Dana and I have had a lot of discussions about the state of food and the many movements (formal and informal) that are trying to change it – organic, local, vegan, raw, 100 mile, 250 mile, guerrilla, CSA, non-profit, full-profit, community-based, industrial, pro-food, pro-biotic, genetically modified, antibiotic, antibiotic-free and more. There are a lot of people trying to solve many confounding problems and opportunities within our current food chain.
There is no shortage of writing, talking, discussing and acting on improving the quality of the food we eat and how we get it, just as there is no shortage of solutions which sometimes compliment and other times contradict each other. There are a lot of experts and even more claiming to be who share their knowledge, ideas and theories.
I am not an expert in any movement though I am a passionate observer. Dana and I spend a lot of time discussing food, the current state of our society as it relates to food and examine our own behaviors within the food system. We are far from perfect and have a lot of things we continue to work on to improve our personal impact on the food systems around us. We are in no place to stand on a pedestal and are conscious of that. But I do read many posts which simply end by pointing out the problems with our current situation without providing practical solutions and wish more would help us start to solve our current problems today.
Consciousness is a theme of who we are and what we try to achieve with the time we invest here. The primary goal is to raise our own awareness to the choices we make and we hope this may be of interest to others. I do feel that if no one read these postings that I would continue to write daily at this point in my life – it is, pun intended, a way for me to chew on my own food for thought.
A story from Food, Inc still haunts me. A young family in the U.S. demonstrates that eating well is too expensive for many – that McDonald`s is a cheaper alternative, especially when people don`t have time or much money to cook.
It`s an argument I`ve heard from people in all financial brackets. Good food is either too expensive, too labor intensive, people don`t know how to cook or it`s just not worth the time.
It`s also a very sensitive topic. I was involved in the food movement in 1995 when my Member of Provincial Parliament (David Tsubouchi, who was the social services minister and making drastic cuts to our welfare system) left most of the entire province (and country) in shock and, frankly, disgust when he suggested that poor people should haggle on the price of dented cans of tuna to get them for 69 cents. He added insult to many when he created a menu for `poor people`that included pasta though he cut out the sauce as unnecessary (and out of budget). His suggested menu further criticism when the menu was compared to the one in our prison system and uncovered that local inmates would eat better and more healthy.
We have recently been discussing that some of the solutions for these complex problems are very expensive in their current forms. I saw organic red peppers from $7.99 per pound today – and that`s a single example.
We`ve been very fortunate (and had some luck to boot) in our careers. We are grateful to have options available to us that were not available only a few years ago and we try to remain conscious of that. It appears, to me, that some of the solutions that we see are leaving many behind ($8 peppers certainly leave us in their dust 
). Farmers Markets (something I am a massive fan of) can, in some cases, cater exclusively to high income brackets.
Certainly there must be a middle ground between selling food to the highest bidder and shoving off others to the crumbs left behind.
We are going to challenge ourselves to try to provide a solution to a real problem – wholesome recipes which are economical and accessible for everyone. We will be posting every Tuesday for the next several months on recipes that we think may help everyone extend their food budget while producing exceptional meals. We are not trying to simply make easy, cheap food. The intent is not to replace expensive ingredients with cheaper fillers or eat but to make great meals and show that they can be affordable and easy to make. These may not be everyday meals for everyone – where possible alternatives will be provided to alter the cost (sometimes lowering the price, other times allowing you to raise it as you wish).
Here`s our guiding principles:
- Meals must taste good enough to feed to my Grandmother. I may add hot peppers since she won`t eat all of it but she`s my baseline for quality control.
- Meals will cost around $5 per portion – $7 per portion is the absolute limit (based on the approximate price). This is not merely about saving money – it`s about eating fantastic food while being conscious of the price. We will provide ways to adjust the recipe to make it more economical where possible. Prices are, like us, in Canadian dollars.
- Portions will be generous – I am around 200 pounds and my healthy appetite will count as a portion.
