Food, no-so glorious, food

Recently J. and I have been having passing conversations about food, what it costs, and how we want to feed our family. It started because I notice that every time we go to the farmer's market together, he's a total grump (yes, you are @theJB, don't EVEN try to front) when he sees his 60 fresh-from-the ATM machine dollars whittled down to zero dollars in a matter of 20 minutes. It is startling, but since I am the one that normally does the shopping, it doesn't phase me as much. I know what we are buying is exactly what we need and that it's things that my girls will eat. They help to choose our produce and I'm teaching them to support their local food growers, their local community. J. and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye on this subject. In fact, I'm realizing we have two divergent opinions on the matter.

Me:
I like to shop at farmer's markets for organic, locally grown produce. I do the cooking so I should have the most say. I read Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver and don't want to feed my kids genetically modified foods or tainted beef. Plus, rainbow chard makes a pretty picture in the morning sun. See?

Him:
"Giant packs of frozen burritos are BOGO at Safeway! That's 20 burritos for five bucks! That's lunch for, like, two weeks! Michael who?"

"But I like shopping at the farmer's market because everything is fresh and organic,"  I'll say.

"And I like Safeway because it's cheap," he'll counter.

The thing is, he's right. He is. But I want to be right, too. Though, when I find myself noticing the "pretty chard," I have to stop my visual-learning-self and say, "You sound like an idiot."  Shopping at farmer's markets is expensive, hell, it's a luxury, and we live in one of the most expensive communities in the entire country. You can make six figures here and still never feel "wealthy." So how do we strike a balance?

First, we need to kick this discussion off with a little levity. I really don't want to be one of these people:

I do find myself wanting to feed my family as well as I can and I am definitely attracted to the bright shiny newness of a Whole Foods, but my wallet says ouch. I can't afford to shop there. Plus, I choose to support my local natural foods store. We've talked about this before.

What we've been doing is shopping the farmer's market, spending $60-$80 a week for a family of four on fruit, veggies, tofu, fish, cheese, and eggs and then stocking up on staples (spending more) at Safeway (our local large chain market). Meat comes from the meat market, still more dollhairs. I don't buy name brands, I shop sales, I use coupons, I stock up. In general, I don't spend money on frivilous food items or treats. I make my own salad dressing, spaghetti sauce, and almost everything else. I balk at the price of processed foods. I love to cook, but I am also cheap.

But as I walked Safeway today, it was too hard to pass up $1 boxes of Zatarain's jambalaya and mac and cheese, BOGO chicken thighs, and cheap cans of beans and tomatoes. When I looked at the amount of money I had budgeted for grocery shopping this week and compared what I could get at Safeway versus our farmer's market, I found myself sliding bananas and lettuce into the shopping cart along with the popsicles and dish soap.

I don't mean to be one of those "white whiney" a-holes grousing about the high cost of food at the farmer's market when plenty of people in our own community are struggling. There have been many times in my life that I've had to empty the change jar to buy milk, as it were, and I know it's hard to feed your family when only one parent works. My jobs come and go. When I work, food shopping is less stressful. I believe you can eat cheaply and well and support programs like the Pennywise Eat Local Challenge, farmer's markets in low-income communities, and farmer markets that accept food stamps. I feel like I constantly struggle against my own non-extravagant food budget and maximize at every turn. I meal plan to organize my meals, but also to save money.  We use everything in this house. Very little is thrown away.

I was talking to a friend this morning about the high cost of food and when people in our community would start to feel the pinch. Gas here was well above $4 a gallon months ago. Costco limits rice purchases. When will the dotcom millionaires start to feel in their pocketbooks? I think about our local farmer's market and what a long haul it was to get it going. Will people stop shopping there? If they do, what will happen to the farmers? What will happen to their efforts as they struggle against giant food conglomerates to grow good, clean food? Why can't I just be happy with sprayed strawberries and non-organic, non-hormone-laden milk when plenty of other smart, decent, hardworking people have no other choice. Plus, and here's the kicker: I'm not above the occasional corn dog or Happy Meal—or the boxed Jambalaya and popsicles, so why am being such a hypocrite? I definitely fall into the trap of telling myself that my kids eat healthfully most of the time so the occassional trip to McD's won't hurt. (It's good to be a Libra sometimes. /eyeroll.)

