This month is responsible consumption month at the IDP, and one area where we all make choices (consciously or not) in the area of responsible consumption is when we eat -several times a day. There's an oft-cited statistic that the reason many people choose fast-food over home prepared food is that the food is so much cheaper - you can feed a family of four for $10 to $12 quickly on fast food, but to cook at home is supposed to be expensive and time-consuming.
Fortunately, this is simply not true. Millions of people already know - and thousands of more are discovering every day - that cooking at home is not only cheaper and faster than the time and money spent driving to and waiting for fast food, it's a way to reconnect with things that matter. There's some great resources online that can help you get started affordably and I want to highlight some of them today.
Throughout all of this it is important to remember that what we call "organic food" used to be what we called "food" until about sixty years ago, when an enormous amount of money was spent to convince us that food had to go through various chemical baths in order to make it healthy and efficient. It may take some time to unravel six decades of "chemical food" being labelled "food" (and sold at a discount), and "food" being labelled "organic food" (and sold at a premium), so the simplest way to think of it is: "organic food" is what we used to call "food".
In a minute I'll give you some great resources to start or continue your own journey towards more responsible consumption of food, but first I wanted to define what "responsible consumption" means to me around food. Please keep in mind that responsible consumption is a continuum - it's not all or nothing. You aren't going to be "responsible" 100% of the time - no one is. Just beginning with considering what responsible consumption means to you is enough - everything else will unfold in its own way, and in its own time (not necessarily on the method and timetable you "decide" it should). Because that is how the universe works.
Jerry's ideas of what responsible consumption means for food:
1. You are responsible for your own health and the health of those around you. This translates not only to making choices between "healthy" and "unhealthy" food, but extends to your larger community as well. Eating and breathing are literally the only times you actively take in pieces of the "outside world" and make them part of "you". You make a choice every time you ingest something - what it contains physically and energetically, how it got to you and who handled it along the way, what conditions were like where it was picked or prepared. Following back for a week or a month something as simple as a strawberry, hamburger, or bowl of pasta can unravel a chain of people, places, pesticides, fertilizers, polluted water and destroyed communities. Or it can unravel a history of fairly treated workers, careful stewardship of the land, non-toxic growing methods, protected waterways, and farmers sustaining themselves.
2. You are responsible for your future. Along with everyone around you, your actions in the present moment are creating not only the present moment but setting up the likely outcomes in the future. Although small acts of "food rebellion" may seem meaningless in the bigger context of the world, it is a series of small choices and questions that add up to a revised future. You have no idea how powerful you are and how much power each choice you make has - and I mean that both colloquially (as in "man, you are really powerful") and literally (as in "you can never tell which specific act is the one that inspires another person").
3. You are responsible for your wallet. Responsible consumption can include being responsible for your finances; and it also includes "voting with your dollar". Keeping your financial house in order has fallen out of fashion in the past decade, but it's coming back into vogue. It's cool to take care of your money and make sure that you and yours are provided for now and tomorrow. For those who've always minded their financial situation this isn't breaking news, but for a lot of people the idea of living within your means sounds like it means they won't get what they are "entitled" to. Many people have either been frightened away by the high price of "organic food" or choose to buy it even though it is beyond their budget. There's also a "long run" cost - even if you think you are saving a few dollars now, the long-run cost to your own health (both real, physical costs and actual financial costs) and your environment far exceed any savings. But that whole issue goes out the window once you start cooking more, and cooking stuff that's yummy and good for you too.
Fortunately, the confluence of renewed interest in non-processed food and the slow recovery of the economy mean there's an increasing number of practical resources exploring the intersection between eating mindfully and spending wisely.
[linda_in_apron_200] 1. Cook For Good Linda Watson has put together an incredible resource at Cook for Good, with everything from cookbooks to nutritional information, all focused on how you can eat amazing, organic food for less than a food stamp budget. Linda is a real advocate for eating in a way that is family-friendly, wallet-friendly, and planet-friendly. She's got free shopping lists, menus, and monthly meal plans, and she's even on tour giving lessons and lectures. She's also got some more than reasonably priced eBooks you can buy, which help support her efforts and will give you even more information about how to change your cooking and eating habits with a minimum of effort. Cook For Good is my favorite practical food resource on the internet, and you'll understand why after spending just a few minutes there.
[trent] 2. The Simple Dollar Trent Hamm has one of (if not the) best guides on the internet to the real specifics of how to live a full life within your means. He's borderline guru status at this point, and digging around his site by favorite articles or categories will absolutely inspire you to reconnect with the things that matter most (and it just so happens that you'll save money on the way). The link above is specifically to his "food" category, and you'll find not just recipes but ideas about entertaining, lunches for kids, and philosophies of mindful consumption. Though Trent doesn't necessarily advocate organic, and uses more meat in his recipes than Linda, you can easily adapt any of his suggestions (and many of them are already "adapted" for you). There's really no better place than The Simple Dollar to get great advice about minding your money in a way that doesn't feel like you're making a sacrifice, and there's a great community built up there as well.
[JK] 3. Three Dollar Dinner I created the Three Dollar Dinner cookbook last year after doing a ton of research (and cooking) for a television show idea that didn't happen - so I poured all that info into a cookbook designed specifically to help others cook quick, organic meals at home, dorm, or wherever for less than the cost of fast food. It includes organic basics, weekly menus with exact shopping lists, and recipes with total prep time, cost, and calories. It's available for immediate download (for a whopping 99¢). I suggest you start with Cook For Good and if you want another resource, try my cookbook.
4. Mark Bittman. Mark is the food columnist for the New York Times, and is a huge advocate for a return to what might be called "Cooking Like Grandma". He believes in fresh ingredients combined in surprising ways, and his New York Times blog Bitten is an incredible resource for everything from food safety, organic cooking, new ideas for cooking at home, and food policy. Of course you'll also hear about the latest/greatest hamburger in New York and some of Mark's food tours, but it's his ability to have a holistic look at the food universe that makes him such a compelling read. If you want to spend the money on a cookbook, Bittman's book Food Matters is the one I'd start with - it's packed with inspiring information as well as excellent recipes written in his simple, easy to follow style. But you could certainly start with just following "Bitten" and you'll get plenty of recipes and inspiration there.
Those are the four places I'd start for affordable, practical inspiration about how to start or deepen your commitment to responsible food consumption in a way that respects your "real life" and your wallet.
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