with Thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."
That is one of the reasons, we pray before eating. Hope this will be an encouragement to you. It is very difficult feeding a family. That's where we ask God to give us wisdom.
Our budget for 5 is about $250 a month. I could not imagine buying organic food since it is so high. Our local farmers market rices are insane as well almost higher than store Organic! Look into building a fence with free pallet wood. I have seen beautiful fences made from them. Also look into cattle or hog panels to enclose your garden 16 foot long and about $20 per panel use old timbers/reclaimed/craigslist wood! Homesteading doesn't have to be expensive. We also added Rabbit meat to our homestead. They are easy to breed and can provide a ton of low fat/cholesterol protein plus bonus fertilizer ready to use for your garden!
I don't have a homestead yet. We are wanting to work on putting a fence, etc. up first before we do anything with the piece of land we have. I believe you are so right and eventually you will be eating organically. That is what your future plans are. Good luck to you and I love the videos that you post. Amazing and it gives me confidence that we can do it as well. Thank you and I love your family.
It is hard to buy organic when you are on a budget. We are a family of four and I have been slowly converting some of what eat to healthier options, but I do see our food budget going up. We live in South Florida so we have been putting in a LOT of tropical fruit trees. We are also putting in perennial greens and tubers so that hopefully within a few years we can be eating a lot more from our garden. I'm frustrated because growing "standard" veggies is very difficult in South Florida because of our sandy soils and humid/hot environment, but I have been researching what will grow here and we have been planting those. We also have a desire to buy a second homestead in the NC mountains which would be part of our retirement plan. We want to fill that with what we can't grow here. I love watching your channel and have learned so much from you and Art. You have a beautiful family. Don't worry about not being able to eat organic all the time. I keep telling myself to live by the "good, better, best" philosophy. Feeding my family whole foods is good. Feeding my family organic whole foods is better. Feeding my family homegrown whole foods is best. :)
Sweetie, I was raised Mennonite, and my mother taught me to watch how much I cut off the tops of strawberries. Look at your bowl of tops. There's a lot of wasted strawberry in there! The best technique is to slip the knife under the leaves right up to where they attach to the berry. Then cut down into the berry just a smidgen, to get the hard bit, then twist the knife a bit and flick the top right off the berry. Try not to take any red off. :)
I agree with you. It really does boil down to money, unfortunately. I have been gardening for many years and I live in the city so I have been able to make a good effort of growing a good amount of food during the spring, summer and fall using my own back yard (rented), the neighbor's property next door(free) and two community garden spaces. No matter what you do, growing your own takes some kind of sacrifices and patience with the process. Hopefully you will be able to get your fences finished soon.
Blessings!
We all have to sacrafice for ling term goals😃 We sold 3 acres (a blessing here where we are to try and afford) and loved in a tiny duplex in town for 4 years so we could be debt free. Then adopted for the third time, but this time with cash. Saved a ton and had a huge down payment on our current two acres. bringing our mortgage from 30 years to 15. 3 years later we cashed out our IRA, retiring at 42 to take our business and farm full time. 💕 Keep in towards those goals!!
We're in the exact same situation. We moved on our homestead a year ago and are in the process of setting everything up...so expensive. I've tried to limit the non-organic produce to the clean fifteen list, but it didn't make enough of a difference in our budget. Here in Canada, food prices are insane so we were averaging $550/week for our family of 7 when we ate only organic. Since moving, I have cut out some of the organic foods. I had the same realization when I bought lettuce at our indoor farmer's market this winter and paid $5 for a small bag, I need three to make a decent side dish for my gang. With all the projects we have planned for the summer(we also have to build a huge fence), I have to cut back even further. I'm aiming for $350/week. Totally agree with everything you mentioned, glad to know we're not the only ones.
you guys are lovely people and " doing for yourselves" in a way that is an inspiration to many. of that, i have no doubt.