I don't know what the answer is. I just know that we all do what we need to do to feed our families and we need to accept those choices.

How about you?  What's your food budget? Are you feeling the pinch? What trade-offs do you make? How did you learn to accept your choices?

I'd love to hear from you.

Comments

[Nina]

What a great, timely post Stefania. We've been eating out a lot lately with the new baby (a luxury, I know, but I'm not beating myself up over it...I just had a baby and I'm not up to cooking, thank yer very much). But I try to buy organic food as much as possible. Charlie is really supportive of this even though it totally makes it impossible for us to eat out more than once a month or so (and I know we're lucky for that even).

I wish I could shop at Farmer's Markets, but I don't. I shop at Trader Joe's where I can get reasonably priced organic food. It's not locally grown and I wish I could do the same thing you're doing. We have an awesome weekday farmer's market just down the street from us but I'm never able to buy more than a few pieces of fruit without hypervenilating.

Still, as our income (hopefully!) grows, that's one of the things I want to spend that money on. My parents always fed us healthy, unprocessed foods (and they were struggling, much more than we are now) and they told us that that was their gift to us, to give us the healthiest start possible.

I really admire your perspective and your ability to see how fortunate you are at the same time.

[Kendra]

My husband and I both work, and we have less family to feed, so our budget is actually bigger than yours (which is making me feel strangely guilty) and we still have to keep our food spending in line. We've talked about it, though, and buying good local items is more important to us moneywise than most other things (except perhaps vacation).

I would rather give my $60 to the farmer's market vendors and eat leftovers for lunch and spend weekends making my own broth, granola, even ice cream, than go to Safeway and buy whatever I want. I consider the time spent cooking both relaxing and satisfying, and I guess that's my trade-off... it takes a lot of effort but ultimately allows me to spend money on healthier foods for my family and other activities we enjoy--like going out for burgers and fries. I'm no saint.

[Adrienne]

My son went vegetarian last year and my grocery bill more than doubled. It's expensive to be healthy.

[Heather]

My personal strategies and I feed a family of 5 - 6 for about 450 a month. You've seen my menus at Home Ec 101, so you know we eat a decent and balanced variety.

I shop the produce stands, no not all of it is organic, but much of it is local. I don't worry about spot free bananas, I buy them when they are freckled to high heaven and .29 a lb and I freeze them for smoothies, banana bread, and shakes. I take advantage of You Pick, freezing and canning local produce.
I buy beef in bulk, it's not organic, but I know exactly where it came from and I am happy with that. I've been to the farms our supplier buys from and I'm not at all leery of the meat.
I buy oats in bulk and we have that rather than cereal - oatmeal and granola are easier on the pocket book.
I don't use coupons as very little I buy ever has any. I buy lots of frozen vegetables when they are on sale as they are a decent compromise healthwise - preserved at the peak of freshness rather than shipped cross country. I take full advantage of my mom's chicken raising hobby, we are in eggs up to our ears and you can't get more free range and organic than chickens your kids can chase. ;)

There are farmer's markets, but I'm not always in a position to take full advantage of them unless my husband wants to make an adventure of it.
Would I like to eat more organically? If money were no option, yes. Otherwise, I feel I'm being a good steward while minding my family's nutritional needs.

Now take all of this with a grain of salt, I did polish off a bag of Doritos while PMSing this week. I am not perfect nor do I intend to aspire to that, it's too much work. :P

[De in D.C.]

I hear you. Like Kendra, both myself and the other half work, and we only have a single kid. And DC is cheaper than CA (by a little). Thankfully the big guy understands the importance of healthy food in a diet and has been converted over to the cult of the farmer's market. In fact, I can even give him a list of things to pick up and he'll go by himself (though he doesn't know his pak choi from his chard). We rarely waste food, and always cook enough to provide leftovers for lunches (or the occasional 'leftover meal' for busy nights). We've finally gotten to the point that all of the meat we eat in the house was purchased directly from a farmer and raised in our region.

