Anyway, our trips started as mostly shopping at Super Target and over time went more and more to shopping at two local health food stores and this month I'm happy to say was done all at local stores! This also means lots of local food and almost all organic (what isn't organic is non-gmo at the very least, lots is just not certified but is organic).
I think our slow move over to local stores was a lot easier than just switching all at once. It's nice to know I'm supporting local people and not some over paid CEO far from Oklahoma. The service is also so much better. People offer to take your groceries to the car and don't make you feel rushed. I also don't feel stressed in these small local stores like I do in Wal-Mart or Target.
Did we have to give up things we wanted? No! While we do buy many things not on normal shopping lists like spelt flour, bison, and raw milk cheese, we do still buy some chips and packaged cookies. We do buy much less packaged food than normal families but they haven't been taken out of our diet yet.
It's so much easier to not over buy in a small store. While items not on our list still in up in our cart they tend to be better for us than what we would have been tempted to buy in a big box store and you don't have all the none food items to tempt you!
So how do you shop? Big box? Local? Both?
Posts
14 comments:
The winter months tend to see me at the traditional grocery store. But our purchases for boxed foods has diminished greatly now that we garden in the summer and pick local fruit and freeze for the winter months. I agree that doing a little at a time is much better than trying to make the switch all at once. Making healthy lifestyle changes can be overwhelming, so I have learned to cut myself some slack especially regarding organic. If it is local and I talk to the farmer and know his farming methods, I tend not to get too hung up on the certified organic issue. It's a new year and I am excited about all the new things to come!
The bulk still comes from a chain grocery store (Kroger) - but ours does have a good natural food section and even their store brand has a goodly number of organic options. In addition, most of my purchases are around the periphery and increasingly less in the center part where the processed food is.
I do try to balance the big grocery shopping at Kroger with what I can buy at our local smaller store - I try to support the local guy (and the community) as much as possible too.
This is all supplemented with a year-round farmer's market, a health food store, and increasingly a local butcher/deli.
We live 15 miles from the Kroger and 35 miles from the natural food store and butcher (but in the city where I work). So we balance food buying, gas consumption, local, organic...
w
We do our best to buy local and organic, but we're definitely shoppers at stores like Giant and Whole Foods. And even then, I notice that our grocery bill just keeps climbing and climbing. It is quite an investment in our environment to keep eating foods that are good for our planet (and that cost a great deal too). In my opinion, it is worth it.
LOVE your post! I buy local 90% of the time--I am sad that I can't buy clothes local, but we don't buy that many clothes anyway. I buy ALL my groceries and most essentials at a locally owned/operated grocery store and supplement with one other local food store that specializes in organics, etc. We spend less and less at Target and I love shopping local for ALL the reasons you wrote!
Mooreganics: Yeah our cheese comes from a farm that has standards higher than the USDA organic standards but they aren't certified. It's so good too!
Midwestgreen: That is why we started out at Target they had a lot of organic food but over time they seemed to have less and all of it was so over packaged so we started shifting our money to local stores. It costs a lot but we help make up for that by rarely eating out, never eating fast food (well my hubby gets fast food once every few months and we eat Chipotle sometimes when out of town but not sure that counts), and I cook most food from scratch.
I do wish we had a year around farmers market, that would be wonderful!
Jessica: Honestly if there was a Whole Foods near by we would shop there some as well, just so many things that are hard to find other places. The closest to us is over 2 hours away so we only go a few times a year when we take mini-vacations down there.
Green Girl: For clothes I tend to just try and get US made, not all my clothes are but most I have bought over the last year or two are. That is pretty local for clothing. I get a lot of mine from Blue Canoe. http://www.bluecanoe.com/
They are organic and not super cheap but they always have TONS of sales and I just buy those items only. I have never paid full price for anything from them. This maybe to much info but their panties are awesome! Super soft. I'm also wearing a sweater from them right now.
Wonderful! I'm a big supporter of buying local - food and well, everything else! The stats are really convincing:
Big-Box store - $14 of $100 stays in the community
Locally-owned store - $45 of $100 stays in the community
Go local!
