Wednesday, May 9, 2012

How to spend more money on food

With the economy being as it is I sat down the other day racking my brains to figure out how I could spend more money on food.  We live in a time and a place that has so much available to us at such incredible prices it's a shame we don't spend a bigger portion of our budget on the great food that is clamoring for out attention in the fields around us.

If locavore, organic, gluten-free, free range, tenderly massaged on a daily basis, sung to sleep at night animals and vegetables isn't on your priority list, well, perhaps it ought to be.

Did you know that :
  • “Americans enjoy the cheapest food supply in the world, spending the smallest share of their income on groceries of any country.” (Source: Chicago Tribune Reporter)
  • “No other nation on the planet spends as much as we do on medical care.” (Source: Robyn O’Brien)
  • “People are fed by the Food Industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the Health Industry, which pays no attention to food.” (Source: Wendell Berry)
(For more statistics go here, which is where I lifted my info from because I'm lazy.)

Wonder if there might perhaps be some connection between a rise in obesity, a shrinking life expectancy and a multitude of health problems that are connected to our eating environment?

You are what you eat.  Your body doesn't make cells out of air and water, it makes cells out of food and the quality of that food has an effect on your quality of life both now and down the road.

I overheard a recently recovered heart attack patient explain that the reason he brought home KFC for dinner was because he was trying to eat healthier.  I couldn't help it.  My jaw dropped. REALLY?  Where the 'L are people getting their information from???!!!  I don't think learning bogus food pyramid in preschool really cuts it anymore.  We need to inform our children and our culture about the food we eat and the impact it will have on our lives.

You can tell how much a person values a thing by how much time and money they spend on it.  High priority = lots of time and money.  Low priority = little time and money.

30 min meals and $10 dollar dinner? Drive thru?  What are we saying to ourselves?  Why are we trying to run our bodies on pink slime and paper?


O.k. so we aren't super hard core at my house.  We have snacks.  We let the kids eat the candy they get at parties.  We sometimes go out for ice cream and sometimes for Chipotle.  Sue me for being a hypocrite.  All I'm asking as that we take another look at food and find some other place in the budget to save money.

So the next time your children ask what's for dinner, tell them, "I'm making FOOD for dinner tonight,  FOOD. and it's going to take awhile ...."

4 comments:

pennymalley said...

I don't understand what's wrong with a 30-minute meal. It sounds like you're saying it's the ingredients that matter, not how long you stand over the stove cooking them. Am I missing something? Otherwise, I agree with you. (Can you tell I'm not a fan of kitchen duties?)

Jacquelyn said...

Penny, the only point I'm trying to make is that we spend time doing the things that are important to us. Like right now. I tell myself that a clean house is a high priority yet I am spending the entire evening on my computer. Good food doesn't just happen. It takes planning time, prep time and cooking time and if you can do that in less than 30 min, excellent. I admire you. And possibly envy you a little. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a quick and easy meal!

pennymalley said...

Ahh, got it. I strive to spend no more than an hour in the kitchen, including baking time. That does not include planning the menu... I try to do that on Mondays, but with a hubby who travels sometimes unexpectedly, it's hard. I'll admit, I cook healthier things when I know another adult will be eating it with me. I cave when it's me against 4 picky eaters. Do your kids eat whatever you prepare? If not, what do you do?

Jacquelyn said...

I hear your pain Penny! I never know from day to day when the hubs will be going out of town, the only thing I do know is that he won't be eating with us but might come home looking for left overs so the food needs to be etable. If the kids don't like it, that's fine but their options are take it or leave it until breakfast. Somehow they have managed to choke it all down and I'm admittedly not the world's greatest cook - just a wee bit more stubborn than they are.

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