To stretch our food dollars, we do many of the things that Heather mentioned - making 'convenience' foods like granola bars and trail mix instead of buying it; we do double batches of waffles one weekend a month and freeze the extras for easy morning breakfasts. We almost never eat out. Meat is bought in bulk when possible, and I try to grow as much fresh produce as I can. I think I'm growing enough potatoes this summer to bring us all the way through winter (this was by accident though!). We joined a CSA this year so farmer's market trips are going to be minimal for most of the summer except for meat and fruit.

I think the biggest money saver for me has been to scale down my meals. I don't need to cook a fancy meal every night, and I don't need to have at least 3 items (meat and two side dishes) like I was raised with. I've been doing a lot more one dish meals (last night - roasted potatoes with pak choi and peas all in the same skillet). Throwing a can of beans into a one dish meal is a great and healthy way to stretch both a meal and a budget.

[sarahthegreat]

J and my husband's views are very similar. He sees 89 cent pork country ribs and buys 20 lbs. I shop organic, and there are some things that I will now only buy organic, like milk. Once I started, it's hard to go back. I'm sure most people in America are thinking more and more about food budgets these days. Food is expensive, and they're sure not increasing my wages to compensate! We did plant a garden this year, a luxury of owning our own home. We do have a community garden in our town, though, with very inexpensive fees for plots. I'm not sure I have an answer, because I'm facing the same struggle. I shop at places like Grocery Outlet (when they're not supporting the war), and a liquidation store, both that carry many organic products. I, too, make my own sauces and most everything from scratch, but I think of how much money I would save if I quit paying 40 cents more per pound for bananas or six dollars for one gallon of milk when the non-organic is 2 gallons for $5.35. The only solution I've come to is more money equals better food. My husband is finishing his Bachelor's of Science degree, so he only works every now and again. If we had a dual income household, it would definitely be much easier. The garden is our way of saving, and really the only way we have thought of to get organic food at a good price.

[Stefania/CityMama]

Thanks for your thoughts so far. So much to think about.

I forgot that I planted a patio garden this year. We have three freakishly huge tomato plants, cukes, strawberries and every herb imaginable. I am awaiting lettuce starts from the garden dude at the farmer's market and then we'll have that.

I wish I could get J on board the whole slow/good food train, but he's happy on the express.

[Trish]

I have been giving this topic a lot of thought lately, too. I am appalled at the sudden increase in processed foods (I saw a jar of 'dipping carrot sticks' today - what the???) at our local supermarket and I am determined to avoid the shops and instead support the farmers who set up a market five minutes from our house every Saturday morning. The key for me will be menu planning, something I keep saying I'm going to do but never seem to get around to. I try not to waste food but I invariably forget about the corn cobs I bought on special and they go dry at the back of the fridge. My hat's off to you, Stefania, for being so organised.

[Kayris]

I've been blogging about eating healthy on a budget for awhile now, and honestly, I don't think it's that hard. It makes me cringe a little when people justify eating unhealthy food because it's "too expensive" to eat well. I just don't agree.

I feed my family of four for about 400-450 a month, and I shop almost exclusively at Safeway. I've been meaning to go check out the farmer's market, but it starts early on Sunday and I'm rarely up and dressed and out of my house before noon on Sunday. At which point everything good is gone.

I menu plan, which has almost eliminated throwing food away. I use coupons when I can, but the most coupons available are usually for craptastic processed food that I don't buy anyway. If something is so cheap that I can't pass it up, but it's not something my family eats, we donate it to our church's food pantry. Safeway's Lucerne brand is fantastic for dairy items, and Safeway's store milk is from non-hormone-treated cows. It still costs 3 bucks a gallon, and we go through 4 gallons a week, but it's cheaper than organic milk and I can breathe easy knowing my kids' milk isn;t from hormone treated cows.

