My February One Small Change challenge was to eat local and at the same time save money on our monthly food bill. I wasn't looking to buy cheaper food, I think good, high quality and local (when we can get it) food is so important and I don't mind paying for it. My problem is convenience foods. When we're in Portland, we live in the middle of the most densely populated square mile in Maine and are surrounded by great little eateries. So, when I'm feeling a little tired or stressed, I will walk down the block to Bonobo to pick up a wood fired pizza or get some barbecued tempeh from the Ohno Cafe instead of cooking dinner. Between our grocery bill, the take-out and a couple of dinners out each month at J's Oyster Bar, we spend a LOT of money on food. So, my goal was to cut out the take-out meals (we probably won't ever be ready to give up our haddock sandwiches at J's) and cook more at home, from scratch if possible, using local ingredients.
Finding local food in Maine is pretty easy. I had a head start on this because I am member of a Winter CSA, every 3 weeks I get a box of local food delivered to my house. I love getting that box of vegetables! A CSA is a great way to support local farmers and eat what is in season. This is what we received in our February box:
This challenge prompted me to finally place an order with a local buying club. I purchased a lot of bulk (and local) items like flour, beans and blueberries. Bulk means less packaging and it is cheaper. This takes time and planning and is expensive up front, but will save me money in the long run.
By shopping at local natural food stores and avoiding Whole Foods, which does not offer many Maine products, I was able to find a lot of local stuff, even some things I didn't know were produced here, like tempeh, tofu and canola oil. Because it was February, our fruit consumption was limited to blueberries, apples and cranberries, but we were all happy with that. This summer, I hope to start freezing or canning some summer fruits so we'll have more choices next winter.
By planning ahead, I was able to make a lot of foods from scratch. I started baking my own bread, using Maine flour and the
Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipe that I read about in Mother Earth News. It doesn't sound possible, but this recipe really works - great tasting bread in just a matter of minutes. You mix up a big batch of dough and store it in your refrigerator, whenever you need a loaf, just rip off a hunk of dough, shape it, let it rise and bake, it is so easy. This has become a real habit for me and I think I'm done buying bread, which saves me at least $25 a week as we eat a lot of bread around here (all those pb&j's).
I also made my own yogurt using local milk, whole wheat pasta, granola and granola bars using Maine oats, dried fruit, honey and maple syrup. We ate a lot of burritos using local beans & cheese - I really need to learn how to make my own tortillas. Does anyone have a good recipe for that?
We were not able to eat 100% locally, but I am estimating that 85% of our food was from Maine. And, I think I would have saved that 25% off of our food bill that I was hoping for, if we hadn't moved. In mid-February, we moved from our 3rd floor apartment to the 2nd floor. This was an unexpected apartment swap and Mark was out of town for the packing, move, unpacking and painting of the new apartment, so I was a little stressed and very tired and spent quite a lot of money on take-out.
For March, I am going to continue on with the local food theme and prepare to grow our own. I want to have vegetable gardens both at our Portland apartment building and camp. This will involve raised beds and container gardening, so if it doesn't snow, I plan to start building the beds. I also hope to make a garden plan, start seeds and build a chicken coop. Portland recently passed a law allowing chickens in the city, so I hope to get a small flock soon and eventually have fresh eggs for everyone in the building. Growing our own food will be good for us, our neighbors and the planet - time to hit the seed catalogs!
