Lift Up Your Hearts!

Our grocery budget has been taking a hit in the last several months, partly because of a significant general price increase at the stores, and partly because food costs a lot less when half the household has half his meals covered by an expense account, which hasn't happened for a while.  (That's not to say it's a bad trade-off for the privilege of working from home.)  So it's a very good thing that yesterday was in September, and today in October:  I've been having fun.

Yesterday I checked out the new grocery store in town:  GFS Marketplace.  When they offer you a coupon that takes $10 off a $50 purchase, it would be rude to ignore them.

I had already spent $50 at my regular grocery store this week, but was certain I would have no trouble finding another $50 worth.  What I didn't realize until stepping into the store is that GFS is a restaurant supplier.  The quantities and sizes would be attractive to a large family, or a large party, but not for everyday wear for a household of two.  But I decided to check out the whole store, anyway, and as you might guess my coupon did not go to waste.  My first big find was something new and irresistible:  three pounds of frozen Alaskan wild-caught salmon burgers for $18.  Then five pounds of frozen whole raspberries for $21.50.  In my regular store I can find large packages of frozen strawberries and blueberries, but raspberries are only sold in small, expensive packages.  And we love smoothies in this household!

Then came the biggest find of all:  frozen red, tart cherries!  The other stores sometimes carry frozen sweet cherries (also in small, expensive packages), but never this, my favorite type of cherry since early childhood, when my days were brightened with fruit that I'd picked with my own, greedy hands by climbing our very own tree.  At $12 for a five-pound bag, I know I'll be going back for more.

That was yesterday; today was even more expensive.  I decided it was time for a return visit to Lake Meadow Naturals, the farm which supplies our free-range, local eggs.  The farm is a half-hour's drive away, so we normally buy their eggs at one of our local health food stores, especially since they no longer let folks pick their own from under the hens.  I'm glad we discovered Lake Meadow Naturals before the policy change, but I understand the need for it.  People carry diseases and stress out the chickens:  egg production went up ten percent when they closed the nests to the public.

But since our last visit, the farm has branched out to many other products that are not yet carried by our local stores; hence my desire to return.  I could easily have spent twice what I did, but my $83 bought me a half gallon of their own honey, a frozen broiler chicken (I could tell it wasn't an agri-business, factory-farmed chicken, because it was the size of a chicken, not a turkey), something over five pounds of frozen, grass-fed ground beef, a gallon of Q-Fresh milk (non-homogenized, from grass-fed cows on a single family farm, but alas, this being Florida, not raw), and a dozen eggs.  The whole experience was very pleasant; I especially enjoyed talking with the beekeeper.

We followed this delightful extravagance with a rare trip to Costco.  Yeah, I know.  How does Costco fit into a locavore, sustainable-agriculture way of life?  It doesn't.  That's why we try to practice what I call conservationist living:  doing what we can in small ways, avoiding legalism, promoting joy rather than guilt.

Stretching the budget, but not breaking it.