Why do organic plums taste so good?

[Veronica]

Yeah, we pay for it because we can, but that certainly hasn't always been the case and I totally get that. In fact, in many ways I feel like it is my duty to pay for it precisely because we are in a situation where it's possible for us. I want the healthier, more humane, local, fresher, better for the environment, whatever stuff for my body, but I also want to support the people who are producing it because I know that not everyone can.
:

You said what I felt. Thank you!

We've worked hard to get where we are, made some good decisions and HAD a lot of good fortune. When were first married, I was a college student and pretty much had no income. Thom was a Lance Corporal in the Marines. He made $1000 a month and our rent was $525. OMG, the arguments we had over money!

Now that we can, we support the things we believe are important.

Veronica

[Becky]

Yeah, we pay for it because we can, but that certainly hasn't always been the case and I totally get that. In fact, in many ways I feel like it is my duty to pay for it precisely because we are in a situation where it's possible for us. I want the healthier, more humane, local, fresher, better for the environment, whatever stuff for my body, but I also want to support the people who are producing it because I know that not everyone can.

Where's that "Like" button?

[Susan Otcenas]

... I don't think I could afford to eat.

This is one of the reasons I belong to a CSA.

One of the biggest costs in fruits and vegetables is the costs to pick/process/ship, etc.

But at my CSA (1.5 miles from my house), the members do the picking and bundling. (Each member is asked to volunteer to pick/bundle twice during the 29 week season). Members pick up their veggies at the farm each week.

29 weeks = $800 = $27.50 per week.

I picked up my share today. I got:
1) 2 heads lettuce
2) 1 bunch Kale
3) 1 bunch basil
4) 1 bunch parsley
5) 6 cucumbers
6) 5 zucchini & summer squash
7) 1 bunch purple carrots
8) 1 fennel
9) 4 tomatoes
10) 5 red potatoes
11) 8 green apples
12) 2 onions
13) 2 garlic bulbs
14) 1 head cauliflower
15)
16)
17)

I'm having a brain fart on the last 3 things, but I know there were 17 items, because they number them up on the dry erase board each week. It's probably going to drive me crazy until I remember them...

As members of the CSA, we share in the success of failure of each crop, so some weeks or seasons, there's less and others there's more. This season has been pretty good so far. But even in weeks or seasons when the haul is lighter, I still feel like I'm getting a lot of food for the money being spent, especially compared to the costs of organics at the grocery store. Our CSA is *not* ceritified organic, but it's quite small - feeds less than 100 families - and we know the farmers. We know that while they do use fertilizers, they use everything as natural as they can (manure, etc.), don't spray nasty pesticides, etc. We buy fresh eggs from them every week as well, and sometimes cheeses that they make from their goats.

I feel very fortunate to live someplace where I can get my vegetables from people I know, just down the road a piece. And one of the reasons I choose to do it is because like GLC and Veronica, it seems to me that the more people support it, the more common (and therefore less expensive) it will become as more farmers move to a healthier, more sustainable way of farming.

[OakLeaf]

Yep, we pay for it one way or another. That segment in "Food, Inc" was pretty compelling (not that any of us didn't know already how our society subsidizes both sick-making "food"-like substances and the medical care to treat the diseases caused by eating that cr*p. So those who have to rely on subsidies - both consumers and farmers - are really stuck. )

Wow, that's a huge CSA share, Susan! Do you split it with other people? We belong to a winter CSA, and the two of us really have to work to eat all the veggies! It's a good thing our joining the CSA coincided with my deciding to eat less grain, because there wouldn't be room in my diet for much grain. In the summer I grow enough of our own that we just buy a few things ad hoc. But for comparison, I just got the weekly email from the farm - they don't do a summer CSA, but they have $20 weekly baskets by order - this week's includes:
2 lbs Potatoes
Arugula
2-3lbs Eggplant
3 Red or Orange Bell Peppers
1 pint of our famous Bread and Butter pickles
Choice of Yellow Squash, Okra or Collards
Basil


Really, I consider my personal health a happy side effect of buying organic (remember that some of the most toxic chemicals are used on non-food crops such as textiles). Mostly I choose organic because of the estimated 10,000-20,000 US farmers and farmworkers every year who are physician-diagnosed as having been poisoned by pesticides. When you take into account long-term exposures and undiagnosed illnesses, the number is likely much higher.

I know I'm lucky to be able to afford to feed and clothe myself without poisoning other people. It makes me really angry that this is a matter of luck.

[Blueberry]

I'm going to throw out an unpopular opinion:

Sometimes, it's a matter of how much work you are willing to put in and how many convenience foods you are willing to give up in order to be able to afford to eat food that is 1) organic and 2) grown in a more sustainable fashion. If you don't plan, don't want to put in the time to cook, and don't want to be organized about packing food, then yep - it's expensive.

When DH and I were in college, we did not eat out. We couldn't afford to. We cooked all of our own meals, and just didn't eat much meat.

Even now, I make my own granola instead of buying pricey cereal with who knows what added to it; I usually cook my own beans instead of buying canned; I make my own yogurt instead of buying it - organic milk is way cheaper than organic yogurt; I buy foods in bulk instead of pretty packages; I shop the same farmers at the market and know who will give me a deal/save extra good stuff for me (and they, in turn, know I will buy from them in preference). You still can't drag me in a Starbucks - if it's the only option when I travel, I will get a drip coffee. I will not buy their convenience foods (scones, sandwiches, etc.). I do eat out, but it's selective. I know where I can get good, healthy food, and not break the bank. However, I'm going back to school. My budget is getting ready to be more limited - and I'm going to prioritize my organic rolled oats over eating out; same with my organic milk.

