> What would you do if your grocery bill went from $150 a week to $300 or more?
It depends on why, and whether I could afford it. If one can afford a 100% bump in food expenses, and can effect it by choosing to buy better food, then it would be worth it in my opinion. The problem to me is that real, sustainable food is basically impossible to come by. I’ve tried farmers markets, etc, but those establishments aren’t about “real” eating either. Americans shopping at all tiers of the food system experience commerce that is entirely catered to a post-seasonal shopping experience. You go to a grocery store and 90% of the shelves aren’t food at all—in the sense that it’s usually some kind of starch and palm oil packaged with salt—then the rest is confused about what time of year it is. If I could spend 200% more on food I would, but seasonal, real food is nowhere to be found. What I want is a real Whole Foods. Such a store would not have shelves of boxed garbage. It would sell dry foodstuffs, out of season produce that keep well in low oxygen chillers (apples, etc) and whatever was in season and is practical for eating. All the food would be highest quality. But such a store wouldn’t exist because Americans must be able to buy rhubarb, salmon and kiwis any time of the year, and won’t come back unless you have them.
Greetings from MD too. MD sheep and wool is coming up:)
You can eat sustainably. It just takes a lot of work.
If you eat meat, buy half a cow or a pig (or a sheep!) from a local farmer. Have it butchered and store it in your freezer. This is actually cheaper than buying meat at the grocery store, if you can afford the upfront cost and have a chest freezer.
Buy your milk and other dairy from a local dairy. This is not cheaper, and will require either that you make a special trip to pick up the milk, or if you're lucky your dairy might have a delivery service.
Get your fruit from a local pick-your-own orchard. Can what you can't eat.
Get your vegetables from a farm stand. True, often this isn't actually local, but mainly that's because people want vegetables that aren't in season yet. So farm stands start stocking tomatoes in June, even though tomatoes don't ripen until July at the earliest. So do your homework and only buy what's in season and locally grown. Again, buy in bulk and can what you don't eat immediately. Supplement with a garden in your backyard. Ideally, have a small greenhouse as well so you can extend your growing season. Build a corn crib, buy a truckload of field corn from a local farmer and store it. When you need flour, seed the corn and run it through a grain mill.
In some places there are farm produce co-ops. If you have one locally, join it. They'll ship you a box of vegetables every week during the summer, whatever is in season.
Raise a small chicken flock in your backyard. Eat the eggs and feed them off the leftovers from your vegetables.
To be certain, this costs a significant amount of money and it's a ton of work. It also requires certain preconditions - that you live somewhere where there are local dairies and orchards and farm stands (although those are true in a lot of the world) and that you have enough land for a garden and chicken coop. And it will require wholesale changes to your diet. But it's what your great grandmother did.
Thank you for this very practical list of suggestions. Reading through them it’s clear they go a long way. We do some of these things already. I’m going to keep this list around for more to practical things to do.
It depends on why, and whether I could afford it. If one can afford a 100% bump in food expenses, and can effect it by choosing to buy better food, then it would be worth it in my opinion. The problem to me is that real, sustainable food is basically impossible to come by. I’ve tried farmers markets, etc, but those establishments aren’t about “real” eating either. Americans shopping at all tiers of the food system experience commerce that is entirely catered to a post-seasonal shopping experience. You go to a grocery store and 90% of the shelves aren’t food at all—in the sense that it’s usually some kind of starch and palm oil packaged with salt—then the rest is confused about what time of year it is. If I could spend 200% more on food I would, but seasonal, real food is nowhere to be found. What I want is a real Whole Foods. Such a store would not have shelves of boxed garbage. It would sell dry foodstuffs, out of season produce that keep well in low oxygen chillers (apples, etc) and whatever was in season and is practical for eating. All the food would be highest quality. But such a store wouldn’t exist because Americans must be able to buy rhubarb, salmon and kiwis any time of the year, and won’t come back unless you have them.
Greetings from MD too. MD sheep and wool is coming up:)