Turning my Attention to Food

My husband and I have been talking a lot about food lately, mostly in the context of budget and health. On Friday night we watched Food, Inc. I wish we hadn’t waited so long to watch it, but then again maybe it was the perfect time to watch it in conjunction with the discussions we have been having. The movie helped us to solidify some new goals- basically, to spend less money on more healthy food. So on Saturday morning the kids and I went to the farmers’ market.

As you can see, Ryan was proud of our produce purchases. Look at all that yummy local, organic produce that we got for just $32! The meat included a large whole chicken, 2 bone-in chicken breasts, and a cross-rib roast.  It was hard to fork over $44 for the meat. Last week, I bought the same size chicken on sale at Raley’s for $4.07 (at the farmers’ market it was $19!). Thankfully, Food, Inc. convinced us that quality is more important than price. We are used to eating meat everyday, we may have to re-examine that in the near future. I love how the documentary reminded us that we can make a difference, we vote on these issues three times a day!

When we got home from the market I had to tweak this weeks’ meal plan (you never can be certain what you’ll find fresh). Laying our purchases all out on the counter not only made for a great photo op, but it helped me to plan to make sure that we were going to use everything we bought. We waste far too much food! As an item was included in a planned meal I put it away. At the same time I made a short list of additional items that we still need from the store.

It’s only Sunday, and I’ve already spent a lot of time and energy on this weeks’ food (and I haven’t even cooked the meals yet). The planning will get easier each week. Soon we will be spending less money on food, supporting farmers and companies that deserve our support, wasting less food, and eating more healthy meals!