I make my own salad dressing, bread, and pasta sauces when I can, and I skip convenience products. I'm perfectly capable of shredding my own cheese or waiting an extra minute for oatmeal.

We live in Maryland, where the cost of living is high, and we're not rich people, but we do eat well on a budget. It can be done.

[Kristine]

This might be my fav. post yet. My husband I & talk about food, daily.The only must have organic item I have to have is milk. Personally I don't consume it but my hub & 4 yr old daughter do.And weekly I print out online coupons for $1 off a gallon every week. I shop farmer's mkt for items that are local( same zip code) like berrries, aspargus, squash. A lot of local farmers mkts contain vendors that drive 2-3 hours away.For fruit-veggies that we consume larger amounts of, cherries, cuties,plums, eggs, bread : Costco. The price can't be beat. Meats vary, my daughter loves lamb , no one locally sells & butchers, so it's costco. I due shop @ big name grocery stores. I stalk up on what I need when it's cheap. I do alot of meal planning.
one income, my hub is souly commission pay . So I try to budget $20 wkly for Farmers mkt & $75 Albertsons & $50-75 Coscto. Weekly we average $150-$170. My husband comes home for lunch . We only eat out 1-3 times monthly. Even w/ the rising cost of everything in CA I have managed to keep the same budget, so far :)

[chez shoes]

Great post - but be warned, it prompts me to get up on my soapbox!

The thing about those BOGO frozen burritos is, they *aren't* food. They're processed chemical junk, most likely, and the cost of eating them for lunch for two weeks may end up surfacing years later in the form of health problems. I'm speaking from experience, as prior to my prediabetes diagnosis, I was the queen of "cheap" and "convenient" when it comes to food. Yes, genes are to blame, but I don't think I did myself any favors by making the cheap processed stuff that Big Agra passes off as "food" a daily feature of my diet.

I can't remember the statistic exactly, but before the convenience-food 1950s, Americans spent around 25% of their income on food. As companies found ways to make things cheaper, it's gone down to something like 8% - but, obesity and health problems have risen.

Yet another case in which cheaper isn't always better.

[Croft]

Has J read Michael Polan as well?

Reading "Omnivore's Dilemma" changed everything for my family. I thought we ate well - I bought organic mostly, we did the farmers market when the weather was nice and I got what I thought was "friendly" eggs/chicken/meat. Reading that book though made us rethink everything.

We decided the extra cost of food was worth it (like MP explains in "In Defense of Food" we spend much less of our income on food than in countries like Italy and France) - but we would also attempt to keep those costs in control.

We now have joined a CSA which supplies us weekly with an abundance of local fruits and veg (and keeps me creative with cooking!) and top off when needed at the farmers market. The CSA (large box) is much cheaper than if I just shopped the farmers market. And I love looking forward to the seasonal foods that will pop up in my box - including beautiful heirloom tomatoes free of salmonella :-)

We also joined Marin Sun Farm's meat CSA (like Polyface farm) to get our meat - which we eat much less of and enjoy more. And I buy their pasture eggs and chicken at the farmers market.

Then I try to avoid all extras in the "center" of the grocery store. In fact I avoid Safeway altogether. I hit the local grocery/health food store and buy things like rice in bulk to save money and the environment.

I find that we enjoy our food much more and I have re-discovered cooking.

We are in a luxury group, able to afford even this, but I like to think that as a locavore eating real food (not processed "food") we do not pay the rising cost of petrol for transport, as well as the environmental cost, of the globally produced "food".

[Jill]

Wow! This is a great post! Much like you when I had my twins I was sure we would ONLY eat organic fruits and veggies. The only thing that is always organic these days is our milk. Eating processed foods wasn't an option but is sneaking into our lives. We do the occasional Ferry Plaza farmer's market but some of the prices are crazy! We recently sat down and went over every food purchase from Safeway, Cal-Mart, Bryan's, Whole Foods (yeah I hit em all!) and realized we spend over $500 per month. I didn't believe it. Our kids are still working their way into some foods. We decided we had to reign this in. Meal planning has helped but so has sticking to a tight food budget. I also don't always get those $5+ baskets of blueberries like I was used to--and I really don't like that!
It isn't an easy answer. But it makes me feel a bit better knowing that other families give this as much thought as we do. Sometimes I feel like I'm giving something up by living in SF. My husband is ready to split...I need a bit more convincing.
And my husband would be happy eating those burritos a few times a week.

