Shopping Responsibly

A photo and comment showed up on Facebook recently that misleadingly and irresponsibly tries to justify laziness and poor eating habits as an excuse for being overweight. Well, that’s quite a hard thing to put together, i know, so i’ll copy the article here. Clearly, the author has selected items which are likely imported and out of season as well as being convenience and snack type foods. These types of selections are nearly always the most expensive choices. Anyone on a budget needs to shop smarter. If you can’t afford organic, don’t buy organic – buy the best you can afford. Historically, food is cheaper than it’s ever been!

Item	# lbs	price/lb	total price
Carrots	2	$     0.80	$     1.60
Onions	1	$     0.90	$     0.90
Potatoes	3	$     1.00	$     3.00
ground beef	2	$     3.00	$     6.00
chicken	4	$     1.00	$     4.00
sugar	1	$     1.60	$     1.60
zucchini	2	$     1.00	$     2.00
oats	3	$     1.15	$     3.45
milk	4.3	$     0.50	$     2.15
apples	3	$     1.60	$     4.80
butter	1	$     1.99	$     1.99
eggs (doz)	1	$     1.50	$     1.50
Flour	2	$     0.90	$     1.80
	Total		$   34.79

For fun, i quickly put together a sample shopping list of items not on sale which adds up to a bit more than $32. Now, i’m going to be very clear – this list is commodity, cheap, and not environmentally friendly food stuffs and i would not buy these items where i am in my life. I can afford more costly, more humanely raised, healthier choices, including that which i raise of it in my own garden.

Real food is not expensive to buy – don’t be fooled – do your homework.

Shop responsibly and wisely.