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Dana Macario
Writer Dana Macario was delighted to learn that when she signed up to have milk delivered to her home, the dairy also delivered "a darling little milk box" to her porch.
Many of us say we want to eat healthier and shop locally. Some of us actually do. But for people like me, those goals of being a health-conscious locavore just haven’t happened. I’m attempting to change that.
Last week, I signed up for the 30-Day No Grocery Store Challenge. For 30 days, I will refrain from shopping at the giant supermarket near my house and will instead purchase all of my food from small local vendors. And because I have never had the opportunity to utter the words, “money is no object,” I’m going to keep tabs on what I’m spending and see if I can make this project both healthy for my wallet and for my body.
My first foray into the project took me all of five minutes, and I didn’t even have to leave the house as I went online and signed up for milk delivery from a local dairy.
Actually, I was able to sign up for a lot more than just milk; it turns out they deliver everything from sour cream to hormone- and antibiotic-free eggs. Plus, they leave a darling little milk box on your front porch, and it’s yours as long as you use their service. I know that should be inconsequential, but I can’t decide what I like more: the cuteness of the box or the convenience of once-a-week home delivery.
Next, it was off to the local farmers market. It was my first trip since the market opened last spring, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much it offered. Aside from a number of produce stands, there was also a stand selling grass-fed ground beef at $5 per pound, a specialty pasta stand and a few bakery stands.
My Hawaii-born-and-raised husband was even treated to fresh malasadas, a Portuguese confection similar to doughnuts, an unexpected and pleasant surprise. My kids really got into it; they had freedom to roam a bit and loved helping pick out the fruits and veggies and paying the various vendors. We also enjoyed the social aspect of spending a Saturday morning at the market.
While some of the items like pasta were pretty pricey, others, like fresh dill, were a fraction of the price that I’d normally pay at the supermarket and were of much better quality. So far, we were off to a great start.
Of course, the next morning I woke up, looked at all of the produce and the pound of ground beef I’d bought and realized I hadn’t even thought about what we’d do for breakfast. We were also out of milk and were several days away from our home delivery. Just as I was about to head to the gas station’s handy mart, thinking I’d get off on a technicality, I remembered the local food co-op.
I worried that it might be cheating, since it was so grocery store-esque, but ultimately I decided it fit the essence of the challenge: It’s local, it’s small and it only sells healthy foods (which are often grown locally and organically). It had everything I needed. But, even though I tried to spend a lot of time in the cheaper, bulk bin area — who knew organic flour even existed? — it still wound up costing me a lot more than I normally pay.
Part of this may be a shopping learning curve for me. I’m normally a dedicated list person. I plan out a few menus for the week and get what I need. But shopping locally and in-season requires a different mindset. You have to get what’s fresh and available, then work your meals around that. This is going to take me a while to figure out.
In the meantime, we’re eating absurd amounts of berries and not as many grains or meats as we probably should be. I dare say we’re all quite regular.
Another option we considered, but haven’t yet tried, is home produce delivery. A week ago, I didn’t know what CSA meant. Now, I know it means community-supported agriculture and that local farmers will drop off their produce for you on a weekly basis. We have one nearby and you sign up for produce for the entire season. Then, you can pick up your box at a designated spot at a set time.
One week in, and I’m rather enjoying this little experiment. Not everyone’s completely on board, though. My daughter has been dismayed by a couple of the things I came home with, and I caught my husband popping a stray, pre-challenge frozen waffle in the toaster. I reminded him about the challenge, but he wasn’t impressed and told me he was late for work and didn’t have time for it.
I guess that’s the balance we’re all struggling to find: the realities of work and busy schedules with the desire to eat better.
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Leave a Comment:
And the point of not going to the grocery store is... ?
I think it has something to do with supporting local businesses, farmers, co-ops et c. However I notice she's not posting prices, and she obviously has a lot of time on her hands
Grocery stores get tomatoes from Guatamala and beef from Australia. In order to do that you have to preserve the food somehow. If you go to the local market you get tomatoes that were in the ground yesterday and only treated with water. In other words the food in grocery stores is not healthy.