[Nicole]

I live in Sydney, one of the top 20 most expensive cities in the world to live and I have the same conversations with my husband about how much I spend on food and we will continue to have these conversation for as long as we are married.

Food and cooking is a passion for me and we eat 3 meals a day. I like to buy quality produce because it tastes better so this means farmers markets, gourmet delis and organic where possible.

Eating organic fruit and vegetables has made me eat seasonally again and this has helped cut some corners. Its winter here so I plan my meals around what's best at this time of the year; broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, carrots etc and stay away from summer produce such as capsicum (bell pepper), asparagus, zucchini, etc as they are at their most expensive.

With lots of fresh produce our family diet is healthy and the kids are not consuming loads of additives and preservatives. The advantage of this is the kids are rarely sick so I tell my husband that we are saving in doctors bills.

Due to rising costs, when we dine out now, we tend to find the "BYO (bring your own wine), cheap and cheerful restaurants" for wonderful laskas or bowls of pasta that are hidden in local suburbia rather than downtown Sydney.

[Nicole]

Ok, I could go ON and ON on this topic. I'll try to limit it.

Basically, I'm in the same quandary as you. Ryan does not understand why I put myself through the stress of cooking all our meals and shopping at the Farmer's Market and spending all this money on food. He would honestly be happy eating a frozen pot pie. And he sometimes does.

I, however, seem to believe that every meal should be delicious. And nutritious. And not processed. And it's caused us to have a $1,000 a month food bill, to feed three people. That includes probably one night of eating out something cheap. I find it astronomical, but yet I cannot seem to find a way to cut our food costs (I do all of the cooking).

I don't go to the Ferry Bldg. farmer's market, but the one at Alemany is reasonably priced enough that we get out of there for $40, usually (and we can walk!). I imagine this summer will be more expensive, since there is so much more I want to buy during the summer. Hopefully it will be offset by decreased TJ's/ WF/ Good Life costs. I actually find Safeway's prices quite high and TJ's much more reasonable for most things. I do WF for cheeses, olives, etc. I probably spend about $50/ week at WF/ Good Life and we spend another $100-$135 at TJ's.

I am not a stickler for organic fruits and veggies, if I buy at the Farmer's Mkt, but I am if I buy at a store (?). My biggest concern, honestly, is not feeding Olivia meats with hormones in them (at least at home). So if we are getting meat that she will eat, I strongly lean towards the organic, which is often pricey. I don't eat meat, but Ryan does, and loves it, and so does Olivia. Somehow the meat has become more important to me than organic produce.

I would love to be able to feed my family the same quality and taste of meals for less, but I honestly don't known how. I think it has to do with using the same things over and over, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Also, when you factor in a picky toddler eater (loves some things, shuns others for no good reason), it becomes even more difficult. I'm stumped. And open to ideas!

[maisimai]

I love my local farmer's market--beautiful fresh food inspires me to cook and is my way of communing with nature and marking the passage of the seasons. The producers for our market can only be within a 50 mile range so it is a great way to develop a relationship with our local food producers. My daughter has begun to learn where food comes from, which can be lost when folks can only shop at a big grocery store. I hear more about what is happening in my community by going a couple of times a week. For me it is a worthwhile investment.
For a while I was on local organics only--but it meant that I was spending more on trucked in food at the Whole Foods or our local coop and that didn't feel right. So now I am less picky about the organic only--it is more important to me that it be local food. I am planning on canning and freezing a bunch of food and making preserves and what not this summer--to keep my produce cost down in the winter. My relatives used to do it all the time. It was a priority for them and one that I decided to make for myself as well.

