"We don't value food because it isn't expensive enough."

[TravelMommy]

We try to plan out our meals and have been doing that for a while. I try to buy all organic, or at least try to get the dirty dozen produce organic. I shop sales, shop at warehouses, Aldi, Pricerite, to get the most bang for our buck. Most people I know around where I live do the same. [I truly agree about genetics playing a big role in longevity, as my 90 year old, plastics engineer, vodka drinking, rabelrousing DGF can attest to, lol]

 

[crisi]

I am not disagreeing with you or crisi...both of you had great posts. But I can't help but think about my own family and how I am already uncomfortable with food prices and resent that a gallon of milk was $2.19 at Target and is now up to $3.29...and this is the market pantey brand AND I have always, like crisi, only allowed milk to be consumed at meals, and sometimes not even then...."save the milk for breakfast!!" Is something my kids hear all the time.? I have to admit that I panic a little, in a symbolic sense, thinking that prices are still rising like crazy when my grocery budget is already stretched for 5 people and we already buy generic, ration the milk, and make a whole chicken every weekend so that we can eat it for one meal, harvest the rest for chicken tacos for the next night, and boil the carcass for soup the night after. I have a hard time justifying the cost of roasts and never buy steak. I've upped my grocery budget by over $50 week in the few past years thinking it was because my kids were getting older, but really, that $$ has been absorbed into the higher costs of food and I really don't get more groceries. We do throw some stuff out frm time to time, but I really am not wasteful...I do plan my meals almost to a science, we eat what's on sale that week, and if 5 of us are eating, I make 5 pork chops. We rarely have leftovers, and since I portion our food out before storing in the freezer, if an unexpected guest comes its hard to figure out how to feed the extra person without breaking open another whole ziplock bag full of meat (that was meant for another meal). My kids have always been served small portions first, then can ask for more instead of the other way around and me throwing tons of food away. Nothing drives me crazy more than when kids visit, parents pile plates high with food, kid takes two bites, and the rest goes into the trash. I cannot help but think about how that plate of food could have fed two of my kids and now its garbage.

So, in my case, food increases do affect us. And we make very close to 6 figures...maybe even over in some years. It's not just a resentment that I can't buy a new purse, because I don't do that, either. But we live in a very high cost of living area, and our mortage and taxes are outrageous. A lot of our money goes to living costs in this area.

Of course - I suspect most of us feel similarly. I can't imagine how difficult it is to feed a family now on a truly small income. But, historically, food as a percentage of household income has been really cheap for most of the past decade - frankly for most of my life (and I'm 47 years old!). (http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/07/spending-on-food-at-all-time-historical.html). I think its just starting to catch up.

Part of that is that other parts of our spending have gotten more expensive - twenty years ago I didn't have cell phone bills and my internet connection was dialup at $7 a month - even on my post divorce budget, it was something that could be done (though I traded movies out for it). Mortgages have really gotten out of control - but at the same time, the house I'm raising two kids in is four times bigger than the one my grandmother raised five kids in with a dishwasher, a microwave, a fridge that makes ice and more than one bathroom! - things we take for granted in our middle class lives - but are really big deals (and my house is pretty ordinary - it isn't a faux chateau by any means - but it does have three bedrooms, two full baths and a half bath). My college education was really expensive compared to my fathers - but will be nothing compared to my kids.

 

[crisi]

And it seems so very common sense that it amazes me sometimes that there's any discussion/debate over it.... We readily accept the premise that poor diet and sedentary lifestyle contribute to unhealthy levels of body fat and cholesterol in our own bodies, but cling to our denial that there might be a nutritional difference between grass fed beef or free range chicken and the intentionally obese animals that come off of modern feedlots.

There is something in one of the Michael Pollen books - long before GMOs we hybridized the nutrition right out of a lot of plants to make them more attractive and/or stable for shipping. A good example of this is tomatoes. Eat a heirloom tomato and its a completely different food than the tasteless fiberous mass you get in the grocery store. A real apple is completely different than a Red Delicious. But supermarkets want consistency and attractiveness - an old fashioned apple isn't pretty and doesn't ship well.

There is a school of thought that our bodies crave the nutrients we aren't getting in our food any longer, and we overeat to compensate.