Just so we all understand, the transportation portion of food production is miniscule. So "local grown" is more about guilt than saving energy. It is ironic that having milk and dairy delivered to your door is far more worse for the planet than driving to the grocery store and buying what the store brand of milk and cheese.
This strikes me as a hobby of someone who has a lot of money and a lot of time on her hands. A working class mom with 4 kids could never indulge herself in this way.
intelliwoman, Here's their site with the products they have and prices:
http://www.smithbrothersfarms.com/products/
Too bad they don't deliver outside of the Pundgent Sound to us east of the Cascades.
BTW - our Farmers Market here in Spokane isn't open late (for those of us that work). It does have a lot to offer though:
http://www.spokanefarmersmarket.org/members.html
Whatever has a point. There was no purpose stated for this article. However, the writer works for NBCNews.com. Why should we expect for her to actually state a purpose for her article?
slimeyone---how do tomatoes that were in the ground yesterday taste? I prefer the ones that grow on plants.
Not only was the purpose of going to all these lengths not discussed, I get the whole, "buy local, think global" line of reasoning. But, instead of driving to a nearby grocery store, many who actually DO sell local produce and deal with local dairies, as well, the author wastes gasoline and energy by driving to several different places in order to feed her family.
The upshot is, her family does not like the food she bought and were not eating it. She doesn't mention cooking, whatsoever, in the article. I don't know if she knows how to cook what she bought or if she expected her family to eat raw produce. Just because something is fresh and local doesn't mean much if you don't know how to cook it or incorporate it into any kind of meal. The problem is that fresh produce only lasts so long, so while you may buy it at its peak, it can rapidly lose nutrients if you don't cook it or eat it promptly enough. That's the whole point of buying whole foods locally.
Eating berries will make you regular, so I guess she learned her lesson there. Also, she mentioned having no milk in the house. Was this before she could get milk delivery from Smith Brothers, or did she just not order enough? Sounds like she just liked the cute box.
I feel that she was more enamored of the experience and the thought of buying everything local and fresh, which is a good thought. However, it looks like the thought of doing it took precedence over the practicality of actually producing something nutritious and edible for her family to eat.
It would have made more sense and been more relevant if she had already been doing this for awhile and had some good tips to share. I learned very little from this article.
To waste time and money. You can't get snack foods locally (unless you live by a Hershey's or Coca-Cola plant, for instance), and you can't get foreign-produced foods. You can't buy seasonings, so spices like salt and pepper are pretty much out the door. Health foods (like protein bars) are history. No seafood for you unless you live by the coast (there goes your Omega-3 fatty acids and your Maine lobster). No pasteurized meats, either (hope your immune system's up for it). No ice cream in the middle of the night, either (unless you have a really top-notch creamery nearby).
Oh, yeah...no soap or shampoo, either. Unless you have a soap tree or shampoo well nearby. Do I really have to go on with this? This is a stupid article.
How about you mix it up use both. I like some items from the grocery store, and a lot of veggies from the farmers. She could just shop at whole foods.
"Oh, yeah...no soap or shampoo, either. Unless you have a soap tree or shampoo well nearby."
Got a local dairy goat farmer? most of them make soap, and Goat milk soap is very good for your skin... better than any commercial brand.
Answer - if you are buying your soap and shampoo from your grocery store, then you are overpaying. Also, it's possible to save on herbs and spices if you buy them in bulk rather than in the small spice bottles available in the baking aisle of the supermarket. Besides paying a lower price on bulk spices, you can buy exactly what you need. Have a recipe that you use once a year that requires one teaspoon of a spice that you don't use for the remainder of the year? Buy one teaspoon at the local bulk store rather than paying three times as much for a bottle that you will have to toss the next time you use that recipe because the ingredient has lost its potency.
Atticus,
I am confused. How does "buying in bulk" relate to "once a year that requires one teaspoon", and then, "the ingredient has lost its potency"?
Buy a lot, use very little, but what you use is no longer any good?
