A couple months ago I checked out a truly amazing, heart wrenching book from the library. I meant to blog about it, but then life happened, and I never did. I was thinking about it again the other day, and thought now was the time to write about it, and do a little experiment of my own. The book is called: Hungry Planet - What the world eats by Peter Menzel. The author went to 24 countries and featured 30 families. Each family was asked to purchase 1 months worth of food, which the family was then photographed with. They also provided a detailed list of the items purchased, along with information on how the food was raised/used. You can see a photo essay of the project here. The pictures are beautiful, but the details are what are truly eye opening. The family from Chads picture is just heartbreaking to me. No family should have to live with such a meager supply of food. The family from the United States? Also sad because almost everything in that photo is processed food, hardly any fruits or vegetables to be seen. Compare that to the family in Ecuador, or the family in Bhutan. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables....such a simpler diet, and no doubt healthier. Its the way we were meant to eat.
The book also breaks down the cost for each families week worth of food. The mother in Chad has about $1.44 a week to feed herself and her 5 children, while a family of 4 in Germany spends $494.19 a week on food. I often wonder how the balance of prosperity in this world got so uneven. And how and why we let it continue. Everywhere there are families that throw away food, restaurants that throw away food...so much of it edible and very much usable. And there are families with children who go to school hungry in the morning, and parents who worry that they wont be able to feed those children tomorrow. I wonder what would happen if every restaurant, bakery and fast food chain gave away their leftovers, their unusable, their excess to the people who need it? How many less people would go hungry? More importantly, why isn't something like this already in place?
Then I started thinking...what would our page in that book look like if we were featured? Would there be an even balance of fruits and veggies, or a glutton of convenience foods? What do we actually spend on food each month? I make a menu every month for our dinner meals, and go grocery shopping once a week to pick up items we will need, as well as fresh items that need to be replenished each week. So I couldn't do one large photo and list of food like they do in the book. So I thought I would start a month long series of blog posts, and list our weekly grocery purchases. What we bought and what it cost, along with a photo. I think its going to be really interesting at the end of the month to look back at how much and what kinds of food we consume, as well as the amount of money we use to feed this family. I am hoping I can see ways to spend less, and ways to improve our diets. Join on on this journey.....and maybe even start one of your own!
March 30th, Week 1:
4 organic russet potatoes = $3.24
1.11 pounds all natural sliced turkey breast = $11.32
1 organic red pepper = $1.40
1 organic green pepper = $1.23
1 bag (6.5 pounds) frozen chicken breast = $15.99
2 pounds organic grape tomatoes = $4.99
2 bunches bananas = $2.64
14 organic gala apples = $6.79
1 bag (5 pounds) whole grain all natural chicken nuggets = $11.85
2 pounds sugar snap peas = $5.79
6 quarts Newmans own 100% grape juice = $6.79
6.5 pounds ground turkey = $14.79
8 pounds Cara Cara oranges = $7.49
100% juice capri suns = $1.88
12 whole wheat English muffins = $3.76
6 boxes whole wheat pasta = $5.94
2 boxes whole wheat spaghetti - $1.98
1 can sliced olives = $1.26
1 jar Newmans Own spaghetti sauce = $2.39
32 ounce container Nancy's all natural vanilla yogurt = $2.59
2 boxes Stash pomegranate green tea = $4.20
6 pack Widmer Hefeweizen beer = $6.78
1 box Good Earth green tea = $2.62
1 bottle mustard = $1.18
1 jar mayonnaise = $2.98
1 box Boboli pizza sauce = $2.10
1 pound tomatoes on the vine = $1.20
2 small avocados = $1.36
1 14 ounce container Emerald Valley Organic salsa = $2.76
1 bag classic romaine salad = $1.78
32 ounce non dairy coffee creamer = $3.49^
2 pounds butter = $4.98^
1 box Organic "ritz" crackers = $2.99^
1 loaf of french bread = $1.59^
1 pint Ben and Jerrys ice cream = $3.59^
1 bakery slice chocolate cake = $2.99^
Grand total: $160.00 (rounded)
Week 1 groceries:
Oops! Forgot the apples and oranges in the first pic!