Other savings costs--I shop the sales, I go to Target and buy as much organic and natural food as possible. Trader Joe's opened up last winter, and that has been a godsend--it forced the prices at our local Whole Foods down--so I can go back and forth between the two--and my big box grocery store has a house organic label that isn't bad in price. I have given up shopping at my local coop for the big weekly shop.
Luckily my husband and I share a similar philosophy about food so we are willing for food to have a larger share of the budget, but overall I try to keep it around $100-125 for the 3 of us a week.
I love reading your posts about the farmers market--it is such a treat to hear about other farmers markets around the country.

[Rachel]

Great topic. Lately I've been stocking up on staples at Costco, not because it's cheaper but because if I go to the store less often, I don't spend money on impulse buys. I do shop at the farmer's market but ours is not as upscale, so it's cheaper. I can get a lot of produce there for around $20.

When I want to save money, we eat beans/ rice, or lentils/ rice, with or without meat. We avoid most convenience foods and we eat out every now and then, but mostly at inexpensive ethnic places.

[jenifer]

hmmm... i know there are plenty of people out there hungry and homeless, however it doesn't impede on what i find important for my family which is eating whole and healthy foods. i buy our veggies and flowers at the farmers market each sunday and for us its beyond worth it. the best eggs...20 for 6 $ or a big flat of organic sweet strawberries, 5$ all fairly comparable to trader joes or whole foods. i do all my shopping at whole foods, mothers or trader joes. though i do spend a lot on food i do try to be smart about it for our wallets. one big thing i am into is no waste...i buy we cook and eat what we have. i know a lot of mom friends of mine have been discussing a lot about their grocery bills but its an area that we are okay with spending the money in since its an area important to us. my other half is on the same page as i am in the food dept so its no sweat.

[Emily]

We've been struggling with this across the board (the rising gas costs don't help either). We ended up buying a lower cost coffee maker to give up the starbucks trips and end up shopping at a produce store, a grocery store, and a butcher (occasionally a fishmonger as well). We found going direct has been cheaper - in fact we're looking into buying half a cow! We are also having smaller lunches and eating out far less. Also we try to make sure we stretch our meals so that they provide lunch for us as well!

[Rebecca]

What a great article. I think many of us can relate to this struggle. My husband and I recently read Omnivore's Dilema and are left with even more a more confusing grocery list, more questions and feeling a little defeated. Here's where I land.
1) our milk, dairy, poultry and beef are all the best we can buy. My husband actually buys grass fed, humanely treated, raw milk from a farm (also yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese). We buy organic, grass fed, hormone free, antibiotic free milk for our daughter. There is only 1 grocery store we can go to buy it near us. Our poultry is bought at the store, but same thing - organic, free range, homrone and antibiotic free. We order mostly only bison now online at at farm - same feeding and living standards as above.
2) We have a list of fruits and veggies that we need to be organic, the rest we'll slide on. We researched those with the highest concentration of pesticides and those are the ones we buy organic
3) We have little to no processed food in the house. With a toddler that is hard, so what we do have we buy organic with as few ingredients as possible.
4) We're joining a food co-op. In that way, we'll be supporting local farmers, we'll get what's in season and fresh, and it'll save us from running to 5 different grocery stores to get what we need.

We love a good farmer's market, but they are dangerous to our pocketbook. We cannot seem to control ourselves there. Everything looks so beautiful and fresh.

As for the overall cost...we regularly overspend our budget.

As for healthy eating. We do the best we can. Beyond that my logic is that my body is meant to be a natural filter. If I feed it well 80% of the time, it can handle the rest. I mean, you gotta live right?

[Laura]

Hey Stefania,
I have a question for you. Do you buy regular items for your skin care and hair, as well as household items? If so, you should look into shopping at drug stores like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. A few months ago I started buying my shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, etc. at CVS, and haven't looked back since. Nowadays I'm getting free razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes, bodywash out the wazoo. It's a game, but I tell you, I'll never pay full price for household items again! Saving so much money on those items has made it a lot easier to buy organic items for me and my partner. I don't work, and she does, so money is tight. But we live well and we make it work. With the cost of food and gas these days (and I can't even imagine how much you're now paying), it's nice to know I have stockpiles of toiletry items, some food items (granola bars, etc.) and house cleaners. Just a thought. If you're interested go to hotcouponworld.com and see for yourself. CVS has it's own mesage board. You can look at the Safeway message board and see the best deals there, as well as any other major "chain" store. It truly is an invaluable resource.
Laura
P.S. I don't own the site or anything, I am just a user. I only sing its praises because I've really saved a lot of money!