I am so excited because my neighborhood in Chicago is now home to the city's only Co-op grocery store.
We've been shopping there twice, and while they are fighting some stocking problems (they are VERY popular) its so far been a really positive experience.
Beyond that we do a lot of shopping at several places. Lots of times it's whole foods or Trader Joes, which I tend to like pretty well, but I'm hoping to eventually do most of my shopping at the co-op.
Look for a blog post with pictures in the near future!
Heather: Those stats regarding how much money stays in the community are very interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it broken down like that. Do you have a source for that info? I feel a blog post brewing. ;)
Lisa: You know how I shop but I'll outline it for your readers. ;)
This post is quite timely since I just got finished shopping and trying to find room for what I hope will be enough food to see us through the rest of the month, except for milk.
Today was the day I picked up my bi-weekly delivery of organic produce. For $26 and a $3 handling fee, I got:
10 pounds of red potatoes
a bag of oranges
a bag of apples
a small bag of kiwi
2 grapefruit
2 tangeloes
3 red onions
beets (never cooked these; new experience)
spinach
leaf lettuce
broccoli
garlic
cherry tomatoes
avocado
I then went to the small, locally owned grocery store and spent $95. I think I'll do a post about this and list what I got so I won't do so here.
Next, I went to Braum's (regional dairy store with high standards, almost organic). I had a coupon for $8 off if you bought $40 worth. I stocked up on butter for the freezer, cheeses, 1/2 and 1/2, cream, cottage cheese and milk. I also bought a bag of spring mix lettuce, a bag of tortilla chips and a big glass jar of peaches (trying to avoid anything in cans but wanted some in a light sugar syrup). With the coupon, I spent $33.
I was already well-stocked on rice (organic brown, basmati and white), various pastas, cereal, crackers and assorted non-perishables. My freezers are also packed, although I'm not entirely clear what's in them. ;) In any case, I feel certain that the approximately $150 I spent today will see us through the month, along with what I already had on hand.
All of that is without a visit to Wal Mart or Target. In the summer I try to buy from the farmers market, as well as grow a few things myself. I raise chickens for eggs and buy certain organic items at health food stores or online.
Deanna - I first read about it a little over a year ago in one of our local magazines. A reprint was done this year. See article here.
For one of the original study reports, go here.
Also, there are more stats coming out of Washington state. A report from Sustainable Seattle shows that additionally, if you buy direct from the farmer, $62 of $100 stays in the community.
The Seattle report also has some interesting data on restaurant. Average restaurant $31 of $100 stays in the community. Locally owned... $79 of $100.
Definitely worth spreading the word!
Heather: I never could have guessed, hehe. Oh and both me and my mom (Deanna) do a good job supporting the local restaurant business. Both of our families were invited to the manager of our favorite local restaurant's wedding. I gave cards to the staff this year. :)
Mom: Maybe we should write down the URLs to our blogs about how we shop on our business cards so when people say "how do you not shop at Wal-Mart?!" we can just tell them to read our blogs. :)
Lisa, I'm sure you mentioned before, but how close to your usual food budget have you been now that you're at the all-natural stores? It's easy in the summer, but I'll be honest, in the winter it's far more difficult - there is not that much produce.
Robbie: I'm not totally sure because I HATE dealing with money so I make my husband do all of that. We spend about $400 a month on all household items including dog food (which is organic). This month was under because we didn't need meat but when we need chicken (at $15/lb) it's a little higher.
It will go down some once we get used to this system.
These stores import produce when it's not in season and get from some green houses and such. But almost all is at least US and I would rather buy none local food at a local store because at least some part of it's local.
Living where I do (Portland, OR) its super easy to shop locally. Within walking distance, we have a co-op (great for bulk items) and a New Seasons (small, regional chain store). I rarely have to drive to get food which makes it easier for me when the weather isnt so great. IF I want to, I can do the 5-8 minute drive to Whole Foods, but that is rare.
One of my living requirements is not being totally dependent on a car and feeling isolated from the rest of the world.
Carla: I'm so jealous!!
Post a Comment