I do recognize that there are some people whose budgets are so limited that they are already doing all of these things and they can barely afford to get by. Those are not the people I'm talking about. I have a LOT of sympathy for those people. I have too many acquaintances who will say they're too poor to eat well and that we spend "so much" money on food, and then stop for a latte and a scone twice a day, eat sushi takeout for lunch or Chipotle, order pizza for dinner, go out for Chinese food several times a week, etc., etc. They need to re-prioritize a bit, IMO.

[GLC1968]

I have too many acquaintances who will say they're too poor to eat well and that we spend "so much" money on food, and then stop for a latte and a scone twice a day, eat sushi takeout for lunch or Chipotle, order pizza for dinner, go out for Chinese food several times a week, etc., etc. They need to re-prioritize a bit, IMO.

I totally agree with this. In fact, today is day 30 of a 30-day stretch of 100% super clean eating that my husband and I have been doing (Whole30). As part of this, we have been spending quite a bit more on food than we usually do (did you know that Starkist albacore tuna pouches are packed in soybean broth? - to avoid that, I'm buying Wild Planet tuna pouches at $3.50 a pop!) and eating a very large quantity of it. At first, we both balked at it quite a bit. BUT, when we realized that 98% of all meals MUST be made at home now, we realized that in fact, we were saving money. For us, eating out and groceries were from two different budgets and I'm sure we weren't the only ones to think of it that way. When we put both costs together, the ridiculous amount of money we are spending on groceries now is tempered quite a bit by our lack of dinning out.

[Susan Otcenas]

Wow, that's a huge CSA share, Susan! Do you split it with other people?

Nope. Jeff & I eat a diet very heavy in fruits & veggies. It wasn't always that way; once upon a time I rarely bought "green things". But I have far more respect for my body these days, and what I ask of it. A diet composed of not much more than meat, starches and fats was not healthy and was making us both fat.

Now I have vegetables at nearly every meal, breakfast included (I made a kick@ss omelette this morning with spinach, mushrooms, basil, chives & feta, most ingredients being from the CSA). Some evenings I make nothing BUT veggies for dinner. Big piles of cauliflower, broccoli, squash, kale, seaweed, zucchini, etc., with my favorite ginger-miso dressing for some zing. Maybe some beans or quinoa on the side. We still eat meat (sometimes), but it's no longer the centerpiece of the meal.

I can't say that I get through 100% of our share 100% of the time, though. A few weeks ago we got 4 heads of lettuce. Didn't quite make it through all of those. I have 3 kholrabi in my fridge that I haven't decided what to do with yet; need to figure something out before they spoil. (Last year I did a kholrab-cabbage-carrot slaw that was pretty tasty.) I don't always get through all the cabbage we get. But the vast majority gets consumed pretty readily.

One thing I've found to be very important is to spend at least one evening per week cleaning, cutting and prepping the veggies. I don't want to have to go home after work and wash & chop stuff just to make dinner. By the time I get home, I'm HUNGRY and I need to get something on the stove quickly, before I either a) make a bad food choice instead (a la "screw it, I'll just make a pot of pasta; the veggies can rot!") or b) toss my hands in the air and go out for sushi.

[sookiesue]

We also prioritize organic, local food in our budget. We recently evaluated our expenses and realized that we do spend a lot more on food than most families probably do, but like GLC we also consider it an investment in our health and especially the health of our children, and a step in the positive direction in taking care of our planet.

In working on our budget, we decided to cut out going to restaurants except for a few special occasions and we are saving money by buying food to make at home, even if the food is more expensive, organic choices.

It does make me a little sad when I hear other people talk about how they 'can't afford' organic foods, but they drive large trucks around town or go on many fancy vacations each year. They really CAN afford it, it's just not a priority. There's a difference.

I really wish that healthy food was more easily available to those who truly have financial struggles, and I think that if there were more people who supported - in fact, demanded - organic or at least local and sustainable farming, that could eventually turn the tides and help make it accessible to everyone.

Think of the long-term health benefits to the population if everyone had access to fresh fruits and vegetables every day!

[Veronica]

NerdFitness had an interesting post about priorities today.

Veronica

[GLC1968]

Susan - if you ever have cabbage that you won't use, call us! Cabbage is a staple in our diet now and we can only grow so much due to space (and aphids).

[Blueberry]

I have a farmer who grew napa cabbage just for me She sold it well, but there were always 2-3 large heads waiting for me in season. It'll be back in the fall. Homemade kimchi, cabbage salad (use instead of lettuce), various sautes, etc, etc. LOVE cabbage!!

[Susan Otcenas]

NerdFitness had an interesting post about priorities today.

The bit about not enough time to clean the house...ouch.

[GLC1968]

I have a farmer who grew napa cabbage just for me She sold it well, but there were always 2-3 large heads waiting for me in season. It'll be back in the fall. Homemade kimchi, cabbage salad (use instead of lettuce), various sautes, etc, etc. LOVE cabbage!!

We use the regular head cabbage as 'noodles' in about a billion different recipes. And the leaves make great taco 'shells', too!

[Veronica]

The bit about not enough time to clean the house...ouch.

My excuse was I killed the vacuum. My new vacuum came today - darn that Amazon Prime!

Sometimes NF is just geeky. Other times it really resonates with me.

Veronica

[Adventure Girl]

My excuse was I killed the vacuum. My new vacuum came today - darn that Amazon Prime!

Is it a Dyson?