How are we going to increase the demand for organic food when there is such a push towards savings. A lot of the cheaper brands are not organic and are also of unknown ethical origin. If you buy a store brand, what do you know about the company that supplied that food and their practices? (this reminds me of a thread I have been meaning to start)
Half the problem is in this mentality. When DH and I decided to go raw, we expected exactly this to happen. Granted the first shop "stock up" slogged the budget a bit and we spent $500 that fortnight rather than the usual $400. Since then we have been spending $300 a fortnight - and we are even buying better quality meat and 'cuts'.

I do pay more for my eggs - I know this. We get 30 free range for $8.50 rather than 12 battery for $2.50, but despite this, our bill went down.

This is because my cupboard and fridge stocks actually do more than one meal - where as a jar of pasta sauce cost me $3ish and only did half a meal. I make my own pasta sauce now for $1 a jar. I make my own cheese sauce and it works out a bit more expensive, but it tastes better because we can afford a high quality matured tasty.

I would love to move closer to the country for this as we still have to tolerate things like homogenised milk and processed honey because we dont have local suppliers. I was thinking about checking out the morrisset mega market though. If I could eliminate the last of those jars and bottles, it would be perfect - and I still have $100 per fortnight to do it with too!