Familiarity: Shopping at Big Lots

"If buying organic is new for you,
it's easy to start almost anywhere.
But make it easy on yourself by buying familiar foods
that you and your family already like."

-- Elaine Lipson, The Organic Foods Sourcebook

I am not new to bargain shopping, but I am new to stocking my home with organic products. When we first decided to transition to a primarily organic diet, I decided we could make this transition by replacing grocery items we used up with their organic counterpart. We live in an area where we have access to stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts and Central Market, so I knew I could easily go there to stock up on necessities, but I want to challenge myself to eat in a healthy way for the least amount of money possible.

So, where did I start? Big Lots.

I've long been known to shop at Big Lots, a discount store that sells a whole variety of things -- hardware, automotive, toys, movies, books, health and beauty, cleaning supplies, craft supplies, canning supplies, storage solutions, linens. You name it and you can likely find it at Big Lots, only you'll find it for a portion of the competitor's cost. Many people know about Big Lots and their selection of general merchandise, but one thing about Big Lots that many people don't realize is their generous grocery offering.

Big Lots has some goods that seem to be branded specifically for their sale, but when it comes to grocery items, Big Lots is very much like a surplus salvage store, or "banana box" store. Like a surplus salvage store, you will find a number of miscellaneous items, some in small quantities. You will find different items at different locations, and you may not ever find the same item twice, not in the same location and not in different locations. Unlike a true "banana box" store, however, you will not typically find items approaching their expiration dates, nor will you find "scratch and dent" items at Big Lots -- unless a can is dropped and dented while in the store.

I hadn't been in a Big Lots store since early in the holiday season, but while I was shopping, I noticed an increase in organic food products on the shelf. After all, the organic food market is growing at a rapid pace, and the overstock has to go somewhere! Big Lots, then, was a natural choice for my first all-organic shopping excursion. I found many organic pantry staples for 50% less than in the big box stores -- for example, the Del Monte organic canned corn that costs $1.59 at Wal-Mart costs 80 cents at Big Lots. I transitioned a significant portion of my pantry from conventional to organic and spent a total of $42.00. Moreover, a few of the packages came with coupons towards my next purchases, and while Big Lots does not accept coupons, I can save them to pair with sale purchases at another store.

Some day, I truly do hope to grow an organic garden, to save money by harvesting my own food, but that is not my reality at present. In fact, it's probably will not be my reality for a while (my ag major husband has no idea how to help me amend the soil to get started -- Oh, college!). Also, while it would be far better (from a health perspective) to eliminate processed foods from the pantry, we need to allow ourselves the grace to transition, to prepare things, to stock the freezer. Without a doubt, my family -- rather, I -- would fail on this journey if I didn't have some quick-cook options for those extra-busy days or when things just crop up at the last minute.


The Haul



Canned Whole Tomatoes
Canned Tomato Paste
Canned Corn
Canned Spinach
Canned Beans: Black, Kidney, Garbanzo
Flax Seed Blue Corn Chips
Chipotle Lime Tortilla Chips
Quick-Cook Stuffing
Banana Snacks
Cereals
Organic Baby Foods (for an upcoming trip)