Spike - most spices contribute olfactory stimulation, which in turn enhances flavors. The essence of most spices are volatile oils. So yes, unless frozen in a vacuum, most spices lose odor and flavor because the volatile oils evaporate. Some old spices actually become bitter because the volatile oils oxidize - the chemistry is similar to what makes fats rancid. Ick.
OK - protein bars = processed food. Do you NEED those? You're worried about "non-pastuerized meat"??? Wow...SNACK FOODS - call em snacks, but don't call em "food". I am by no means a wealthy soccer mommy with time on my hands. But we did a bit of research and our wonderful locally rasied beef, pork, chicken and eggs are actually a BARGAIN compared to the grocery store. And in the summer there are so many affordable farmers markets for produce. I can't think of much I would need at the grocery store except for pet food.
Snack foods aren't healthy.
I can't buy spices at a farmers market? I'll let the farmers market know they're doing something wrong next time I'm there buying spices.
Pasteurized meats? Are you thinking pasteurized dairy? Since I heat up my meat, you know, to cook it, I don't need my butcher heating it up for me.
No ice cream without a closeby creamery? Does my homemade ice cream count?
You eat soap and shampoo? That's your problem, right there.
Nice story, would be curious to hear more about what drew the author to being a locavore and what the various benefits of that choice are.
Holy crap Ben...you made me go to the dictionary with that word - locavore. I just found out I'm something of a locavore. We eat a lot of fresh veggies from our own garden.
I thought it was an interesting story. Would be curious to see how this all works out after 30 days. It's great that you're supporting small and local busnesses
i tried this challenged and failed within the first week..there just isn't enough "local" where i live to support the life style..however we have an acclaimed farmers market near by once a week that offers amazing produce,beef, plants ,herbs and bakiery items. Its a great place to go and visit by i tried doing the bulk of my shopping there once and came out with literally a penny in my pocket and not much to show for it. I am on a no processed foods diet so i was really eager to try this..but now i do the mix n match..i buy from both local farmers when i can..and at the store when i have to.
Some of our local grocers (the big ones) are touting that their produce is local, esp in season, so local produce can be bought there too!
It's been amazing to grow some of my own vegetables in and around my back yard this summer. No, it does not eliminate going to the grocery store, but it does supplement it. I grew over 50 lbs. of tomatoes in 2 containers on my deck and enough cucumbers, squash, beans, eggplant, peppers and okra in a 3 ft. strip next to a wrought iron fence around the back yard for my wife and me plus some for the neighbors. And the "farm" looks good, too. I live in a golf course community with pretty strict landscape covenants and by sprinkling in some wildflower seeds, the whole effect is very pleasing.
What a pretentious article! The "farmer's market" described is a supermarket. They get their goods from the same wholesalers that supply regular stores.
The use of "health-conscious locavore" was especially pompous. Locavore? Give me a break!
Supermarkets don't have stands like the farmers market being described in this story. I don't get where you think the farmer's market she's visiting is anything like a Krogers, Safeway, etc...
If you think that a sign "Farmers Market", means that the actual farmers of the product that they are selling-----wake up! Several years ago one of my local TV stations set up a camera recording the deliveries to the "farmer's markets". The SAME wholesale trucks were delivering the produce as went to the supermarkets.
BTW---"organic" is meaningless, and in the areas where it is defined, it is rarely enforced.
Spike is correct in that not all farmer's markets sell local produce. But those that do usually identify their farm by name. I can tell...check their tomatoes. If they are perfectly round with narry a blemish, and are nearly bullet proof, chances are the rest of the produce is also not local. If the tomatoes have some cracks and some odd shape, and have a bit of dirt on them, then you are probably dealing with a local producer. I also ask "when was this picked" or "what variety of ___— is this? If they don't know, then they didn't grow it. A produce farmer knows what varieties they grow because it takes a lot of trial and error to find the most reliable for their farm.
buy good quality products from an internet food provider that supports domestic farming. Local farms will deliver a vegetable and fruit box weekly, but only things that are in season... and up north no oranges. Pasta is easy to make 100gr of flour and 1 egg per person and a pinch of salt, no need to buy expensive stuff. Buy good organic flour from a local mill and you can bake your own bread, do your pizzas, your cakes, you will save money and eat healthier as there are no strange chemical in them. You will need to mix shopping for certain goods at the supermarket though...but keep it to a minimum. I make most of my own food now and I save more buy doing this.
