Recently, TIME magazine put together a cover story on how the economic crisis is affecting the average American, 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 — yet organic foods are flying off the shelves — with an organic farmer saying his sales are up 500%!
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 — 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 — which she says she plans to stick to — save for the occasional pepperoni pizza.
Earlier: The Poverty Diet: Guatemala vs. U.S. and Eco-nomical savings at Whole Foods, museums, stovetops, and more
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If she’s eating meat at all, it’s not very sustainable. If it’s organic and hormone/antibiotic free, it’s definitely better than the CAFO stuff, but not sustainable in the long term.
Other than that, her suggestions were spot-on, and she made reference to some other great resources too.
Comment by Lola — April 28, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
Let me guess — You’re a vegan.
Many cultures that’ve lived sustainably in harmony with the land for centuries have included meat in their diet. They just ate it sparingly and stretched it out, using it as a condiment.
As you can tell, I’m increasingly irritated by the knee-jerk “all meat is unsustainable” mantra from preachy non meat eaters. Beyond just being annoying, it’s simply not true.
Comment by Siel — April 28, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
I’m impressed. I didn’t think only organic foods could be purchased on such a limited budget. I’m also surprised that I spend less on food (usually) then the amount received in food stamps.
Dave from The Good Human made the argument recently that eating locally raised meat etc was better for the environment that eating veg foods that come from far away and have a lot of packaging. This sent me on a quest to find out where my tofu came from – I was so excited to find out that it’s made 37 blocks away.
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Comment by Kim Woodbridge — April 29, 2009 @ 9:24 am
I’m not vegan, but I think if I preached sustainability to people, and wasn’t vegan, I’d be a hypocrite.
You’re “sick of it” because you’re trying to justify your own lifestyle. Which is understandable – everyone does it. It’s a fact that meat production requires many times more resources than plant production – oil, water and grain that can be used by humans directly. Of COURSE humans have eaten meat for millenia. That doesn’t make it sustainable in our current age. Especially not in a world of 6 billion people, who eat increasingly more meat, more of it raised in CAFOs far, far away from where they live rather than in their own back yards.
Like I said, I’m NOT vegan, but I’ve yet to see a (real) justification for eating meat other than “it tastes good,” which, frankly, you have to admit is just selfish, as meat consumption isn’t necessary.
Comment by Lola — April 29, 2009 @ 11:13 am
Lola — Your first sentence made me LOL! You’re certainly one of the preachiest commenters I’ve seen on this blog — so by your definition, you’re a hypocrite!
Anyway — I think we all agree with you about how people in general are eating way too much meat raised in CAFOs — but note that the article’s about a couple who eats ONE chicken that’s NOT a CAFO chicken over the course of a whole month. It’s unclear why you think that’s unsustainable — It’s also unclear why you’re not vegan :P
Kim — I too am amazed at how much money I can save just by cooking instead of buying convenience foods. About the tofu thing though: I too was psyched to find a tofu maker nearby when I was writing about the 100-mile diet — but then called them up to find the soybeans were grown far far away :( Still, it’s good to know the actual tofu’s being made locally :)
Comment by Siel — April 29, 2009 @ 11:28 am
Lol, I guess I’ve I’ve just gotten into REAL green living (you know, like organic home gardening, alternative energy, etc, not just recycling aluminum and glass), so I’m still learning about sustainability. I’m not an expert. So that’s why I don’t think I’m a hypocrite for not being vegan. I’ve incorporated more sustainable things into my life lately, but not everything I can possibly do. I’m not perfect! But to be fair, being vegan reduces one’s carbon footprint more than even giving up a car does.
I’m not vegan for the same reasons most people aren’t vegan – we’re used to what we grew up with and it’s hard to make fundamental lifestyle changes. I can separate the fact that “me being vegan would be the best thing I can do for the environment” with the fact that “it’s hard to look almost all of food culture in the face and reject it.” The one chicken they bought could have translated into more (cheaper) calories in the form of beans or grain, and that’s the point. A little meat is more sustainable than a lot of meat, but less so than NO meat.
Comment by Lola — April 29, 2009 @ 11:34 am
I don’t think “I’m not an expert” is a valid excuse for preaching to others and calling them hypocrites while not doing the exact thing you’re preaching that they do.
I wonder if perhaps you might consider becoming more of an expert before coming down on other people? After all, they’re not perfect either, and the fact that they’re not isn’t an okay for you to preach at them and call them hypocrites….
I think once you look more into the issue, you’ll be less liable to draw such hard lines (i.e. vegan = sustainable, non-vegan = unsustainable + hypocrite except for Lola cuz she’s “not an expert”). Think about what sustainable means: That the cycle can continue to be repeated because natural resources aren’t being depleted / eroded, etc. If one’s able to do that with some meat in the diet, that’s still sustainable. And many organic farms that have livestock put sustainablity into practice.
And I encourage you not to take such a strangely punitive / puritan view of environmentalism. “It tastes good” is a perfectly good reason to enjoy a sustainable food you like.