***This is not an accurate reflection of what we will actually eat this week. One night the menu calls for fajitas, and I already had the meat and seasoning. Another night called for mini pizza's, and I already had the cheese. I have 3 loaves of bread already in the freezer. I like to stock up when I find a good deal, so I bought 8 packages of pasta...we wont eat that all this week! But I hope that the overall monthly view will be a pretty close snapshot of what we consume in a months time. I will also add forgotten items to the list as we buy them during the week. They will be marked with a ^, as they wont be in the picture.***
The book also breaks down the cost for each families week worth of food. The mother in Chad has about $1.44 a week to feed herself and her 5 children, while a family of 4 in Germany spends $494.19 a week on food. I often wonder how the balance of prosperity in this world got so uneven. And how and why we let it continue. Everywhere there are families that throw away food, restaurants that throw away food...so much of it edible and very much usable. And there are families with children who go to school hungry in the morning, and parents who worry that they wont be able to feed those children tomorrow. I wonder what would happen if every restaurant, bakery and fast food chain gave away their leftovers, their unusable, their excess to the people who need it? How many less people would go hungry? More importantly, why isn't something like this already in place?
Then I started thinking...what would our page in that book look like if we were featured? Would there be an even balance of fruits and veggies, or a glutton of convenience foods? What do we actually spend on food each month? I make a menu every month for our dinner meals, and go grocery shopping once a week to pick up items we will need, as well as fresh items that need to be replenished each week. So I couldn't do one large photo and list of food like they do in the book. So I thought I would start a month long series of blog posts, and list our weekly grocery purchases. What we bought and what it cost, along with a photo. I think its going to be really interesting at the end of the month to look back at how much and what kinds of food we consume, as well as the amount of money we use to feed this family. I am hoping I can see ways to spend less, and ways to improve our diets. Join on on this journey.....and maybe even start one of your own!
March 30th, Week 1:
4 organic russet potatoes = $3.24
1.11 pounds all natural sliced turkey breast = $11.32
1 organic red pepper = $1.40
1 organic green pepper = $1.23
1 bag (6.5 pounds) frozen chicken breast = $15.99
2 pounds organic grape tomatoes = $4.99
2 bunches bananas = $2.64
14 organic gala apples = $6.79
1 bag (5 pounds) whole grain all natural chicken nuggets = $11.85
2 pounds sugar snap peas = $5.79
6 quarts Newmans own 100% grape juice = $6.79
6.5 pounds ground turkey = $14.79
8 pounds Cara Cara oranges = $7.49
100% juice capri suns = $1.88
12 whole wheat English muffins = $3.76
6 boxes whole wheat pasta = $5.94
2 boxes whole wheat spaghetti - $1.98
1 can sliced olives = $1.26
1 jar Newmans Own spaghetti sauce = $2.39
32 ounce container Nancy's all natural vanilla yogurt = $2.59
2 boxes Stash pomegranate green tea = $4.20
6 pack Widmer Hefeweizen beer = $6.78
1 box Good Earth green tea = $2.62
1 bottle mustard = $1.18
1 jar mayonnaise = $2.98
1 box Boboli pizza sauce = $2.10
1 pound tomatoes on the vine = $1.20
2 small avocados = $1.36
1 14 ounce container Emerald Valley Organic salsa = $2.76
1 bag classic romaine salad = $1.78
32 ounce non dairy coffee creamer = $3.49^
2 pounds butter = $4.98^
1 box Organic "ritz" crackers = $2.99^
1 loaf of french bread = $1.59^
1 pint Ben and Jerrys ice cream = $3.59^
1 bakery slice chocolate cake = $2.99^
Grand total: $160.00 (rounded)
Week 1 groceries:
Oops! Forgot the apples and oranges in the first pic!
***This is not an accurate reflection of what we will actually eat this week. One night the menu calls for fajitas, and I already had the meat and seasoning. Another night called for mini pizza's, and I already had the cheese. I have 3 loaves of bread already in the freezer. I like to stock up when I find a good deal, so I bought 8 packages of pasta...we wont eat that all this week! But I hope that the overall monthly view will be a pretty close snapshot of what we consume in a months time. I will also add forgotten items to the list as we buy them during the week. They will be marked with a ^, as they wont be in the picture.***