SOLE Food: Eating organically (and responsibly) on a food-stamp budget

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SOLE Food

Eating organically (and responsibly) on a food-stamp budget

Michelle Gienow

The author's 6-year-old son Jack picks a squash at the CSA the family joined to get sustainable, organic, local and sorta ethical produce.

By Michelle Gienow | Posted 10/7/2009

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For the past three years, following the typical Michael Pollan-fueled, now-I've-seen-the-locavore-light conversion experience, I've been trying hard to feed my family good food. It's more difficult than it sounds; the supermarkets are full of tempting, affordable foodlike products that ultimately owe more to industry than agriculture, once you start reading the labels. It took me an embarrassingly long while to figure out that buying foods so basic that they don't have a label is the key.

I found myself shopping less and less at the grocery store and instead buying directly from the farmers who actually produce the food, sometimes at the farmers market, sometimes at the farms themselves. Thus it is always local and usually also organic--in practice, if not formal certification--and, helpfully, affordable. I tracked down these farmers, and know about the food I'm buying, because I'm interested and I ask. In doing this I am, as Pollan urges, voting for systemic change with my food dollars, though in my case that's sort of a side bonus. This kind of conscious buying has come to be known as SOLE food, for Sustainable, Organic, Local, and Ethical.

In case you've been living under a culinary and environmental blackout for the past couple years, here's why SOLE food is worth investing in: Our current meat-centric diet, with its reliance on highly processed fats, refined grains, and industrial inventions like high-fructose corn syrup, is literally killing us. This diet is the main reason why one of every three adult Americans is now overweight, and obesity--which parties with its morbid pals diabetes, cardiac disease, and high blood pressure--is drowning ever more of us every year. (A study in the January 2008 issue of the International Journal of Obesity estimates that, if current trends continue, 86.3 percent of Americans will be overweight or obese by the year 2030.)

Handing over our nation's nourishment to agribusiness companies that earn more from processing the food than by growing it is not only making us fatter and sicker, it's also degrading the environment. Monocultures of corn, wheat, and soybeans can thrive only on massive inputs of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, the manufacture of which requires massive amounts of fossil fuel. Once applied, these chemicals don't go away--the ones we don't consume directly in our food aggregate in our soil and water supply along with the antibiotics and hormones used in factory-farmed livestock production. Meanwhile, the industries doing this to us receive billions of dollars each year in taxpayer subsidies.

All of this in explanation of why I pay $7 a gallon for organic, locally grass-fed milk: Yes, it does cost double the price of generic grocery store milk from cows kept God knows where, fed God knows what, and very likely amped up on bovine growth hormone and antibiotics. But I have two young sons whom I would like to see grow up lean and disease-free to inherit a relatively intact planet. To that end, buying sustainably produced, organic-if-you-got-it food from small local farms just seems like the best possible investment of our family's not terribly abundant dollars. Our milk costs twice as much, but I have met these cows and know they're living a good, clean life.

To my great surprise it turns out that holding these priorities makes me--according to sources as diverse as the Hoover Institution, freebie magazine Blue Ridge Outdoors, and my own mother--a member of the economic elite. Or, as Julie Gunlock said in a National Review essay earlier this year, "The truth is, organic food is an expensive luxury item, something bought by those who have the resources."

Well, Julie, hon, our family has taken major pay cuts this year. So just like everyone else these days, we are looking for ways to cut back. Given this brave new economy and our financially fragile place within it, when feeding my family do I now have to choose between my beliefs and my budget?

Only one way to find out.

I decided to log our meals and food expenditures for 30 days, scraping together $342.92 in cash and putting it in an envelope--whatever food I bought had to come out of there, and if the money ended before the 30 days did I would just have to figure out a way to feed us for free. I arrived at that seed money amount after deducting the cost of four weeks of our CSA (community supported agriculture) membership in an organic farm--$83.08--from the $426 maximum food stamp allotment for a Baltimore County family of three. (My husband declined to participate; he is not as devoted as I am to the pursuit of overpriced organic hippie chow, and some of it, he actively loathes. To suit his preferences and save money, his food stash was fairly segregated; we intersected at cookies).

So: one month, 343 bucks. That's $11.43 per day for the three of us, which seemed workable. I was used to spending more, but always knew we could get by on less--not that we really have much choice anymore.

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Feature archives

More from Michelle Gienow

Hard Cider (1/20/2010)
Homemade hooch is cheap and easy

Hoochie 'Boochie (9/30/2009)
Kombucha: science-fair project or refreshing beverage?

Locavore's Lament (7/29/2009)
The dirty underbelly of farmers market shopping

eve

2 comments.