Comment by Siel — April 29, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
I’m sorry. I may have come off harsh in my first comment, but I was simply bringing up a point which I don’t see addressed very much in the environmental community:
lots of meat = bad
little meat = better
no meat = best
(in terms of carbon footprint)
Take that how you will, but the carbon-intensive practices and pollution involved in raising meat tell that exact story.
Yet instead you first made false assumptions about me and then called me a hypocrite with no justification. If I were the leader of a environmental action committee, or a lobbyist trying to influence carbon emissions or climate change, then yes, I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t do everything I possibly could to reduce my carbon footprint. As some random nobody, I fail to see how I am.
“It tastes good” is a perfectly good reason to enjoy a sustainable food you like.
The key being sustainable. But if I said, “I want to” I doubt most people would think that was a perfectly acceptable justification for, say, driving a Hummer.
I do agree that some vegan diets aren’t sustainable, and that local is usually a better barometer of how sustainable your food is. If you eat tofu from GMO soybeans, or packaged mock meats that are shipped thousands of miles, it’s not as sustainable as a diet which includes milk and cheese from your own cow, for example. There are lots of factors to look at. I do think it will become increasingly hard to keep eating fish, though, and that in a few decades it will be something that few, if any, are able to do.
Comment by Lola — April 29, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
Apology accepted! I do have to point out though that this part of your statement — “some vegan diets aren’t sustainable, and that local is usually a better barometer of how sustainable your food is” — directly contradicts this — “no meat = best.” As you’ve pointed out yourself, that last equation is not always true, and “There are lots of factors to look at.”
Some books you might find helpful: Plenty, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” Best of luck.
Comment by Siel — April 29, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
Siel – Oh no. I didn’t call them to find out where the soybeans come from – I guess I’ll do that tomorrow. I’m afraid of what I’m going to find out – I love tofu. My kid loves it too.
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Comment by Kim Woodbridge — April 29, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Well not to completely hijack the argument, but I am having some difficulties trying to figure out what to do right now. I have a friend coming to stay with me who is dealing with a major vitamin B-12 deficiency that is causing anemia. While in practice I don’t buy and eat meat at home, I will eat some meats in some instances, but is no where near the center of my diet. While I could just feed my friend vitamin B-12 supplements to help her, it does make me wonder how someone eating a completely vegan diet would deal with this. Something about sustaining yourself on vitamin supplements does not seem like the correct solution. This in fact seems like one of the exact reasons human should not be eating a solely vegan diet for health reasons and one would have to imagine that nature provides a solution to this issue on it’s own. I could feed her poo for b-12, which is frankly disgusting, which leaves me with offering animal products of some sort. If you cannot live and survive on the diet, in some ways it is also not “sustainable”, although not in the way people usually view and understand the word.
Comment by M — April 30, 2009 @ 6:36 am
Kim — Wait, I don’t want you to feel BAD about it! I still eat the organic tofu made by that San Diego company — I can buy it at my co-op :) But this does point to the fact the prev. comment-debate in this string about how getting all your protein via vegan means is often not v. local and not necessarily more sustainable than getting organic, local meat from sustainable farms.
M — I totally agree with you about having to take B12 supplements instead of eating food does seem v. unnatural. It’s sort of like when vegans wear pleather (PVC!!) instead of leather. From what I’ve read, though, B12 deficiency isn’t particularly common among vegans — meaning veganism doesn’t necessarily lead to B12 deficiency. In my understanding, there are some people who are just prone to B12 deficiency; if those people go vegan, then they start having issues. If I were one of those people, I’d def. start incorporating some animal products in my diet in lieu of trying to look for unnatural, synthetic pills that’ve been engineered to be vegan.
Comment by Siel — April 30, 2009 @ 9:35 pm
Interesting post! I’m always interested in saving money on a local/organic diet. Though I cant eat some of the cheaper foods out there(soy, grains, legumes) due to allergies and intolerances, the most important factor in saving is not buying pre packaged and processed foods.
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Comment by Carla — May 3, 2009 @ 11:14 pm
No legumes? So sad! But I hope you’re able to find some good cheap healthy alternatives out there :)
Comment by Siel — May 15, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
Dont worry about me! I never really liked them anyway, LOL. I still have nuts and fish.
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Comment by Carla — May 15, 2009 @ 8:34 pm
Ok — I guess you can still have yummy fish tacos (with corn tortillas) minus the side ‘o beans — :)
Comment by Siel — May 18, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
No corn. Cant do grains at all. Sometimes I “cheat” by having a little brown rice.
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Comment by Carla — May 18, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
What happens when you cheat? Tummy ache?
