I think I must officially give up on the Hunger Challenge. Not because it's not doable, but because I started eating meat last week (...yep, that needs its own post) and there will be some shuffling of the ol' budget as a result.
As it is, I'm continuing to spend more than the allotted $100 a week, but still (I believe!) staying within a viable budget -- certainly coming in under what the USDA considers "frugal."
Produce
5 lb. potatoes (LC, OG), $2.19
5.5 lb. apples (LC, OG), $5.55
2 lb. pears (LC, OG), $3.15
3 lb. fair-trade bananas (OG), $3.53
1 lb. sweet potatoes (LC, OG), $1.35
1.25 lb. Brussels sprouts (LC), 1.84
1.25 lb. cremini mushrooms (LC), $5.07
5 lb. mandarin oranges (LC), $3.99
2 avocados (LC), $1.54
6 grapefruit (LC), $2.82
1 green pepper (LC), $1.00
4 pomegranates (LC), $6.00
1 bunch of chives (LC), $.99
1 bunch of cilantro (LC), $.79
1 bunch of parsley (LC), $.79
Bulk
2.5 lbs. popcorn (OG), $4.42
2 lb. brown rice (LC, OG), $2.77
1.5 lb. peanut butter (OG), $4.02
4 oz. smoked peppercorns (OG), $4.76
32 oz. olive oil (LC, OG), $9.69
12 oz. honey (LC), $5.99
Chilled
8 oz. goat cheese (LC), $3.95
8 oz. smoked Cheddar cheese (LC, OG), $6.04
8 oz. pastured ghee (OG), $5.45
2.5 lb. wild-caught salmon (regional), $15.89
1/2 lb. pastured bacon (LC, OG), $6.89
2.5 lb. pastured chicken (LC, OG), $8.51
1 dozen pastured eggs (LC, OG), $4.00
1 gallon unfiltered apple juice (LC, OG), $6.99
Dry Goods
12 corn tortillas (LC, OG), $1.19
1 loaf sprouted sourdough bread (LC), $4.45
1 can coconut milk (LC), $1.85
1 can pumpkin puree, $1.99
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes (OG, LC), $2.36
Total: $141.81
What have I learned from the Hunger Challenge?
I've learned that accessibility -- not necessarily income -- is the absolute most important point of contention for anyone who wants to eat well and support local, sustainable agriculture.
After our car broke down, we couldn't get to the farmers market. I couldn't spend a few hours every week shopping at different stores, hunting down the best value. I certainly couldn't drive into another county to pick up a month's worth of eggs. The one place we could access without a lot of trouble was also the most expensive grocery store in the area, and not very well-stocked with organic or local options. I had very few options. As a result, we spent more money and didn't eat as well.
So here's my conclusion. If we (by which I mean those of us who care deeply about food issues, who love to bitch that everyone could afford to eat well if only they'd get their priorities straight) want to promote whole foods, cooking at home, ending dependence on fast food outlets, and supporting localized and small-scale agriculture, then we need to be realistic about accessibility. Before we start shooting off our mouths about this stuff, we need to stop and ask ourselves a few questions.
For example, does the person have a car?
Is it dependable?
Can this person afford to drive to several different places to buy food?
If there's no car, can this person ride a bike? (Are there health problems or ability issues that prevent a person from depending on a bike?)
Does that person live in a bike-friendly town? (Cycling safety is an important point. Where I live, I could get around on a bike, but there are almost no bike lanes and very little awareness of cycling laws.)
Does that person even live in town? (Though it seems counterintuitive, it's often the case that people who live rurally are the most isolated from healthy food.)
What's nearby for this person to buy? (Regular grocery stores? A farmers market? A year-round farmers market? Farm stands? Nothing but convenience stores?)
When does this person work? (Farmers markets, farm stores, and farm stands are generally open only on specific days at specific times.)
Does this person have a family?
If so, is this person supported during excursions to chase down various sources of food?
Or is it the case that all of this person's free time is consumed with duties at home?
Does this person have any way to grow food?
Can this person afford to grow food? (Seeds and soil ain't free, y'know -- not in the age of neo-liberal capitalism. Neither is chicken feed or housing if one decided to raise chickens.)
Can this person afford to buy in bulk? (Many food advocates point out the savings of buying, for example, a side of beef, without realizing that plenty of people don't have a thousand dollars lying around, don't have time to trade work for food because they're too busy working for rent, and have no money to save after basic necessities.)
...and on and on. And on.
I think I did pretty well, financially. Not as well as I'd hoped, as I ended up spending about $500 over the course of a month. And where my cost went up was when I started including more animal foods, which is certainly a controversial point.