Member since 4/2/2007

So, the no-knead bread, did you use a bread machine for that? Are you under the impression that "real" people on food stamps (not just those "playing" food stamps with their expensive gadgets) own bread machines?

People on food stamps usually shop at Aldi's or other grocery stores within walking distance or on the bus line.

Most people on food stamps don't belong to a CSA. Does your CSA accept food stamps for membership fees?

Posted 10.7.2009 9:20 AM

amax

1 comments.

Member since 10/7/2009

baking bread is intimidating but the beauty of no-knead bread is that it requires little equipment--just a pan and an oven--and minimal effort.

good article. a parent's perspective is appreciated!

Posted 10.7.2009 1:44 PM

Rocket88

48 comments.

Member since 8/14/2006

Virtually everything this smug yuppie wrote makes me want to puke. And kill songbirds.

Posted 10.9.2009 12:16 PM

theteeto

1 comments.

Member since 10/10/2009

So, you eat "responsibly" "consciously " and "ethically" which makes the rest of us, what? Irresponsible? Unconscious? Unethical? So sorry you were "embarrassed" it took you so long to eat better than the rest of us. Two words: FUCK YOU! Eat how you wanna eat but don't call me an asshole for getting a fucking chicken box at Tyrone's (how does that compare to Chick-Fil-A?) . The reason your milk costs twice as much is because stupid hippies like you will pay to aleve your guilty conscience. Enjoy your fucking hybrid (run on power from the coal power plant) and eat your food you can pretend doesnt kill animals. The best part was trying to call out poor people and telling them that they have no excuse even if they're on food stamps. Again, FUCK YOU! And if you verbally pat me on the head with yer "hon" bullshit, I may actually find that condescending. Perhaps I'm just edgy from all the chemicals in my burger. After all, I never met the cow it came from...

Posted 10.10.2009 3:52 AM

stoofy

1 comments.

Member since 10/10/2009

I do appreciate the message of this article, but the support stopped short in about the fourth-to-last paragraph: despite the budget, you still choose your precious coffee over cereal for your kids. Yes, I understand that there was another option for their breakfast, but there was also another option for you. Besides that, do you really have to buy the cereal at Trader Joe's? Clip a few coupons, find a sale, and the cereal at Safeway will be half that price.

Posted 10.10.2009 9:06 PM

ksmiles

1 comments.

Member since 10/11/2009

I liked the article, and thought useful info & insights were added to what by now we've all heard are the benefits and good deeds of SOLE. I really don't understand the nasty reactions. Personally I think the "fuck you"s should be uttered to the companies peddling sandwiches with a day or more's calories, fat, and salt in them, not to the author. Perhaps we are feeling a wee bit overly defensive?! Her suggestions are meant to be encouragement, not a condescending attack on you, personally. You can take the advice or leave it, keep your nasty insults and defensiveness to yourself, or simply reinsert your head in the sand and have a cheeseburger.

Posted 10.11.2009 12:52 PM

Lauring21

2 comments.

Member since 10/11/2009

Michelle is not the first to write about her experience with adhereing to a strict food budget. Take this blogger for example: http://melomeals.blogspot.com/ I agree with some of the sentiment of aSOLE lifestyle and Michelle's take on the need for the country to make dietary changes, starting with the government's nutritional advice (I do not agree with the food guide pyramid or much info I was told when I myself received WIC and had to attend nutrition classes to do so). The mistake Michelle made, was basing her food budget on food stamps and doing it in the way she did. A much better article would have had her shopping ONLY at stores that accepted food stamps and not using any of her CSA veggies. She could have just cooked them up and froze them for when the experiment was over. She really would NOT have been able to have much SOLE food on a true food stamps budget. Or she could have left food stamps out of the equation altogether and focused on the fact that many families are having to cut back on their food budget and just done that to see if she could still have SOLE food. Also, the best way to lesson one's food budget is to go vegetarian or vegan ($7 for milk? Try Rice milk from Wal-Mart--it's even organic!)

Posted 10.11.2009 5:34 PM

sassyzan

2 comments.

Member since 8/13/2008

no knead bread does not require a bread machine. it is easy! it sounds complicated at first, but after you make it once, it is very easy.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-12-01/Easy-No-Knead-Dutch-Oven-Crusty-Bread.aspx

Posted 10.12.2009 11:23 AM

Candice

1 comments.

Member since 10/14/2009

I agree that you can't just pick a food-stamp budget and then not adhere to the entire limitations that a person on food-stamps is faced with. Plus, you really need to have time (especially for baking bread) and resources (being close to a grocer, a farmer's market, or enough money up-front for a CSA) to effectively eat this way. I'm glad she included all of these low-budget tips for eatings SOLEly, but the article seems to misleadingly suggest that even a person on food-stamps can adhere to this plan, and "vote" for healthier food. I agree with Lauring21...she should have left food-stamps out of this challenge or strictly attempted to adhere to a food-stamp budget, even if it was just to make people aware of how nearly impossible it is to do.

