I started in the produce section and was pleasantly surprised with the marginal price difference between organic and regular fruits and veggies:
Regular strawberries: $3.99 per pound
Organic strawberries: $4.49 per pound
Buying a pound of organic strawberries each week would cost you about $26 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
Regular bananas: $0.79 per pound
Organic bananas: $0.89 per pound
Buying two pounds of organic bananas each week would cost you about $10 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
Regular peaches: $3.49 per pound
Organic peaches: $3.99 per pound
Buying a pound of organic peaches each week would cost you about $26 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
One thing I noticed in the produce section was general disorganization — I found the organic peaches relatively quickly, but then struggled to find their regular counterpart, which ended up being all the way across the produce section. This held true for most of the fruits and veggies, and got me wondering how many times I bought the pricier organic simply because I couldn't find the regular option.
Regular cantaloupe: $3.49 each
Organic cantaloupe: $3.99 each
Just like with the strawberries and peaches, buying one organic cantaloupe each week would cost you just $26 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
Regular tomatoes: $1.99 per pound
Organic tomatoes: $2.99 per pound
Buying a pound of organic tomatoes each week would cost you about $52 more than buying non-organic each year. While a little steeper of a difference than the other produce, $52 over the course of a year is still not incredibly significant.
Regular avocados: $2.50 each
Organic avocados: $2.79 each
Buying three organic avocados each week would cost you about $45 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
Regular onions: $1.49 per pound
Organic onions: $1.99 per pound
Buying a pound of organic onions each week would cost you about $26 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
After looping through the fruit and vegetables stands, my initial thoughts were that buying organic is worth it — I'd only be spending $2 to $4 more each month if I bought organic produce (and I likely would not buying a full pound of many of these items).
After rounding out the produce section, I found myself in the meat and dairy part of Whole Foods, where I started to see the larger difference in price that I had anticipated:
Regular bacon: $5.99 per 10-ounce package
Organic bacon: $6.49 per 8-ounce package
Buying ten ounces (a typical size package) of organic bacon each week would cost you about $110 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
While I will never need to buy ten ounces of bacon on a weekly basis, this was a more notable difference and got me thinking about whether or not organic meat is worth the cost.
Regular chicken: $10.16 for a 4.08-pound chicken ($2.49 per pound)
Organic chicken: $9.54 for a 3.19-pound chicken ($2.99 per pound)
Buying four pounds of organic chicken each week would cost you about $105 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
Regular milk: $4.39 per gallon
Organic milk: $6.99 per gallon
Buying a gallon of organic milk each week would cost you about $135 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
I came across my second pleasant surprise when I found the almond milk — a staple of mine.
Regular almond milk: $3.69 per carton
Organic almond milk: $3.69 per carton
I go through a carton of almond milk each week, so it was nice to know that I can go the organic route and not pay more.
Regular eggs: $2.99 per dozen
Organic eggs: $4.79 per dozen
Buying a dozen organic eggs each week would cost you about $95 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
The egg section was particularly difficult to navigate because of the overwhelming choices: cage-free, organic, free-range, natural, or pastured. The cheapest organic dozen I could find were the $4.79 "grade A fresh" eggs, but there were other organic options at $5.69 a dozen, and even $8.69 a dozen for "pasture-raised" organic ones.
While $95 isn't a huge difference over a year, if you opted for the pricey pasture-raised eggs, that would cost you nearly $300 more than sticking with the conventional eggs.
Next stop: bread, snacks, and canned goods.
Regular bread: $3.99 per bag ($2.66 per pound)
Organic bread: $3.99 per bag ($2.90 per pound)
Buying two pounds of organic bread each week would cost you about $25 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year. While these two bags look very similar in size, the organic loaf weighs slightly less.
Regular crackers: $3.79 per 8.5-ounce box ($0.45 per ounce)
Organic crackers: $3.69 per 6-ounce box ($0.62 per ounce)
Buying an 8-ounce box of organic crackers each week would cost you about $70 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
Regular soup: $2.69 per box
Organic soup: $2.69 per box
Might as well go organic, as you won't be dishing out extra cash.
Regular black beans: $0.99 per can
Organic black beans: $1.39 per can
Buying a can of organic black beans each week would cost you about $20 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
My third pleasant surprise came in the form of maple syrup:
Regular maple syrup: $8.99 per 12-ounce bottle
Organic maple syrup: $8.79 per 12-ounce bottle
Buying organic maple syrup actually costs less!
I found another product where buying regular and organic would cost about the same (the unit prices came within a fraction of a cent of each other). It's difficult to make out the prices in the picture, but take my word for it.
Regular ketchup: $2.79 per 32-ounce bottle
Organic ketchup: $1.99 per 24-ounce bottle
Be diligent when looking at labels — you never know what you may find.
Regular peanut butter: $2.49 per jar
Organic peanut butter: $4.99 per jar
Buying a jar of organic peanut butter each week would cost you about $130 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year.
The biggest surprise of the day came at the close of my shopping trip when I stumbled upon the exorbitantly priced almond butter:
Regular almond butter: $19.99 per jar
Organic almond butter: $26.99 per jar
Buying a jar of organic MaraNatha almond butter each week would cost you about $365 more than buying non-organic over the course of a year. There are cheaper almond butter options out there, but finding anything under $10 is a challenge — I'll be sticking with peanut butter for the meantime.
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I quit McKinsey after 1.5 years. I was making over $200k but my mental health was shattered.
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