[Laura]

Oh, I forgot. We shop at our farmers market too. I find the greatest savings are when we purchase in bulk there. Last year I got a bushel of tomatoes for canning for $8.00. This year, after having read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I decided to plant a garden of our own with heirloom plants. Yes starting seeds from scratch is kind of a pain, but nothing beats all the tomatoes you can eat for about three dollars. The best part is, I can save the seeds for next year and not have to worry about Montsanto coming after me for doing so.
I also love to can, so when I do find a deal on produce, I try to can it, so that we can have it for later. My friend gave me a recipe for sweet green tomato pickles that her husband's 80 year old grandmother still makes. I'm definitely canning a shitload this summer. I've had them and they are to die for.
One big thing I've been into lately is baking bread. I know you bake bread too, so I'm sure I don't have to sell you on its superiority, but here's what I do to make my loaf stretch the most. First, I have a starter, which cuts down on yeast usage. Yeast isn't expensive, but a starter is pretty much free. Then I make a large amount of dough. I use about a pound of flour in my dough, and then about a cup of starter, some salt, and water to make a dough. I don't really measure as I have made it so many times. Anyway, I make this big batch of dough work in several ways. On the first night I make pizza with this dough. It's a lean dough so it works well. That night the dough rises in the fridge. The next day I make bread. That night we eat some bread with our meal (usually something Italian). The day after that the bread is getting stale, so I make sandwiches...usually paninis so I can cook the bread. Finally we take a break from the bread for a day or two. By then the bread is pretty damn hard, so it is perfect for French toast. Usually that's made on the weekend. Finally if there's any left over, I grind it up and freeze it for later use. I love the bread I make. I like knowing it wasn't sitting in a factory for a week or two before it got to me. And forgive me for saying so, but I don't like getting bread at our farmers markets because it sits out all day where flies can land on it. Lately I've been looking for a place to buy it in bulk so I can cut the cost even further, but right now I'm living with the soaring cost of wheat. Even with the higher price, I find I'm using about $.75 of flour per loaf. I know I can buy cheap bread in the store, but it doesn't mean I want to!
Hope that helps some!

[VLB]

I'm de-lurking for this post. (Stefania, you helped me with suggestions on entertaining a toddler in SF over a year ago - I still thank you!!!)

I have two degrees, including a doctorate, in agriculture (disclaimer: I don't currently work in Ag; now I study microbes). I'm extremely aware of what I choose to feed my family. None of these decisions are made casually, or without thought. So here's my soapbox. Generally speaking, I'm opposed to organic farming for a couple of reasons. One is the fact that the perception most people have of organic farming is idealized - there ARE certain chemicals approved for organic farming and they ARE used. The other reason is that classic organic farming with no interventions beyond farm byproducts (manure, etc), has lower yields than most chemical farming. The net result is that to produce the same amount of food, more land has to be farmed. I live in a region of Washington State that produces a TON of horticultural produce, but as organic farming expands, more and more marginal and ecologically sensitive land is put into production. Most (not all) current "chemical" farming uses only fertilizers and pesticides that are well-documented, short-lived, and then uses them only sparingly (they are expensive!). In washing my produce, I'm removing residues that might still remain on my food (though they have most likely degraded by the time I get it). There's not a lot I can do about a systemic Salmonella colonization of my tomatoes...

Therefore, I wish that we could have a movement afoot to promote conscientious agrochemical use as "Sustainably Produced Food" that can provide a reliable, safe, nutritious food source while still protecting our valuable wild lands.