I grow veggies in the summer - roast and freeze to last me through the spring. I make my own bread and pasta as well. She's behind the curve - LOL but I also don't have children at home.
CSA produce and dairy delivery services may be competitive pricewise with organic stuff at "Whole Paycheck" but they are way pricier than their non-organic counterparts at Wally World and the local bargain supermarket. Now the farmer's market does have decent prices on produce, but the tradeoff is the hassle. It's cash only and the timing is inconvenient (Tuesdays at 10 A.M.)
So many of these comments are so angry at the idea of shopping locally. Just goes to show how many people in this country do not have access to local produce and healthy food. How sad. This is a way of life in my city, Portland, Or.
Wendy - This might be a "way of life" in your city, but apparently Portland, OR, is not big on reading comprehension. There are very few, if any, comments here that express "anger" at the idea of shopping locally. Most of the posters are merely stating the situation in their section of the country. Not every town has access to farmers markets, co-ops, etc. That doesn't make them any less special than you think Portland is.
This concept is not new...look up "No Impact Man", there is a book and a movie and a website. He did something like this for an entire year. His premise was more extreme, he went off the grid, biked or used public transportation, only bought local as in only items produced within 150 miles (?) of his home, no new items. It is a very interesting story. It probably has gotten a lot of people thinking about how their everyday lives impact the earth. I lived in New Hampshire 30 years ago and shopped locally, belonged to co-ops, got milk from a farm, shopped thrift stores, etc. I'm pretty much still the same although I'm in an urban area. I wish more people had choices available to them, some people have no choice but to shop at a supermarket and there is nothing wrong with that. We all do what we need to do. I feel very fortunate to live in an area where so much is available.
While all these may be nostalgic and sweet, when you wake up and start using your head again remember this: those supermarkets and wally world succeed because they offer practicality, cost-effectiveness and convenience. While you may question their quality, the fact is those points are the ones that add value to your life and people would choose to go there because of these advantages. Maybe not people like you, but most people in general who don't have the luxury of going to different farmers markets and such at the different days, spending their time to plan every bit of detail and be creative in making your own meals, etc.
Also, some area of agriculture would do better at growing certain things and some area of the country is best for raising cattle away from contaminating human-inhabited land and water source and they scale better that way, which means using less resources to produce, which in fact is greener. That's why you invent the trading system so that those who grow grapes well can trade it for pork and bacon. What's the point of economy at large if you can do it all yourself in your own backyard, not to mention the mediocre results at higher cost.
At the end of the day the public will vote with their pocket and I can bet my whole life on it that the supermarkets and the wally mart will not only survive but thrive very very well and these fantasy marketplace will be an awesome tourist-like activity you should enjoy every once in a while.
The problem Yus as I see it is the supermarkets are still willing to sacrifice the purity and organic nature of their foods to compete against the bottom line. Consumer ignorance has gone a long way to create this as all they've wanted to see in the past was the price.
Pricing wars create attempts to shave margins, and the best way to do that is lower the cost of your source. 'Off shoring' to cheaper producers lowers the cost but increases the time to market. Preservatives take care of that, hence the lack of fresh organics and more traditional ingredients.
Consumers are deciding with their wallets and keeping the organic/health food market growing in most markets around the US. The slow erosion of the image of the granola eating hippy has helped these stores gain popularity.
What we need is efficient infrastructure that supports organic/healthy food supplies to the standard grocer. Consumers guffawing at it won't make that happen any sooner. You don't sound as if you ventured into any of this area of the market, or perhaps you even work somewhere in the supply chain of the standard supermarket model.
BS.
Americans, on average, spend 40 hours a week watching TV, and pay $150 a month for that service.