On another note: yay for food-stamp CSA programs!

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20080317/nf1

Posted 10.14.2009 6:13 PM

Lauring21

2 comments.

Member since 10/11/2009

Candice, thanks, and that is an awesome CSA program.

Posted 10.15.2009 8:24 PM

FrankT

1 comments.

Member since 10/19/2009

Good story, Michelle! Only one thing: you said food stamps couldn't be used to buy from local farmers. I don't know if that's true in Maryland but it's certainly not true in California. Here in L.A. County we have 30, count 'em 30, farmers' markets that accept food stamps (EBT) (SNAP) (whatever you want to call it!). Most of them have accepted food stamps since the 90's, and when the program shifted from paper coupons to the plastic EBT card, the markets obtained wireless Point of Sale devices that the manager at each market can use to swipe the customers' food stamp cards and give them vouchers to use at the markets. Not only that, but several of our markets have worked with the farmers to lower the prices to make fresh produce more accesible to low income folks: SEE-LA and VELA are two organizations that have dedicated themselves to that, and the Sunday Hollywood Farmer's Market at one point was doing $40,000 annually in food stamp sales!

Not only that, but our state legislature passed (and the Governor signed) a bill a couple of years ago that would actually give food stamp users 10 cents rebate per sale of fresh produce, up to $10 per month reimbursement, to encourage people to buy fruits and vegetables. We have not yet implemented this change due to funding (you've probably heard of our state budget woes here) but we will operate this structure as a pilot program in seven counties next year, using alternatives to state funding.

Eating Healthy is not just for the wealthy, but it's not the fault of individual poor people---in many communities there's no produce to be found, except for lemons next to the beer at liquor stores. However, with the community working to make produce more readily available and affordable, things can turn around.

Posted 10.19.2009 6:31 PM

ems

Guest

I thought this was an interesting experiment, so I find the angry responses to be very confusing. No, Michelle did not adhere 100% to the "food stamp" part of her experiment, but I don't think that was really the point. And she even admits, "Had my month's food budget been $428 credit on an Independence card instead of cash in an envelope, the scenario would have been admittedly different. There's no doubt that living on the federal SNAP benefits makes shopping SOLEfully harder." So I think it's helpful to consider the context, that her experiment was 2-part in goal:

1, to feed her family on the prescribed budget (the food stamp amount being a convenient, conventional way to come up with an appropriate number).

2, to accomplish this focused on SOLE principles (making farmer's markets and/or CSA's an understandably integral part of the experiment).

She's not telling anyone that she's better than us for espousing these values, and I'm pretty sure she would have owned up to relying on a breakmaker. I'm also going to assume that she's infinitely grateful to have been able to conduct this as an experiemnt, rather than out of necessity. What she is doing is trying to make a difference in the only place she truly can--in her own life and in the values she teaches to her children. Perhaps the methods were not perfect in every way--I'm not sure there is a perfect answer to the coffee vs. cereal dilemma--but hey, at least she's trying!

Posted 10.29.2009 1:07 PM

ArcticNick

Guest

What a nicely written article. It was a joy to read...even if I wasn't interested in food production and healthy living, which I am.

I love the photos, too.

Posted 11.26.2009 4:42 AM

multiculturegirl

Guest

I found this article very interesting as well as the angry responses. As a single mom who is trying to feed 7 children on a food stamp budget I can see how someone who has a greater knowledge of how life on food stamps really works may take offense to this article. I somewhat agree with the others who said she either should have only shopped at places that accepted food stamps or left the food stamps out of the equation. I don't think she was judging just showing an option. That being said I am a resident of Jackson, Mississippi and we have two major farmers markets here one that accepts food stamps and one that does not so I know it can be done. If you are concerned about this in your community you should be vocal about it. Also the person who commented about people with food stamps shopping at stores like Aldi and places along bus lines is telling the truth there is a lack of not only awareness but options for healthy eating in poor communities if you don't believe me go around your city and look at the produce in stores in poor neighborhoods vs produce in the same store chains in better off neighborhoods I will be shocked if you do not find a difference. Lastly I don't think she was absolutely wrong for bringing up the CSA veggies in the article all together because I have news for people most people with food stamps spend some amount of cash on food each month, if we had access to some of these options we would probably use them people will pay for what they value even on a tight cash budget. I know I do!

Posted 12.9.2009 8:24 PM