kim b.'s earthday pledge: the hunger pains grow
Last week, Kim wrote about her Earthday Pledge to eat only local grown foods, spend less than $20 a week, and to use less energy. One week later she’s finding that’s not so easy when it rains.
I’ve been hungry this week. No, not small third-world country hungry, but hungry for my wanna-be gourmet self.
Why have I been hungry? Rain. I blame rain. This sounds silly. But I usually spend Thursday nights at the Farmer’s Market a mere block from my house. Here, it’s a huge deal, with food, businesses open late and lots and lots of farmers with everything from Italian sausage to fresh pomegranate juice. You’re not a good local restaurant unles you have a booth during Farmers. And last week, it rained. Not pouring rain, but the cold, icky kind of drizzle. Enough to keep me away and enough to keep my starving.
I already had a busy weekend, so there was no way I could venture to the Saturday morning farmer’s market in other local communities. So there I was, left with three tomatoes, and whatever was left in my fridge. During this little challenge, I’ve decided to let myself consume whatever was left in my kitchen before this all started. Thanksfully, Vietnamese food is pretty easy and I always have certain ingredients, so I made some Bun rieu (tomato and shrimp paste soup).
That took care of dinner for a few days. But lunch? Bun rieu has a very pungent smell and isn’t very protable, so this week, I got to eat PBJ for lunch. Thank goodness I like PBJ, but I’ve probably had my fill for a few months.
Hungry, I told my co-workers, I’m hungry. Go buy food, they said. But then I explained the experiment and they only could say “oh.”
I buckled. I’ll confess, I buckled. Wednesday night, I had to go to a late night meeting for work. I live 30 minutes away from work and I found myself eating my PBJ before dinner time. I looked in my work fridge. Some tahini and questionable soup. I researched on the internet, hoping somewhere in town served local food. Nothing I could afford. I had just talked to my boyfriend about Chipotle and I had to have one. So i went to the local burrito place and got one. Rice, veggies, chicken and hot salsa. It was delicious.
Every time I’ve cheated so far and dipped into my $20, it’s been planned. Five bucks for bread from a local bakery, but not made with local flour. Three bucks for soy milk, as there are no dairies nearby and I’m allergic to dairy. But this was stupid. Six dollars could have bought me a lot. Alas. What else could I have done? Should I be planning more?
I rejoiced today on the way home from work because tonight is Thursday, and Thursday means Farmer’s Market. I’m less hungry now. — Kim B.
Alright well, I should begin by saying my challenge was less eco-centric and more budget based, but I started working off a $200/2 weeks budget a little over a half year ago. That $200 included food, medicine, gas, spendy treats, etc. Only bills would be exempt. It’s really hard in the beginning. Really hard when you’re used to just whipping out your debit card willy-nilly for any little desert treat or cd or latte. But I also noticed that spending in cash gave me the upper hand. No questionable use of my credit/debit information and no automatic mailings of corporate catalogs when I bought a s/p shaker for $5.00 at Crate and Barrel.
I mention this because, with all due respect, $20 per week is nearly impossible. Even when I was single and had questionable eating ethics, $20/week just wouldn’t have cut it. From all the advice I’ve read (budget guidelines online, articles in the newspaper and some good Suzi Orman books from the library), it’s paramount to begin with a reasonable goal. You can *always* cut back more once you have a handle on your spending (whether it’s on food or on clothes, etc.). Plus, when you start with such a bare minimum number, you feel like a total jerk for going over your budget, instead of feeling like a total winner when you don’t spend that last $25 and you can redeposit it into your account.
One other thing: It’s my experience that these sweeping gestures to make big change have one big downfall… supporting local businesses, be they independent coffee houses or farmer’s markets- usually cost more. In today’s backwards economy, it still costs *more* to do things *better.* So I would recommend allowing yourself a little more leeway in this budget to acknowledge the fact that your spending dollars are enabling those farmers to continue their work. If you can only afford to buy 2 tomatoes, a zucchini and some carrots every week, your impact is slightly less than if you expanded your budget to $40 or $50 at least to make a real dent. Plus, you end up eating better to boot.
Sorry for the diatribe but I believe in the axiom, “all good things in moderation.” If you aren’t buying new things every week (from the cup your latte came in, to the cute new Gap sweater you saw on TV), you should allow yourself to indulge in the positive things you can support.
Start bigger than you need and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish. Best of luck!
Anna, thanks for the thoughts. I totally agree with you. Doing better things is expensive. $30 this week at the market bought me two pounds of potatoes, a HUGE zucchini, a dozen eggs, fresh honey, some caramel walnuts, dried apricots, an artichoke, and a three-pack of strawberries. I have some carrots and cauliflower leftover from weeks before and whatever else is roaming in my cupboards.
For me $20 on non-local grown items is actually pretty feasible. In terms of buying things second-hand, I’m more of a vintage kind of girl than a Gap kind of girl, so that’s more than fine with me. The $20 has made me MUCH more conscious of what I’m spending that isn’t supporting local places. In truth, it’s easy for me. I live in an area of Cali where farms are abundant, and fisheries are mere minutes away.
I have felt the “jerk” though, because I am a big consumer. That part has been one of the most difficult things to deal with, mostly because I run two very consumer-oriented blogs. But more on that next time.
speaking of extreme challenges, I do applaud your efforts to make a green effort though I agree with the fellow posters that $20 isn’t going to cut it for NYC. I found this blogger who did a social experiment on eating on a $1 day, for a total of $30 for the month of November. Theory being that a majority of the world’s poor substain themselves on a $1 day or less, so he wanted to see what that would be like in the US and if it was achievable. Totally engrossing read.
You can read it here:
http://hungryforamonth.blogspot.com/2006/11/day-1-grab-yourself-plate-buddy.html
On the plus side, at least you live someplace where farmer’s markets exist.
Thanks for the feedback on my thoughts. Here in Seattle, even with a number of great farms and local vendors, it would be really hard to do it on $20, for sure- perhaps I should relocate to CA? :) At the same time that I decided to change my budget, I also opted to take a vow to only buy second hand clothes for a year (not including socks, underwear, bras and any other must-be-first-time stuff) and to not have my hair cut professionally for at least six months.
I’ve broken the clothing rule to buy one yoga shirt, a bathrobe and some schmancy things for my anniversary. And the hair is still a growin’. Above all, I’ve found that being lenient with myself and also recognizing that I’m only human and will likely make mistakes and/or need (read: want) to buy more chocolate than I should from time to time definitely helps.
I also know I read a thread on craftster a while back that discussed being spendthrifty and this saying was especially resonant, “use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” I try to live by that as much as possible now.
I think your earth day challenge is great and I absolutely wish you the best of luck.
Take care,
Anna