How to eat sustainably on a food stamp budget

[Guest guest]

How to eat sustainably on a food stamp budget

_http://earthblips.dailyradar.com/story/can_we_afford_to_eat_ethically/_

(http://earthblips.dailyradar.com/story/can_we_afford_to_eat_ethically/)

_http://greenlagirl.com/2009/04/27/how-to-eat-sustainably-on-a-food-stamp-bu

dget/_

(http://greenlagirl.com/2009/04/27/how-to-eat-sustainably-on-a-food-stamp-budget\

/)

 

 

Recently, TIME magazine put together a cover story on _how the economic

crisis is affecting the average American_

(http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1891475_1891477,00.h\

tml) , profiling a number of

people ranging from a sports CEO to a laid-off GM employee. Reading through

the stories, I saw an odd trend — people are cutting back and _spending a lot

less_

(http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1891475_1891477_1891\

533,00.html) — yet organic foods are flying off the shelves —

with an _organic farmer saying his sales are up 500%_

(http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1891475_1891477_1891\

535,00.html) !

The juxtaposition*s surprising because a lot of people still think of

organic food as a luxury for the Whole Foods crowd — yet the fact that people

are seeking out organic food even during tough economic times shows this isn’

t necessarily true.

In fact, in a Salon article, Siobhan Phillips proves that _eating

sustainably and ethically can be done on a budget_

(http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/04/25/pinched_ethically/index.html) —

even on a seriously limited

budget. She and her husband embarked on an experiment to eat only SOLE foods

—

sustainable, organic, local or ethical foods — **on the

government-defined, food-stamp minimum: $248 for two people in our hometown of

New Haven,

Conn.** Even more courageously, the two started this experiment with bare

cupboards!

No, Siobhan didn*t go on an all-vegetarian diet — though she did have to

pass on the grass-fed steak. **Instead, I bought a small free-range chicken

for about $9 and a scant pound of local ground beef for about $6, knowing

that this, along with some sustainable canned fish, was our allotment of

animal flesh for four weeks.** That meant she really, really had to stretch the

chicken, not only using up every piece of meat but also saving the fat and

boiling the bones for broth.

But by buying dry beans in bulk, baking her own basic bread, and

discovering thrifty cookbooks and international cuisine, Siobhan got to have her

Chinese fried rice and Italian risotto and spicy biryani and eat them too. She

says it didn*t take much more time than usual — and she didn*t have to give

up her morning cup of organic fair trade coffee or fair trade cocoa

desserts either.

Siobhan says her method won’t work for everyone: **I relied on the sort of

reasonably flexible schedule that is a luxury in far too many households,

and I started with some basic cooking knowledge.** But they sure sound like

they*d work for me — and many green LA girl readers. Read her article for

more details on _her frugal and tasty ethical eating_

(http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/04/25/pinched_ethically/index.html) —

which she says she

plans to stick to — save for the occasional pepperoni pizza.

Can we afford to eat ethically?

By Siobhan Phillips

Organic food prices are daunting in a recession. But do we have to choose

between our principles and our pocketbooks?

I devised an experiment to find out.

_http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/04/25/pinched_ethically/index.html_

(http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/04/25/pinched_ethically/index.html)

Editor*s note: _Pinched_ (http://dir.salon.com/topics/pinched/) is an

ongoing series about life during a recession.