Food Politics

I’m trying a project originally started by Crunchy Chicken. My own rules are to eat within a food stamp budget ($323 for two people) and eat organically and locally (as much as possible). The local part is challenging only because I haven’t found sources yet, but slowly am. By buying staples in bulk, I think I might be able to actually eat well on even less including the occasional meal at a sustainable restaurant. We’re mostly vegan, but do eat cheese, eggs and meat on occasion.

One of my findings has been on cheese. I’ve begun making my own mozzarella cheese and found that 1 lb is translating into less than $1 in cost (excluding cost of gas to heat the milk and water to wash up dishes afterward). The milk I buy comes in glass bottles with a deposit that is returned when I give back the bottles. This same 1 lb of mozzarella costs $3.99 at the grocery store.

I cook all meals from scratch and work a full time job. I think after a few months, we would be a well oiled machine. But we’re still working out the kinks.

Blogger Rebecca Blood did a food stamps diet using organics (including CSA box) a couple of years ago. She blogged extensively with menus, recipes, photos and data.

http://www.rebeccablood.net/thriftyo/

I found the series very helpful and instructive. She lives in the SF Bay Area, in a city.

It seems like we have a pretty messed up food system when fake food is cheaper than real food. And mainstream American culture with its emphasis on faster, cheaper, and super-sized everything doesn’t help the matter.

Distribution of fresh, local food also seems to be a key sticking point, with food deserts in inner cities and general lack of access to quality foods for certain populations in many areas of the country.

It feels sometimes that you have to actively work at finding healthy, high quality foods, you need to know how to cook, and have the time to cook. This takes a lot of time and energy that many people simply don’t have at the end of a long workday.

The difficulty in getting by on food stamps isn’t cheese (but, good for you on making your own!), it’s the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables. I couldn’t do it for one, even without buying organic (although I did whenever the price was close or organic had a sale).

The only protein you can have is beans and you have to start with dried and cook everything yourself (which I already do). The sad thing is that the population most served by food stamps is the least likely to 1) understand proper nutrition 2) have access to fresh and affordable produce 3) have enough info to know how to use what can be had in the most economical and nutritious way.

It doesn’t have to take all that long, but rather requires a fair amount of planning. Soaking beans, and making stock from cheap parts and then freezing it in small containers can allow you to make a good mean pretty quickly.

I recently made my own sourdough starter for fun and to eliminate the cost of yeast. I am now baking delicious sourdough bread and keeping a little starter each time, which I feed and keep for the next batch.

Having said all of the above, I dare the gov’t to demonstrate how anyone can get the required calories and include the portions of everything in their own food pyramid on food stamps! I double dare them!

Sorry, this is off-topic, but I was Just wondering if you had seen this – http://greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/

I read about it on another blog i follow-
http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/05/19/consumer-reports-eco-labeling-website/

I don’t understand why we compare cost per calorie. People are eating too many calories, especially low income people. Why don’t we compare cost per nutrient density?

I agree with Darya regarding the nutrient density. We have to make fresh food affordable. How about subsidizing it with a tax on soda and all “crappy”, i.e., processed food? Along with that, we need to educate people about cooking and why eating beans and other legumes makes sense both economically and nutritionally. Imagine the cost of health care decreasing?

In Cuba, they handed out pressure cookers to everyone. Beans cook in just minutes. It increased healthy foods eaten and decreased fuel consumption — both of which are important.

I think that we are missing the boat in many ways. And speaking of boat — buying local is good for produce but doesn’t work for bananas, coffee, sugar, chocolate, etc.

There’s a lot to this equation so we need some great mathematicians. Anyone up for this?

My husband and I live in the midwest and eat what I consider a healthy diet for $160 per month, which I believe is less than what we would get if we qualified for food stamps. I am a dietitian, so fruits and vegetables are very much a big part of our diet. I can’t buy much organic, because the trade off would be eating less fruits and vegetables. Our food budget will probably stay this low for awhile as we try to pay off massive student loans.
I think the big difference between me and someone on food stamps though is time/knowledge. I’m not a single working mom with zero cooking knowledge. I know how to cook foods from scratch and I have the time (and desire) to do it. When I don’t have time or when I don’t feel like cooking, our options do tend to be much less healthy (frozen pizzas, fast food, etc.)
I also agree that cost per calorie is a poor way of analyzing, because most people get more calories than they need. Cost per nutrient density makes much more sense.

Marion – I know that it’s difficult for many families to feed their family healthy food on a tight budget, but I fear that some are giving up and turning to cheap junk food instead. Some of these are the same families facing malnutrition and childhood obesity issues.

I happened to write a post yesterday on my Change blog talking about what I’ve called my “healthy dollar menu” – a few simple meal ideas that are nutritious and cheap. When folks need to turn to food stamps or other help to feed their family, they also need to be educated so that they can make smart choices at the market. Beans, legumes, nuts & grains are wonderful, and often inexpensive sources of protein that are often overlooked.

I have a lot of passion about this and could go on. Thank you for addressing this. If you’re ever looking for someone to help make some change here, please remember me!

Here’s the blog post I referenced above. http://twurl.nl/nqjnpg