I'm right there with ya sister!! We moved to TN from CA in hopes of buying land and starting a family farm ... eventually. It has been a lot harder and a lot longer than we thought it'd be! I have had to break so many "crunchy mama" rules to make our big family budget work! Feeding a family of 10 and saving money for your homestead is rough! I have switched to mostly aldi shopping also and trimming the food budget as much as we can, because like you that's the only thing we have left to trim! We don't do any extra stuff either ;) thanks for being honest and just REAL! ❤️
,hi Bri, Thank you for this very informative video,i totally agree with all you have said, love your 👪 family, God bless, keep up the good work you and Art are both doing with the farm and the 👪 family, just keep those videos coming there appreciate, love from all your subscribers who love you guys in subscribers land. God bless, bye. 🐐🐓🐔🍓💕
Bri. I've been watching all the vids thus far....! Loving them!! :) My family and I are on the same page as your family...we recently bought a homestead as well... starting small but very encouraged to see other families such as yours choosing to live a more more frugal and healthy lifestyle. The past few months I have been reading and learning a lot about organic foods and ingredients. . it's super sad that in order to eat healthy you have to pay the price... :( this year we have started tons of organic seeds and we are excited to see how much we are able to grow and produce on our own. Best of luck to you and yours and I know that God will bless you & your family abundantly. ♡ bless!!!! ♡ The Nunez Fam
I know this was a year ago.... but I agree! I did the full organic thing and went completely crazy and broke. We live over an hour from any city, 3 hours from a Whole Foods type store, and our tiny local town only has a couple of small regular grocery stores. Our farmers market is not good. I had a similar epiphany driving the 3 hours to buy all the organic food. Why? We have lived on a farm for 20 years and grown just a few things. I turned a good bit of our open space into garden space. And we incubated about 75 chickens. Can’t wait for everything to produce!! 🙂
Having a sustainable homestead is a huge dream of mine that I want for my family so I sell steeped tea and stay home with our boys to save on the cost of child care. Gardening and buying bulk food and putting up is my first step to that dream. Glad to have found your channel really enjoying the videos
Izzy, a Canadian coming to you from my homestead in Portugal... I suffer a lot from chronic diseases -most of which are auto-immune. From what I have read organic is much better. I am trying to eat as much organic as possible, however I can't afford all organic. The nice thing is that Aldi's opened up about 6 km away, and they have a great organic section for reasonable prices... We can only do what we can... and not feel guilty.
What a great video. Thanks for sharing something that is not easy to talk about. I'm praying for financial blessings for your family. What a discipline to reach a long-term goal. Absolutely love it. Keep it up!
This is a great topic Bri. We shop at Aldi as well. A few things that our Aldi doesn't carry, we get at Kroger. It took us a while to try the Aldi foods since they are different brands from what we were used to but we have found that most are as good or better than the usual brand name. We buy our chicken in bulk from Zaycon Fresh who sources from farmers in my region. Sometimes it is on sale for 1.49 lb for breasts. Thanks for such a real look into your life. It was so nice to see you all at the Conference. I hope you were able to enjoy it as much as I did. Have a Blessed day!
Good for you and your family Bri. We all need to do what is best for our families and sometimes, and our best changes all the time. Currently I live in a very small town, and food prices have increased, (chicken alone has increased $3 and that's the crummy store brand). Though I try and grow a lot of our kitchen veggies, like you, my family can't always buy the organic and often soak our foods as well. What I've also noticed though, is people price things too high, not just food. For some reason they think it's worth more, because it's theirs. Even in my small town we get a lot of produce from Cali and Mexico too. (I don't like food from Mexico). Anyway, great vid. Thank you for sharing.
Bri I so agree with you. Organic is not cheap. Raising what you can helps a great deal. Smart food choices is the key. If you see a great deal on something such as potatoes grab them and can them up. They will be there for you later in the year when the cost is high. You guys are working toward a goal. When the time comes and you can finally go out and pick your own produce remember these days of struggle, they will always make your food sweeter. I am jealous! those berries look awesome good buy.
You are being so sensible, and honest with us. Some would probably just skip over this. You're just giving us the reality. Short term sacrifice for long term benefits makes the most sense. --Brenda