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Sparkle (5)
[Editor's Note: 'Tis the season to have just spent an awful lot of money (on gifts, food, entertaining, and yes, possibly even alcohol...), and 'tis the season to start thinking about how to step back from holiday excess and start eating healthily again. But is it possible to eat healthily and keep to a budget at the same time? This post from the archives assures you that yes, it is possible, Virginia. There really is an affordable way to eat your veggies! --Genie]
I can't even count the number of times that I have had someone ask me how we can afford to feed a family of eight on one income. One military income. And what they don't usually know is that we eat fresh, organic, healthy foods and I rarely use coupons. How do we do that on such a limited budget? Because we are basically locavores.
A majority of what we what our family eats each week arrives on my doorstep on Thursday mornings in a brown cardboard box. It's always like unwrapping a special gift when we look inside our box and see what foods we'll enjoy in the next few days. Where does this mystery box come from? From a CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's a beautiful thing. All across the country, farms of all sizes offer their bounty to local customers who pay for a share of the crops.
CSAs support local farms and are better for everyone involved, from producer to consumer. Instead of buying produce that's been trucked or flown across the country, we get fresh, local produce that was grown right in our area. This also means that we eat foods that are in season. Right now we are eating a lot of root vegetables, apples, and pears. It's a throwback to our past, when families grew and gathered their own food and had to eat what they could store through the winter.
Eating local foods is better for the environment because the foods require less energy to pack and transport. Local foods are also better for the families eating them because they are fresher and don't have to be artificially ripened (which is a scary process) and most have been minimally treated with pesticides and other chemicals because these foods are being grown during their natural growing seasons and not mass-produced for year-round consumption.
In fact, all of our produce comes from our CSA box or our local farmer's market. And it's all organic. Our CSA box has enough fruits and vegetables to last us an entire week and I can pick up anything else I want at the farmer's market or even have it added to our CSA box. Most of what we eat is produce! It might sound crazy, but my kids love vegetables. Brussels sprouts, spinach, broccoli, sunchokes, parsnips, kale, beets, beans, and cabbage are the foods of choice right now. Yes, my kids eat kale and they love it!
I grew up eating boxed macaroni and cheese and frozen fish sticks. I didn't have my first taste of salsa until I was nineteen. I had never tasted chili until I was in my twenties. My idea of vegetables was frozen corn or carrots. I didn't know any better and this was what I thought was good for me. When I had kids of my own, everything changed.
I remember another new mom telling me that she fed her kids a raw diet and they didn't drink milk. I started reading and learning about diet, nutrition, and "green" living. I stopped using harmful chemical cleaners and started eating healthier foods. I have read a lot of books about natural living, but one of my favorites is a new book called The Conscious Kitchen. It goes over (in great detail) the reasons for choosing local, organic foods and has tips for finding sources for them. It also discusses the healthy ways to cook the foods and keep a green kitchen. (Teflon-coated pans? Ick! How about a nice cast-iron skillet instead?)
Another key to keeping our food budget low is eating meatless meals several nights a week. We're not vegetarians, although I was one for eight years.