I am so tired of the "I can't afford it" excuse.
I am also so very tired of watching parents around me raise their children on cheap, low-quality food, while driving around in new cars they owe $400 a month on.
News Flash: The reason you can't afford to pay maybe 15% more for quality food is because you got suckered into thinking that you just NEEDED that new shiny car...and this the car was a good investment.
Try again...
There is nothing wrong with trying to shop locally as much as possible. The biggest benefit of this is keeping the money within your local economy, as opposed to giving it all to the big box retailers and groceries. Unless you live in an area that would support being a complete locavore, it will most likely be necessary to get some things at the grocery store. Being a vegan, I find it easy to purchase my fruits, veggies, grains, beans, nuts and seeds, as well as my plant milks and other vegan items from the farmers markets, the bulk food store, as well as the health food store. There are still a couple of things that I cannot get at these places, without spending too much, so I rely on Trader Joe's and other specialty stores. That being said, I do find that I need to purchase some of my eco-friendly and green items from a favorite online retailer, as opposed to running all over the place trying to find those items all in one place. If you really want to make the effort and make a difference, it can be done. When you shop locally, more than 80% of your money stays locally. When you shop big box, that number drops to about 30%. To me, that is huge.
I am in a small town area 20 miles from a large city. Though our local grocery is has the name of one of the large chains, it is actually a purchased franchise name, and thus employs many local people and is owned by a local grocer who owns three such stores. In addition, when a nearby, more urban boro lost it's only grocery, this guy went in and made a grocery work. So I try to shop this guy in addition to buying meat, vegetables and eggs from local producers. Again, if his produce is local, he really lets us know that "these are beans from XX county" or such. I feel better shopping there, only a mile from my house, than going to a big box.
Smith Brothers is amazing! Grew up using them! :)
The idiot who thought of abandoning the grocery store probably lives in an area where there are farmers markets, food co-ops, roadside stands, dairies and quick stop stores everywhere. In the rural parts of America it can be 30 miles to the grocery store, so we pick up everything we need about once a week or less often to avoid going back. I can see not wanting to run to the store every day, but that's how it works in Europe. Dumb idea, overall.
You have dirt in your back yard? Water?
Try growing some food.
Mathuin, many rural areas are food deserts. Many of the small town grocery stores have disappeared and been replace by Walmart out on the highway. And, many of the small stores have such a limited variety of foods.
Add to that the fact that many people who live rurally don't garden or preserve food anymore. Instead of farming to live, many travel to go to work at jobs. I see this changed pattern in rural Oklahoma. My own mother used to keep a kitchen garden and had home canned products all year long.
What you are missing about the European way of food shopping is that many do not travel long to get their food. The population is not spread out as much as in the US. Market day is a tradition for many of the European countries, dairy deliveries are much more common, and there are actually bakers in small towns where people buy their bread and such. Modern times being what they are, there are many modern kitchens, but, in my experience, many kitchens are small with small refrigerators and there is not a lot of baking going on. The same in a place like Mexico City. In Mexico City most buy their baked products at a local bakery, of which there are many. My point is that is not logical to impose the American view onto the Europeans. They have an entirely different manner of food availability and distribution that is well suited to how they live, where they live and how far they go for it. Just try to find a real bakery that has bread in the US, or a real butcher! A few, yes. But, very few. Europeans don't, generally, live in rural areas that have nothing for 30 miles. It is different and it is on a different scale.
Slimyone
Grocery stores get tomatoes from Guatamala and beef from Australia. In order to do that you have to preserve the food somehow. If you go to the local market you get tomatoes that were in the ground yesterday and only treated with water. In other words the food in grocery stores is not healthy.
Apparently you must not watch many how its made shows because from what ive seen on these shows most of the produce in grocery stores actually comes from america: potatoes, tomatoes, sugar beets, and especially corn to just name a few.
