March Madness Parameters

March begins this week, and with it my commitment to track everything we spend on food. My hope is to discover that we really are spending a comparable amount on healthy groceries simply by making the changes mentioned in the previous post.

But I probably need to specify a few things. "Eating healthy" means different things to different people, and while I hope we'll continue to improve our nutrition and awareness, I should at least define what "healthy groceries" will mean to our family for this next month.

1. Buying fresh, Buying Local

While we'll buy most of our produce from the Farmers' Market, not all of it would get the FDA's "organic" stamp of approval, usually because of some small loophole. I'm ok with that. At this point I'm trusting our local farmers and enjoying supporting them.

I've been buying our milk and some cheese from the local dairy (I really like these people--and they'll deliver to your door!), but I've been buying butter, plain yogurt, and other cheese from the grocery store. I'm going to commit to buying HALF of our butter, yogurt, and cheese from the dairy this month. They aren't "organic", but only because they choose to medicate their sick cows.

We have a local natural food store from which we get a bunch of organic stuff in bulk: spices, herbs, popcorn, specialty flours, rice, and some treats our kids love (carob covered pretzels, jordan almonds...) I also get things like tahini and local organic honey there.

2. Keeping it Simple

We're avoiding processed foods and pre-packaged foods, but I'm still buying my Branola bread, flour, sugar, pasta, cereals, oils, and canned goods from the regular grocery store. I'll have to research what foods are most important to buy as "organic," or what foods to avoid. For now, our rule is simply going to be to limit our processed foods to 2 boxes of cereal and one box of hot chocolate packets per week. We do buy canned (non-organic) tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, and pineapple, and some frozen (non-organic) peas.

Finally, I'll also share that my best friend, who recently took the Food Services Director job at a camp, has been bringing us leftovers. It's all homemade, although not organic at this point, and I admire her determination not to throw food away. One of the things that has always helped our food budget has been our willingness to accept others' leftovers. So I'll be sure to be up front about how much we're eating that we didn't purchase. (It's amazing how much food people will bring you when they realize that you're willing to use it! My parents welcome our use of the perishables in their frig when they go away--it's great! And they appreciate that the food is not being wasted!)

So there it is--we're still buying food from the regular grocery store that does not have an "organic" stamp on it. But we're steering clear of a lot of processed and pre-prepared foods, buying some organic produce and produce that's organically grown but not recognized as organic by the FDA.

Let the madness begin!

Three Steps to Eating Healthy without Spending More!

It's a common complaint that eating healthy is cost prohibitive. Healthy food often IS more expensive, but it is still possible to eat healthy without spending more money. (I'm not sure people really believe me when I say this--hence the challenge to myself at the end of this post!)

While our family's personal food revolution has happened slowly and without much organization, when I look back on how we got here, it boils down basically to three main changes. Keep in mind each of these took us a long time, and that the biggest commitment is in the details. But I'll go into those in later posts. For now, here are our personal three steps to affordable healthy eating:

1. Eat very little meat. This was a gradual transition for us. I honestly think it was years that my husband would half-jokingly poke at his dinner plate and say, "where's the meat?" on meatless nights. Now, MOST of our nights are meatless, and this has been a HUGE savings. We can get protein from eggs, dairy, nuts, quinoa, and those magical combinations--beans & rice, macaroni & cheese, and lots more. Our society tends to overeat protein anyway (a "bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit", while delicious, is way more protein than we really need.)

2. Cut back on processed food. We gave up pre-prepared meals, frozen burritos & pizza, etc., even the "healthy" versions. We'll still go through phases of buying tortilla chips, snack crackers, or granola bars, but if we want to save--we don't buy them. My friend Diana told me she'd read about shopping only the grocery store's outside aisles--produce, bread, dairy--and while I usually pop into the interior for baking supplies, cereal, pasta, and canned goods, that's a pretty good rule. We still give in, but if we want to save, I skip as much stuff as possible that comes in a box.

3. Buy local. Food is simply going to cost less if it doesn't have to be shipped, and if you buy it directly from its grower. A weekly farmers' market has been one of our MOST transformative changes. We're fortunate to have a year-round one nearby. We also joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) that runs June-November, supporting a local farm that makes one of its drops walking distance from our city home. Again, the commitment is in the details. A week's worth of our CSA's produce can be very green, leafy, voluminous, and often unrecognizable to those of us who've only ever gotten our fresh food from grocery stores. We've learned to prepare and cook a lot of new kinds of things. Honestly, I'm amazed at how MUCH variety of fresh food there is, and how little of it is typically marketed and available to us. (Another post!!)

Eating local really can be cheaper, and definitely tastier. Food ripens more naturally when its grower doesn't have to pick it too early to ship it cross-country. It also means learning to eat with the seasons. I'm going to sound off my rocker, but there's something downright spiritual about one's appetite getting in tune with the rhythms of the earth's growing cycle, and learning to anticipate each season's edibles. (My husband would totally roll his eyes at that statement.) We've come to realize why our parents used to get oranges in their Christmas stockings: one's longing for citrus is heightened when it is too expensive and precious to eat every day. And during the brief growing cycles of foods like asparagus and rhubarb, I've learned to get to the farmers' market early.

Right now our cozy winter menu includes varieties of cabbage salads, creative root vegetable recipes, and fun with the apples that the local orchard still has coming to the market. (Re-reading that sounds so dull--but I honestly have so much fun cooking this stuff! I'm busy and thrive on limited options.) Tonight's dinner was a favorite--sweet-potato, turnip, and potato soup with just a little sausage.

Yes, we cook. But I have to say, even though I'm not terribly organized and I work full-time, I swear it can be done. We CAN eat healthy food without spending more money!

So to prove this, I'm going to challenge myself to a Budgetarian Fare March Madness. I'm going to keep track of everything we spend on food in March. Discipline and consistency are not my strong points, so this will not be easy, but hopefully it will keep me accountable--and honest, too. (My husband just called me out this morning for the Hostess Cupcake wrapper that was stuffed under the seat of the car...old weakness.)

And speaking of honesty, I should probably admit that just an hour ago, my husband and I shared a pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked while watching the final episode of Season 2 of Downton Abbey. :)