If you're going to plop down a serious chunk of change for a fancy meat, you want to make sure you're actually getting the good stuff. To learn the difference between charcuterie trash and treasure, Epicurious enlisted meat expert Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions to blindly taste a whole variety or meats at various price points.

My boyfriend and I are pretty horrible grocery shoppers. We always attempt to hit the grocery store to buy "meals for the week" but that meal planning quickly takes a complicated turn when we end up in discussions on what food might still have available in the house to contribute to that meal.

Food spending has always been my go-to for budgetary belt-tightening. Not everyone is laying out for luxuries that can be cut, but everyone eats, and almost everyone could spend a little less doing it.

I really dislike moving through a grocery store inefficiently. This month that dislike of inefficiency came to a head, because I'm spending the month in a place where the grocery stores are the size of football fields rather than my usual small and crowded local store.

I found myself wandering the shop from end to end and back again, like a stoned hippie at a Grateful Dead show, overwhelmed with choices and planning out my debut movie about consumer culture and alienation. So I made a grocery shopping map.

OzHarvest Market is a Sydney-based "rescued food" supermarket that invites customers to pay what they can - even if that's nothing at all. The business follows a "take what you need, give if you can" model, with all money reinvested back into the charity.

Earlier today, we paid a visit to OzHarvest's flagship store to check out what was on offer. The sheer variety of supermarket goods on display astounded us. Here are the pictures.

They say the world is built for two, and the world of food is no exception. Cooking meals you actually want to eat, with minimal waste, is the goal of cooking for one, and fear not: You can do it too -- with just a little forethought and planning. Here's how.

Wine has a huge gap between the highest and lowest prices, even at less expensive stores. If you aren't a wine enthusiast, you might be wondering why there's such a big gap. Here's what really determines how much a bottle of wine costs.

The best part about cooking at home -- besides the tasty food -- is all the money you can save. If you want to get even more out of your food budget, this free cookbook has tons of tasty recipes that will save you cash without sacrificing flavour.

This tip goes out to anyone who likes to stay as organised as possible, even when it comes to grocery shopping. You can make the process so much smoother at the checkout and when you put away your groceries at home by grouping similar items in your cart. Here's how it works.

Some products try to use phrases and tags like "Made in Italy" as a selling point, even if it's not entirely true. This app can tell you if that olive oil, cheese, or clothing item was actually made in Italy.

It's much better for the environment if you bring your own reusable grocery bags from home when you go shopping. If you're in need of one, here's a clever way to make your own out of a large rice bag.

Oysters make for a delectable treat no matter how you prepare them, but only if you get a good batch. Here's what you need to know to pick out the best ones.

Soy sauce is delicious, but choosing the best often comes down to "my brand versus your brand." Ditch brand loyalty and look at the label instead: If yours has been brewed or fermented, and proudly states it, it will be better than sauce made using methods like hydrolysis, often used to keep costs low.

It might seem counterintuitive, but standing behind the shopper with the full cart at the shorter line will probably get you out of the grocery store faster than lining up behind a line with more people but fewer items. Here's why.

According to new research, three in five Australian adults get sucked in by promotions and specials on junk food and sugary drinks at the supermarket. The research for LiveLighter – a health education campaign delivered by the Cancer Council and Heart Foundation – found 53% of shoppers visit the supermarket several times a week or every day.

Some people like as much fat as possible on their bacon, but if you're like me, an equal amount of meat and fat is best. If you want to check the meat-to-fat ratio, flip that package around.

Sell by, best if used by, expires on, display until; the shelf life of food seems like it's a well regulated, concrete affair, but it's not: It differs by region and type of food. In the end, those labels mean almost nothing, which leads to both food waste and an assumption of safety.

No one wants to serve spoiled food to their families. Conversely, consumers don't want to throw food away unnecessarily -- but we certainly do. Australians discard up to 20 per cent of the food they purchase, which equates to one out of every five bags of groceries they buy. Plenty of that food is discarded while still safe to eat.

You'd think that because I write about smart shopping, I wouldn't have a price club "problem". Yet as a new member, it took several visits to get my bulk shopping under control. Enough olive oil to bathe in? A lifetime supply of chips? C'mon, how can you stop yourself? Buying in bulk can be a cost-effective way to stock up on essentials, but there are pitfalls.