 

[ellone]

And it seems so very common sense that it amazes me sometimes that there's any discussion/debate over it.... We readily accept the premise that poor diet and sedentary lifestyle contribute to unhealthy levels of body fat and cholesterol in our own bodies, but cling to our denial that there might be a nutritional difference between grass fed beef or free range chicken and the intentionally obese animals that come off of modern feedlots.

Everytime I see anything about cutting back the amount if antibiotics humans use I want to scream. 80% of antibiotics used in the US are fed to animals to keep them healthy on factory farms (and a side effect is that they grow bigger). Cutting back on human use is a drop in the bucket - the super bugs will come from the animals.

And produce (well conventional kinds) have less vitamins and minerals than they did in the 50's. It's a side effect of overuse of soil and reliance on chemical fertilizers.

 

[kymom99]

There is something in one of the Michael Pollen books - long before GMOs we hybridized the nutrition right out of a lot of plants to make them more attractive and/or stable for shipping. A good example of this is tomatoes. Eat a heirloom tomato and its a completely different food than the tasteless fiberous mass you get in the grocery store. A real apple is completely different than a Red Delicious. But supermarkets want consistency and attractiveness - an old fashioned apple isn't pretty and doesn't ship well.

There is a school of thought that our bodies crave the nutrients we aren't getting in our food any longer, and we overeat to compensate.

Yeah, how about those huge, white centered strawberries you get on the grocery stores? My sister went yo a pick your own strawberry farm and the berries were much smaller, much redder, and much juicier. And smelled and tasted heavenly!

 

[SEA333]

Of course - I suspect most of us feel similarly. I can't imagine how difficult it is to feed a family now on a truly small income. But, historically, food as a percentage of household income has been really cheap for most of the past decade - frankly for most of my life (and I'm 47 years old!). (http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/07/spending-on-food-at-all-time-historical.html). I think its just starting to catch up.

Part of that is that other parts of our spending have gotten more expensive - twenty years ago I didn't have cell phone bills and my internet connection was dialup at $7 a month - even on my post divorce budget, it was something that could be done (though I traded movies out for it). Mortgages have really gotten out of control - but at the same time, the house I'm raising two kids in is four times bigger than the one my grandmother raised five kids in with a dishwasher, a microwave, a fridge that makes ice and more than one bathroom! - things we take for granted in our middle class lives - but are really big deals (and my house is pretty ordinary - it isn't a faux chateau by any means - but it does have three bedrooms, two full baths and a half bath). My college education was really expensive compared to my fathers - but will be nothing compared to my kids.

Exactly! And same here...3 bedroom (and a loft for dd outside our bedroom upstairs) 2 baths, and a living room with one couch, 2 wing chairs literally touching each other and the couch to mke room for the 6person table that is pushed against the wall on the far side and only has 4 chairs until dinnertime when we bring the 5th from DS bedroom. 1350 sq feet, brick, and well over the average selling price for a similar home in 89% of the country. Oh, and did I mention that I can stand at my side door and literally touch the neighbors house with my arms stretched out? And $7000 in taxes a year because we love the school district. The 10 sq feet of granite countertops in my tiny surely helped drive the price of the home up lol.

I know that comparing my $600 grocery bill to my (in the neighborhood of) $2500-3000 I pay in mortgage and taxes per month makes it look like the food prices are low comparatively, but I always am thinking that I can cut food costs by being a prudent shopper while my housung costs are fixed (moving to another area is not an option for much more than financial reasons at this time...kids are at an age that we cannot move them to new schools no matter what we sacrafice), however, it is getting much more difficult to do this than it was in the past.

Great conversations!! Good topic.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I have even taken out meat to defrost and then we end up eating out/having a taste for something else and never get around to cooking it.

I have never ever done this. I can't even imagine doing it. What a waste! At least you could cook it and freeze it. That way it wouldn't be tossed out.

 

[eliza61]

I have never ever done this. I can't even imagine doing it. What a waste! At least you could cook it and freeze it. That way it wouldn't be tossed out.

This happens to us many times. especially as my kids grew into teenagers. My life some times is not that organized so some times there is no time to cook.
Usually what happens is that some thing happens on some ones job. for example a couple of weeks ago, I took out pork chops to cook. got stuck at work so no time to cook on that day. Next day, boys were out of the house and I took the opportunity to do some errands while I had some free time, next day had previously planned dinner out.

Long story short after 4 days of not cooking them, I tossed them.

It doesn't happen often but even if I do cook them, they would have sat in the fridge for 5 days cooked then tossed.