social consciousness

People’s Food Co-op

| thedarwinsgirl

I finally ventured to our local food co-op. The location of the co-op has biased me since its in a community I don’t care for. I have been struggling trying to balance our households food needs. I go to 4 different stores to get all of the items I need.

Costco for soy milk, 2.5 gallon jugs of water, and too many other things I don’t need.
Whole Foods for spelt bread, tortillas, hot dog and hamburger buns. They sell the best ones.
Trader Joe’s for nuts, kosher meats, and the rest of my groceries.
Target or the grocery store for diapers and incidentals.

It is mentally exhausting. But more importantly, I end up spending alot of time reading labels and price shopping. HFCS, artificial sugars, pesticides, refined grains, low fiber, saturated fats, highly processed, trans fats. You could drive yourself crazy worrying about the food you ingest. I certainly do.

What I didn’t realize before, and am kicking myself about now is that the food co-op does the thinking for me (of course this isn’t always a good thing). But, at least someone has put some serious thought and consideration into every item they put on their shelves. The time savings of knowing that I don’t need to investigate each product is a big relief for me.

So, starting this week I am going to make my first official shopping trip. I will let you know the verdict.

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Fresh from the farm –delivery 3

| thedarwinsgirl

This week fresh from the farm is:
Lemon, sweet lettuce, salad mix with edible flowers, pink or white grapefruit or corn, garlic chives or French sorrel, bok choi or purslane, Chioggia beets or red radishes, cucumbers or green (or purple) beans, summer squashes and bouquet of flowers. Sugar Baby Watermelon, plums, peaches, Dorcett apples, apricots or oranges.

I sent a message via their website to get clarification about what was being delivered and how their substitution policy worked. As we don’t seem to be getting everything they post on the web.

For example this week–we didn’t get garlic chives or french sorrel, or bok choi or purslane. So, perhaps we made it up in some other item. I don’t know, but I feel frustrated since it costs a fair amount.

I haven’t heard back from anyone yet, but my renewal came in the mail yesterday…so I hope to hear soon!

I love having farm fresh produce delivered to my door!

| thedarwinsgirl

This weeks delivery includes the following vegetables and fruit! I cant wait until it arrives!!!
Avocado, red potatoes, medley of summer squash, beans or cucumbers or corn, radishes or turnips, chives or basil, Seabreeze salad with edible flowers, leeks, Valencia oranges, tat soi or purslane and bouquet of flowers.
Grapes, grapefruit, peaches, Fuji apples and fresh picked and frozen mulberries.

Our Bounty

| thedarwinsgirl


This is our CSA bounty. I have made use of most of the items delivered this past week–some of which I had to google to find out what they were. Like tat soi, who has ever heard of it? Anyway, once I deciphered what veggie was what–I began chopping and preparing a huge veggie stir fry –which was delicious!!!

I am excited to see what comes next week. We are every other week, but scheduled for this week is: Medley of summer squashes, beans or cucumbers or broccoli, carrots or radishes, scallions, baby celery, sweet lettuce, salad with edible flowers, basil or arugula or French sorrel, tomatoes and bouquet of flowers. The Fruits are: mangos (I am allergic, but the family should enjoy), frozen mulberries (too delicate to send fresh-just picked), avocado, bananas, peaches, and strawberries.

With the exception of the strawberries everything sounds wonderful. Ahh, you ask what my aversion to strawberries is? I bought a basket at the farmers market a year or more ago. Usually, I just wash them and eat them. No need to hull them when they are bursting with red juicy goodness. Well, let me tell ya…it is a good thing I waited. I decided to hull and slice them for consumption later. I sliced open one berry and out came a whole family of worms. I will never eat another strawberry again unless its sliced open first. And that also ended my organic shopping at the farmers market. This time around–I am soaking and washing everything very thoroughly to eliminate any sort of pest from ruining my mental palate.

Global food issues

| thedarwinsgirl

With all of the horrible events that are happening worldwide–the cost of food both stateside and abroad-the number of people in need of basic supplies (food, clean water, medical aide)–the cost of oil and gasoline…it has got me thinking.

Why do we ship food from the US to regions in need? Why dont we buy the food closer to the area that needs it? We can save on the cost to ship it, we can help to stimulate local economies, and it will be food closer the diet of the region.

I realize that this often isnt possible with regions that are suffering from draught–where crops and food are simply scarce or similar events. But, in some areas it is possible. We just dont do it that I can tell.

So, it really has me wondering and thinking. If you have any insight or thoughts, please dont hestiate to share.

Homemade Household Products

| thedarwinsgirl

I want to start making my own household cleaners. I have been doing some sole searching (I want to be a full time Mom) and budget searching (in order to justify the loss in income, we would have to save money elsewhere) and have decided that household cleaners are just way to expensive. Many are also toxic to humans and animals, not to mention destructive to our environment.

So, I am going to test out my creative (and chemistry) skills. If anyone has any suggestions, advise or recipe’s–please let me know! From the research I have conducted thus far, it is a simple as this ingredient list. I will keep you posted.