Morlack
exactly! My Kroger gets many of it's fruits/veggies from local farms and they display it so you know it's local versus not. There is one farmer's market in my town that is tiny and expensive. My budget doesn't allow for that so I go to supermarkets for my foods, etc
There was a time when I didn't really understand the quality difference between the farmer's market products and the grocery store - but I appreciate the difference now. Granted, some products aren't much different at the farmer's market, and can sometimes be more expensive, but many products are drastically better in size, taste and texture even than a co-op or whole foods. Vegetables, herbs, eggs, even seafood at the local farmer's market can make the grocery store equivalent look pathetic by comparison - and I imagine (though can't prove) that this quality difference extends to the nutritional quality in many cases. I understand that not everyone has the time, money, or interest to invest in quality food, but some of these comments that knock this article as simply reflecting some kind of pretentious fad are short-sighted.
I hope the writer of this article is at home within five minutes or so of the milk and eggs being delivered. Otherwise the products even in a "cute box" by the door can spoil in super heat temperatures like we have had this summer.
If all there was farmers markets most would die of starvation.
PWD,
What if we all started to support local food producers? These local, small businesses would grow and grow, and would each meet local demand.
Sure, if we all suddenly switched over tomorrow we couldn't.
In the meantime, perhaps the 33% of us who are obese would drop to say 5%...and the 36% who are overweight would drop as much also.
Well, PWD, it is true that our local farmers could not ever produce enough food for the large metropolitan area where I live that would allow people to buy and consume food in the amount and in the form in which they are accustomed to. Most of us consume products such as flour, sugar and oils that are unlikely to be produced locally in most areas, for example.
Many people buy tomatoes, bananas, apples, oranges and other produce that will never be grown locally for most of us, or is imported out of season Seafood and fish is not local for most of the country.
Eating only local foods will mean fewer things to select from, and it will be different for each locality.
Also, without large scale factory farms, we would have less food available. Where would the grocery stores get the excess of food that they use to display the copious amounts of offerings that they display? Where is the world would the deli get all of that food to waste? You know that that mound of potato salad that is left over at the end of the day gets thrown out. As well do all the cold cuts. So much unsold food gets thrown out after it has sat in a prepared food section of the store, in an abundant display for the day. It makes for a great display, but it is wasted food and resources.That would all change with only depending on local food. Actually, that needs to change.
Our entire concept of food would change. Some of that change would be positive. But, it would require an entirely new approach to food consumption and distribution.
All these negative posts make me realize that we are hopeless...
Yeah - the person calling the writer an "idiot" was a bit over the top. I don't go around bashing people who shop at Walmart, I just prefer to get food locally if I can. I don't eat processed food, so I'm not out looking for "BOGO" deals on junk like sugary cereal, frozen pizzas, etc. It does NOT cost me more to buy food locally or trade stuff with other garderners. I traded a bunch of basil for some zucchini and since I gave my friend some space in my garden to plant her gourds, she put in some rows of turnips for me. Nothing idiotic or weird going on! I just don't get people - i think their malnourishment must make them crabby!
You folks are right that some of the farmers markets do sell stuff from suppliers. Not all are selling local farm produce. I am fortunate to actually go to a real farm/orchard where all of what they sell is produced by them, or, by a local dairy. It is not cheap, really. Almost all of the vegetables are two dollars a pound. I have been going to this farm for over 25 years, and I have seen the prices skyrocket in the face of the locavore movement.
On thing that will be learned from trying to eat from locally produced food markets is that you will need to change your concept of what constitutes a meal. Instead of a meat and potatoes meal, you may have something like cheese, bread and squash for dinner, eggs and berries for breakfast instead of cereals, etc. There is not going to be the wide variety of items to supplement the meal. It calls for a different concept in your eating. Also, it will lead to a difference in the amount of food that one might consider to be a meal. You may find yourself eating much smaller meals and healthier meals because you do not have all of the extra items to round out the plate. It is not as simple as just finding different outlets for your food. It is also a matter of learning to view it differently, and you DO have to know how to cook, or eat raw.
Some places in our country are really food deserts. I have seen many of them.
So instead of buying everything at a large enclosed store, she buys the same things at many small stores. I don't see the point. Large grocery stores also sell fruits and vegetables.