Regarding dairy and meat...I think these industries are a touch behind plant production. I choose BST- and antibiotic-free milk. And with meat, the hormone- and antibiotic- free is preferred also, but it is even more important to me to buy local meat (CO2 emissions from transport are huge). Fortunately for me, in my area these two criteria are hand-in-hand.

For everything, I buy local as much as possible. But I grew up in central Canada where the only reliably local products were grains, potatoes, meat, and sugar. So I encourage local produce purchases, but try not to get too soapbox-y about it because local fruit and veggies is not an option for many.

But bringing this back to budgets...we did join a CSA this year and are enjoying its diversity. That saves money. I shop at a local Winco or locally owned grocery store. The former is a massive discount chain where I stock up on detergent and other non-food staples. At both groceries the produce turnover is high and the prices are accordingly in check (relatively). I always check where the produce was grown. I will still occasionally buy chilean grapes in January - but I will be aware. And right now I see some peaches and apricots from California - but knowing the local ones are a couple of weeks away, I can be patient a little longer. So this helps the budget, also.

Lastly, I buy very little processed food. I love cooking, and making things from scratch results in tastier, healthier meals. And a couple of grilled chicken thighs beside a pile of CSA greens is a pretty frugal meal.

Speaking of my CSA - I have the biggest chinese cabbage that I've seen in my life. Any suggestions?

Sorry for the long, soapbox-driven comment...

V.

[BorderMommy]

It is so hard to find the balance in the bay area. I do shop the farmers market, and I honestly don't think it is that expensive. But there are some things like salad greens I buy organic at Safeway instead. Our local Safeway stocks AWFUL produce. I also shop at a giant farmers market where there is a little more price pressure on the vendors. going right before the market closes can help to. Selection isn't as good, but vendors do not want to carry stuff home.

I do a lot of meat shopping at Costco. It isn't my ideal, but it is what I can afford. Once a week or so I hit the "bargin" bin at Andronico's. The deals there are amazing. Over the weekend I got two great Kobe beef steaks (1.5 pounds total) for $6. A few weeks ago I scored packages of Niman Ranch Anduille for $1.50 a piece. It helps that I can go early mornings when it has just been filled, and few other people are shopping.

Whole foods does work for us if I am very careful. Their house brands are affordable. For example their organic soy milk is cheaper than the Organic soy at TJ's. I go once a month and stock up to limit my temptation to buy all the pretty stuff.

[Amanda]

Oh this is a topic close to my heart!

I'm always complaining about my grocery budget. We rarely eat out. I meal plan, bargain shop, use coupons, pack lunches with leftovers and do just about every. single. thing. I can to save money on food. I stopped buying organic because it was too expensive, but I ONLY purchase food that is all natural (no preservatives, color additives or anything I can't pronounce). I don't shop at the farmer's market because it's downtown and I'm not. I would be around $6 in gas.

And yet we spend around $1000 a month on groceries.

I recently realized that I'm done fighting it. I'm going to keep meal planning, etc, but I'm done worrying about it. Fortunately I have that luxury, but our food expenses keep me from getting to spend money on other things (like electronics or nice clothes). Of course we could spend less money, but there a few reasons WHY our grocery budget is so high and I've just decided to accept them:

We eat a lot of animal protein. If I make spaghetti (without meatballs), he'll say, "Where's dinner?" And I also cook for my MIL, which is fine, but with three adults, all of us BIG eaters, and two kids (for whom I buy ALL NATURAL food), it adds up. I don't think I've thrown away more than $5 worth of food THIS YEAR. We just eat A LOT.

Also, I LIVE to entertain. Nothing warms my heart like cooking for company. It's something I refuse to give up, so that's an additional expense. It's not like I'm serving filet mignon or anything, but every time we host dinner, it's an additional trip to the store.

The last thing we both feel strongly about is the BEER, WINE, LIQUOR category. What good is all that food without something to wash it down?

Anyway, what it boils down to is values. Food is an incredibly enjoyable part of my existence. Some people don't care about food the way we do and that's fine. It's just that I LIVE to eat and that's never going to change.