From Sandhills farm to table Cooperative on Mon, June 21, 2010

Do you know about Linda Watson’s project Cook for Good?
http://www.cookforgood.com.
She develops organic “green” menus to feed families for less than the daily food stamp allotment. Truly good work. Check her out and bring her work forward.
Our Co-op plans to bring her down for a demonstration. She lives and works in Raleigh, NC.
Fully in line with the Slow Food message, the menus are cooking with simple, wholesome fresh ingredients. She can help you get closer to your goals. Good luck! You all do good work.

From Lisa on Tue, June 29, 2010

How true. I feel for you and every day I am grateful I can afford what I can and can what I can’t. Blessings to you & yours.

From Gina on Wed, June 30, 2010

I spend FAR less by eating slow food—but then I don’t shop at Whole Foods. I’m lucky to have a “Vitamin Cottage,” which offers produce and plenty of other foods cheaper than any supermarket.

But also I get raw milk, meat and eggs from local farms. Those foods are so incredibly dense with nutrients and complex texture, that they satisfy me and go much farther and be used incorporated into cooking in many more ways than the typical foods from stores. 

I was just thinking today how little I spend. Try this with kids: chop up a beet into a bunch of tiny pieces. Mix it with a quart or gallon of water, along with a little whey (which I get from my raw milk) or with a little vinegar or something slightly fermented. Let it sit out for a couple of days to ferment and then refrigerate. For pennies, you have a sweet drink full of good bacteria, which can be pepped up with a little soda water, lemon, honey or cane sugar. Done well, it tastes 10X better than any bottled supermarket drink. 

No one can tell me that Slow Food is not actually cheaper when done with awareness and a full palate.

From Luana Hiebert on Wed, June 30, 2010

Good job, Gina!
I, too, have found and been surprised at how little we actually spend on food, since we have been changing our diet towards healthier, more natural local foods.  And we are feeling better, too!  But it does take time and a change in attitude about what is truly good food!  (Certainly not pepperoni pizza, although that may be good for an occasional treat!)

From Luana Hiebert on Wed, June 30, 2010

Oh, yes!  I forgot to mention that Whole Foods, while they do have better quality food than the supermarkets, are certainly not committed to providing only local food.  I know of many instances where local farmers have tried to get there very high quality food in that market, and were denied.

From Gina Alianiello on Wed, June 30, 2010

Luana, Thanks. What you say about Whole Foods is very true. I just have to add that pepperoni pizza when done right is extremely healthy. Raw cheese has a complex texture and is so satisfying. Pork sausage, when prepared properly from healthy animals, is full of good fats and enzymes necessary for nerves and hormones—as many cultures have well known. (Our culture seems only to know well what the drug commercials tell us about breast cancer, prostate cancer or Viagra.) I’ve watched the many wonderful healing effects of “pizza” foods on my own health. Plus, they tone the body and actually promote a natural balance in weight, so weight doesn’t have to be a neurotic issue.

I get pork from a small farm where the animals are fed only what is natural to them. The quality is extremely different from what is in typical stores—and the meat goes such a long way. I only buy it rarely. I just spent $10 on pork belly and I already know it is going to go a loong way. Amazing.

From Anastacia on Wed, June 30, 2010

Thanks for all the amazing suggestions, both here, on PRK and the Slow Food USA Facebook page… I’ll go through and organize and post a guide to eating well for less soon! Stay tuned…

Cheers!

Anastacia

From Angelica on Fri, July 16, 2010

I would pay little more for better quality food but the problem is that the usual hormone filled products
are to expensive already. kind of difficult situation.
Angelica Urinozinc
reviewer.