Foods from animals are a tricky issue. Such foods should unequivocally come from reputable, local sources, where the animals live in their natural environment, on their natural diet, and are treated with compassion and respect by their people. This, to me, is an inalienable truth. Anything less is a violation of our collective relationship with animals who evolved in symbiosis with us. But foods of this quality are also unequivocally more expensive.
If you want to support localized, sustainable, and humane agriculture, but find the cost overwhelming, I'd recommend eating fewer animal foods, but better ones. To me, it's worth it to spend $12 a pound on bacon if I know those pigs live just a few blocks away, in a completely idyllic environment, if I can shake the farmer's hand and be invited with a whole heart to visit his land. I compensate for this high cost by, first, recognizing that this is the real cost of raising animals free of corporate interference. Then I also eat this bacon sparingly, alongside eggs from my chickens, grapefruit from the farmers market, and greens from a larger organic farm in Sacramento, purchased from a regular grocery store.
Does this make sense? More than that, does this seem possible for most people?
To be honest, I'm not sure. I think I've demonstrated that it's possible to eat well on a budget while supporting local farmers -- for me, where I live -- but there's still this issue of accessibility, and I have no idea how to overcome that except to develop livable, walkable, mixed-use communities. And I want to believe that this is possible, but then Jana's community garden is bulldozed and I feel very doubtful.
Today I read an interesting thought (not related to this topic): There is no such thing as individual liberation. I'm not sure about that. I believe we can experience tremendous moments of clarity in which we lift the veil on a particular mystique and see things as they really are. Jane O'Reilly addressed this as "the housewife's moment of truth." Christians may call it "revelation" or "coming to Jesus." Buddhists believe in the doctrine of right view, in which we sift our way out of obfuscation to see the true nature of reality. I've had many experiences of what I would consider individual liberation, coming-to-Jesus moments-of-truth of right-view that delivered me into some measure, however small, of authenticity.
But I can agree that individual liberation does not equate to a greater liberation. I know some will disagree with this. You might believe that the best thing you can do for world peace is to be a peaceful person. You might believe that walking about with reusable bags will affect communal change -- which will necessarily be positive. Well, I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that. I've been too seriously affected by Derrick Jensen's assertion that personal change does not equal political change.
Too often, personal liberation comes at the expense of anyone who is thus marginalized. In this case, those who have lifted the veil of industrialized agriculture and seek to avoid it have marginalized those who have no such choice. We assume that their reality is our reality. If we can do it, they can do it. If they can't, it's because they're not properly educated. It's because they're not trying hard enough. It's because their priorities are skewed.
Well, maybe it's not.
7 comments:
In this case, those who have lifted the veil of industrialized agriculture and seek to avoid it have marginalized those who have no such choice. We assume that their reality is our reality. If we can do it, they can do it, too. If they can't, it's because they're not properly educated. It's because they're not trying hard enough. It's because their priorities are skewed.
Well, maybe it's not.
This.
As a non-car-owner, I really appreciated this post.
Thanks, Kate.
Having access to poison-free, affordable, locally grown food IS a luxury most people in the United States don't have. People living in poverty in inner cities rarely have access to even fresh vegetables. Government food vouchers will buy Coca Cola but not a head of organic broccoli in many states. But things are slowly changing with regards to food awareness. Urban community gardens are croping up all over the country, and the organic food industry is exploding. I choose to take these indications as signs we are heading in the right direction.
Which Derrick Jensen work are you referencing?
I think there's a rising tide of awareness, and signs that we're headed in the right direction, but I also don't believe we're moving fast enough to stave off some pretty awful consequences. As long as we think we can shop our way out of ecological collapse, tiny fixes won't make a dent (including my own tiny fixes).
I linked to Jensen's article in the post: "Forget Shorter Showers," from Orion Magazine.
I like to hear arguments like this because I feel less guilty of my shortcomings and all the ways that I'm not living up to my own high standards, because really, I'm not stopping the train by doing so. But then what CAN we do? It makes me anxious to think that my mother may be right, and that we need to be more involved as activists and not just conscientious consumers. Where do we start?
By the way, I love the new picture links on the side.
The concept of "green consumerism" bothers me a lot. Even if I do some of it myself, I try to carry no illusion that shopping appropriately is going to save our collective ass. So I agree with your mother.
On activism: I like what a friend posted a few days ago: "Voting once a year isn't as important as using your voice everyday." But we've become convinced that the only "voice" we have is how we spend our money. Unfortunately, as much as I absolutely despise this idea I'm not sure I can say that it's untrue. When you're ruled by corporations the only language that exists is money. And as long as we continue to work within that paradigm, nothing will change.
So at this point I'm just trying to wait it out, preparing to survive the inevitable collapse. But that's not very hopeful. So I really don't know where to start. I'm not a very good activist, either. :(
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