Comment by Siel — May 19, 2009 @ 2:17 pm
I just saw this via a post today, and I wanted to clarify something about the b-12 issue. Most people who are b-12 deficient eat an omnivorous diet, but have a problem with absorption of b-12 from food. b-12 is by definition NOT an animal product; it’s a microbial byproduct most commonly found in food, but also found in dirt- which means it can reside on the flesh of unwashed produce, though with today’s contamination problems, that’s not a viable option. For most people who have a b-12 deficiency, eating tons of meat every day won’t bring their level up; they HAVE to supplement with a form of b-12 that is not absorbed through the digestive tract, which means usually either a pill that dissolves under the tongue (where it’s absorbed directly into the blood stream).
At any rate, most vegans who do become deficient aren’t going to be able to solve the problem by changing their diet. Perhaps at some point someone could do an analysis of having to eat enough meat to compensate for b-12 levels vs taking a supplement- I’m not so sure that meat would win out, given amounts of b-12 needed to correct a deficiency. Especially where even people who eat the standard american diet who have b-12 deficiency are regularly supplemented with at least 1000 mcg B-12 daily until levels come up…
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Comment by Jodie — July 1, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
I just saw this post today, also being redirected by a post you made today. I know it’s late, and you made peace, but I wanted to weigh in on the discussion w/ Lola.
Specifically referencing grains/beans and this line:
““some vegan diets aren’t sustainable, and that local is usually a better barometer of how sustainable your food is” — directly contradicts this — “no meat = best.” As you’ve pointed out yourself, that last equation is not always true, and “There are lots of factors to look at.””
Here’s a good example: I live in Alaska. Absolutely no grain or beans (excluding the green variety) grow here. They ALL have to be shipped by either air freight or ocean freight super-long distances to make it to the shelves of my local grocery stores. However, there are some farmers (ranchers?) w/in 100 miles of me who raise real free-range, all organic chickens and turkeys. I buy their eggs (for $7 a dozen! :-/ ) and occasionally a chicken or turkey. There are also places w/in 100 miles that raise free range, properly fed for their species and organic bison, reindeer, goats, cows, pigs etc… I buy milk, bison and reindeer w/ some regularity (lots of milk, the other things for consumption a few times a month.)
Also, I eat a lot of wild game (whenever available to me, since I myself don’t hunt but have friends and family that do) and wild caught salmon, halibut and other local fish (mostly caught by myself and friends/family, but occasional purchased from the store-still Alaskan though.)
Even with ALL THOSE shipping miles that it takes to get grains and beans to me (on top of the resources that went into production) are you really convinced that more resources went into the animal products? Are you really convinced that grains and beans are more sustainable foods for Alaskans than locally raised, hunted or fished animal products? I’m not.
That being said, plant foods still make up the majority of my diet (including a lot of shipped in things because, let’s face it-the growing season in Alaska is SHORT and while what we grow, we grow really well…what we can grown is limited.) But I feel pretty comfortable with the choices I generally make in terms of consuming animal products when I focus on the local stuff.
Comment by Kim — July 1, 2009 @ 11:06 pm
Hey Jodie — I understand not all people with B12 deficiency are vegans — I don’t think anyone insinuated that — but there does seem to be a clear link between a vegan diet and B12 deficiency for people who may be prone to the deficiency, as I noted in my comment. Most reputable sources (WebMD, etc.) link the two. Even the less credible vegan fanatics like Dr McDougall acknowledge there’s a “grain of truth” in the link between a vegan diet and a B12 deficiency. It’s unclear what exactly you’re trying to “clarify” in your comment….
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Kim. I don’t think I could live in Alaska because I love grains and beans! But I’m glad to hear you’ve been able to find a workable sustainable diet for yourself that you’re comfortable with :)
Comment by Siel — July 3, 2009 @ 5:49 pm
Oh–I definitely eat grains and beans, and far more of them than I do eat actual animal products. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, but I do so knowing that regarding the normative standards for sustainable few of my choices fall truly in that area, simply because I live in Alaska and nearly everything has to be shipped in.
Comment by Kim — July 3, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
Oh — Okay. That makes sense. It seems like you’d really have to develop some serious hunter gatherer skills to eat totally locally there :)
Comment by Siel — July 6, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
Well, I do have those (serious hunter-gatherer skills) those are the things that most Alaskans gown up doing (and loving) with out thinking twice about it. :-) But still, the possible foods only have a certain scope. (Alaskan wild blueberries are the absolute best blueberries EVER though. And so abundant in areas that are as close to Anchorage as a ten minute drive and twenty minute hike!) So, you take the positives with the negatives. :-)
Comment by Kim — July 6, 2009 @ 10:21 pm
I had no idea you guys had blueberries up there! How long are they in season?
Comment by Siel — July 7, 2009 @ 8:57 pm
Not long enough! :-) Usually mid/late August- mid/late September or early October (depending on how early it gets cold and snows.) The awesome thing is, though, that within an hour drive of Anchorage you can usually gather enough to both makes lots of jam and fill your freezer with enough to last all winter long!
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Comment by Kim — July 10, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Yum. I read a recent article by a woman who said her homemade jam was really really expensive — but of course that’s b/c she didn’t pick her own berries :)
Comment by Siel — July 10, 2009 @ 5:30 pm