Hi all, just a quick question!

Hello to all you raw foodies! I just joined the forum to get a bit more info about the lifestyle you guys have here. I am a regular member of the VF.net and VBB.com forums, so I figured I would give this place a try as well. There are quite a few things I am not terribly keen on discussing, but I don't think it will be an issue unless I am challenged to a debate! :D Other than that I will be browsing around a bit and trying to help wherever and whomever I can.

Basically at this point I have only one question, how do you make a LFRV lifestyle affordable? It seems to me that per calorie, fruits are much more expensive than beans, grains, soy products, etc. I love fruit, but my budget is quite limited, so I am looking for some cheapo ideas from anyone else here who is on a budget!

Tags: budget, cost, shopping

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Permalink Reply by Jack on February 25, 2011 at 9:31pm

Wholesales.

Bananas and dates.

Can still be expensive, depending on where you live. You sometimes see people from various parts of the states and SE Asia getting enormous amounts of food for what you pay for two boxes of bananas here.

I buy from a wholesaler yet spend four figure amounts (in both GBP's and USD) a month. Wrong country (UK).

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Jane on February 25, 2011 at 10:02pm

Check this video out, it might help. =)

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Permalink Reply by Sarah on February 26, 2011 at 12:44pm

great information. i did not know of places like that. i hope i can find one

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Permalink Reply by liliaceous on March 2, 2011 at 10:00am

yes! find your wholesaler and go crazy! Ask what's "going off" and find their "trash pile"...i've left with LITERALLY hundreds of champagne mangoes because they were "bad" (i.e. perfectly ripe!), boxes of ripe organic bananas for $3 each or free, cases and cases of papaya for $5 or free, 35lbs beautiful, juicy watermelons for $3 each, 30lbs boxes of "bruised" ripe peaches for $5...there is so much cheap abundance around, you just gotta know where to find it...and to find it, you need to ask around...restaurants, farmers markets, supermarkets, locals...ask who supplies them until you find the cheapest, biggest wholesaler. I've found a few on Google, too

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Permalink Reply by Liam G on February 25, 2011 at 10:05pm

Where do you live and what is "cheap" to you?

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Permalink Reply by Kaz on February 26, 2011 at 12:50am

UK, top tip for the summer. Get an allotment or get to help out on one.

I got a tiny plot last year and all my plans are right out of the window as I was planning a lot of runner beans again (not advisable raw) and more butternut squashes, along with onions and french beans.

BUT my neighbour has three fruit cages and more soft fruit than he can shake a stick and and let me pick all his blackcurrants and there was a gone-wild gooseberry bush nearby.

I also got given a carrier bag of gooseberries as I was on the lottie at the right time.

I'm planning to

1/ trade veges for fruit

2/ grow lettuce and cucumbers, kale, broccoli and chard etc.

3/ encourage my little gooseberry, blackcurrent and strawberry plants

4/ plant some raspberry canes

and PICK those wild blackberries til the cows come home in September to eat and freeze.

Wild greengages, if you can find a tree are divine.

Spot the pear trees in people's gardens and ASK.

Or as you I am going to go broke in a month :)

Try Freegle too. I helped a chap clear the apples on his tree and carried away two carrier bags.

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Permalink Reply by Liam G on February 26, 2011 at 12:58am

Trade veggies for fruit. Interesting idea. I've had a similar one. Basically growing and selling top quality organic veg.

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Permalink Reply by Kaz on February 26, 2011 at 1:12am

Yes, and if you want a great mineral content: Rockdust, remineralise the soil.

See what the Seers Foundation has done in Scotland on acid peat soil that could only grow heather.

I think mineral content and not commercial Organic is the way forward. I heard a local commercial organic grower (also vegan) saying she would carry on growing carrots without any rotation because the price was so good. DOH!

BTW although I say I'll grow more strawberries, be careful as they seem to be a bit on the acidic side for the body (me and my dad found this).

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Permalink Reply by Dax on February 26, 2011 at 10:52am

Jack, you spend $1K a month on food??? Also, just my personal thoughts, but I won't eat dates due to their lower nutrient value, and I would like to go with some healthier fruits than bananas as well. Oranges are about the only really healthy fruit I can seem to get cheap here during the winter. :/

Thanks for the video Amanda, I will have to check out what wholesale produce places we have here. It is a tough life in the winter!

Liam, I live in Denver and cheap is just cheap, AKA the less I can spend on food the better. :) Mostly right now the best price on fruit at the store is $1/lb, but that gets expensive if your only food is fruit.

Kaz, growing a garden is a great idea which I would love for more people to do, but I live in an apartment building and the only grassy areas around are thin strips in the parking lot!

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Ⓥ on February 26, 2011 at 12:18pm

Bananas not healthy? Put 30 bananas into cron-o-meter and you're taking care most of your nutrition already.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Ⓥ on February 26, 2011 at 12:25pm

you can get 40lb cases of 100+ organic bananas for $25. That's $50 for a weeks worth of calories, and then add in your greens, a bulk bag of hemp seeds and a bag of oranges on some days. If you're spending more than $100 a week, there are much better ways to get good quality food.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Ⓥ on February 26, 2011 at 12:35pm

now I'm rambling. Here was my week: 80lbs bananas $50, 4 bags of spinach $8, 8 heads of red leaf lettuce $20, 2lbs loose organic raw brazil nuts $10, 2 bags of celery $8.