- Portion cost will include leftovers. If additional ingredients are added to create something new with the leftovers, these costs must also be factored in. I.E. a chicken dinner that feed four and becomes a soup which has 4 portions will count as 8 total portions and all ingredients for both dishes will be considered part of the cost.
- Prices will include the cost of any food prepared for the meal, including waste. Unused portions that are used for other meals (i.e. unused parts of a block of cheese) will not be counted.
- All efforts will be made to accurately cost and measure things that can be done reasonably. Guesstimates for things like salt and pepper and other spices are permitted.
- Good food cheap takes time. For those without `free`time to cook, consider making this a family activity – kids that help cook are more likely to eat and experiment in the kitchen. Many recipes can be made ahead or doubled to freeze a future dinner with minimal additional work.
- I am not a chef or dietitian. There will be an effort to include healthy options which taste great. The posts are as much to stimulate thought and provide ideas than to be taken as instruction from an expert. Gourmet is a relative term in this case (as is cheap).
- We will include tips that are reusable beyond a single recipe.
- We welcome and encourage comments and ideas which can help everyone learn more from each other on eating well and on a budget.
The first post is next Tuesday – we hope you`ll come along!
hey guys!
this is a WONDERFUL idea. what an absolute great thing to take on. i know just the scene in food inc and it is happening in a big way in this country. it is terrible.
Way to go! That’s a fantastic idea. I can’t wait to read about it next Tuesday!
This is a most interesting and useful challenge that you and Dana have set for yourselves (and the rest of us). Looking forward to hearing about how it unfolds. I’ll do some monitoring of our own meals to calculate the costs per serving.
On a related topic, you likely saw the cover story in the Globe today about the carbon footprint study trumpeted as a challenge to locavores. It was interesting to recall again my own reasons for thinking it is important to support local food growers and artisans. It is not just about carbon footprints (although the article did acknowledge that people may have cultural reasons for wanting to buy locally, the focus of the study appears to be carbon footprint outcomes in salmon fishery). Buying from local farmers gives the opportunity to learn how they grow their food and livestock, so I have a choice about avoiding pesticides and antibiotics and encouraging more humane practices. It also means supporting businesses that provide local jobs. The cultural reasons mentioned very briefly in the Globe piece are important; when you can chat with your favorite farmers at the market each week it puts a very human face on an otherwise anonymous food supply chain. You care whether they have a good season or not and you make an extra effort to buy whatever they have that week and adapt your menu accordingly.
So, the criteria for food purchase choices are indeed complicated, as you have pointed out before. After our very local farmers’ market at Withrow park finished for the season, I felt at a loss (despite all the anticipatory preserving and freezing we had done). As organic is not the only criterion, finding foods that I am prepared to buy from the offerings of our closest organic food store is a bit of a challenge. If the peppers are flown in from Israel or Holland, they are bound to be expensive. I am not likely to serve peppers until they are available from our farmers next year, because of the cost and for all the other reasons noted.
While I appreciate the idea behind this challenge I think your max of $5 is far too high. If you were a family of four that is $20/day just on dinner. Is this meal designed to be a splurge or an every day meal?
Heather,
You are very valid.
We will try to address both – while I state that the max is $5, we don`t intend to max out all the time and will show ways that you can take a splurge and lower the cost for less than splurgy times as well. Next weeks recipe comes in at around $4 per portion and we will show how one can lower this first by decreasing or replacing certain ingredients and, second by adding a few extras to leftovers to create a totally different dish and plummet the cost.
At the end of the day, it is as much for discussion like our comment here so that we can share together our thoughts and ideas on how to practically make changes that we can all make a difference now to each of us.
When we do have splurges we will keep them around that $5 – the goal is to show we can eat fabulous for less than what we could merely survive on fast food for.
Keep us honest and keep sharing like this and together we will find solutions. We certainty don`t have all the answers and, to be honest, feeling a little scared on how we will handle this ourselves.
Crossing fingers,
J
[...] it's tough to eat meals that are both healthy and cheap? The folks at Well Preserved are starting a weekly recipe column where they intend to prove that [...]
Hi Joel, thanks for responding.
I think that’s totally fair. I understand that you are approaching this with a number of different objectives and that sometimes you will have to make difficult choices: local vs organic, time vs expense, etc. My comment wasn’t meant to discourage you in any way but only to help clarify what your main objectives are. Cost is obviously not the only factor that encourages people to eat fast food but if you give someone the option of choosing to feed their family fast food vs a healthy meal that costs the same or more and takes time to shop for and prepare, fast food is probably going to win out a good portion of the time.
I grew up as the eldest of 13 kids so I’ve had a lifetime of making my food dollar stretch but I also recognize that I have the luxury of time and I love to cook. I have no kids and only work part time so it’s easy for me to make meals from scratch that take hours of prep, or buy produce when it’s plentiful and inexpensive to preserve for later. For me to tell someone whose lifestyle is far more complicated than mine, that eating well cheaply is easy, that would be somewhat unrealistic.
That said, I think l you have set a wonderful goal and look forward to reading of your adventures. And if you want any recipe suggestions I’d be happy to send you some of my faves!
Heather
$4 a meal? Let’s assume you only mean lunch and dinner, and that breakfast is only $2/portion. That’s still at least $10/day per person, or $70/week.
For months now, I’ve been feeding myself (I live alone) for less than $50/week, and I think I eat an exceedingly healthy diet, as I’m diabetic, and thus eschew most sugar/carb laden processed foods. I do shop 3-4 times a week, stock up on specials, freeze often and carefully, and I’m not too proud to buy “last day of sale” meats. I eat very well, and very inexpensively.
For example, I recently bought boneless pork loins for $1.29/lb. I sliced these into 1 1/2″ chops, and froze them. Each chop weighs about 6 oz, so for $0.43, I have a nice protein for dinner or lunch. Add in some frozen mixed veg (California or Italian mix) – about $0.50/serving – some salad (mixed lettuce is $1.49/bag, which is usually good for three servings, so count it as another $0.50), some pearl barley as a starch (about $0.20/serving), and a sauce I make from chicken stock, fresh lemon juice, and cornstarch (the lemon is the most expensive ingredient – it’s about $0.66/lemon), and I have an excellent and healthy meal for less than $2.50 (which includes the dab of butter I put on the veg, seasonings, etc.).
Breakfast might be two poached eggs ($0.30) on a whole wheat tortilla ($0.20), with some shredded cheese and some salsa (call those $0.50 to be generous). That’s a whole $1 for breakfast.
I don’t get much fresh fish on this budget, but I bought fresh ribeye today for $3.99/lb, and cut the $10 worth into 8 portions. Yes, a 5-oz steak isn’t huge, but I’m trying to lose weight anyway, and a good quality steak with the right sides tastes just as good as 16-oz one.
I don’t see anything challenging at all with the price level you’ve set. If I were willing to spend at the levels you’ve set, I’d be able to treat myself to fresh lobster or crab, scallops, etc. Instead, I fortify tinned soups (usally $0.59-0.77/can) with tinned beans or pearl barley, and in some instances, stew beef, and still end up with filling, nutritious meals for less than $2.50 serving.
Kevin,
awesome tips and thank you for sharing – you have set a high bar for us to reach to!
From a seafood perspective you may wish to consider mussels for the occasional treat. They are one of my favorites, super easy to cook and can be had for between $1-$3 per pound (Toronto prices).
Love your approach and the ongoing dialogue that is being shared here – again further inspiration that good eating well can be done without blowing the bank.
J
[...] the start of a new series of posts last week with a promise to launch today. The full details are here but the premise is simple – creating good, wholesome food at affordable pricing as a means to [...]
[...] the start of a new series of posts last week with a promise to launch today. The full details are here but the premise is simple – creating good, wholesome food at affordable pricing as a means to [...]
[...] of posts on eating more affordably and has been running for several weeks.. The full details are here but the premise is simple – creating good, wholesome food at affordable pricing as a means to [...]