Saturday, February 12, 2011

Emptying Our Pockets to Fill Our Cupboard

Author's note: I will begin this post by venting some frustration, but will wrap things up by looking for collaborative solutions to the problem.

Hello, everyone; it's Dana posting.  I feel as though I've been losing my sanity over grocery shopping lately.  How can this be, you ask?  Well, I am frustrated beyond belief by the amount of money we find ourselves spending, even though we're doing so many things to keep it reasonable.  We make our weekly menu plan, shop at different stores, pay attention to sales, harvest home-grown vegetables in the summer, etc., etc, etc.  Somehow tonight we walked out of Tops (admittedly not the best place to save money on groceries- and yes, please do take that as a challenge, Tops!) with a HUGE bill, and only about 5% of it was organic.  Poor Jon is frequently the brunt of my angry tirades about the ridiculous price of groceries and the weekly anxiety I feel, knowing we have a very small income.

Frequently, we shop at the Lexington Co-Op, and while I love the feeling I get buying beautiful organic food (and encountering the wonderful employees), I nearly experience a panic attack when I see the receipt.  I will qualify this by saying that the co-op has some of the best prices on bulk foods, but we spend WAY more on produce and other grocery items there.  So we try to balance this by shopping elsewhere for the non-organic items on our list (if we were independently wealthy, we'd probably buy everything at the co-op and not bat an eyelash).  Yet somehow, we're STILL hemorrhaging cash at the check-out. 

Maybe I shouldn't be so price-conscious. Maybe it's crazy for us to try to eat healthy, balanced, mostly-organic vegetarian meals.  Maybe NOT!  It should be a right, not a privilege, to have access to reasonably priced natural foods.  And I will FIGHT for this for everyone.  What I would like are your suggestions on ways to work around the exorbitant cost of good food...what do you do to save money?  Where do you shop?  Do you have a CSA membership?  Do you know a farmer?  I welcome any ideas and thoughts, as well as your experiences and feelings about grocery shopping in WNY.  Thanks for reading my rant!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

How I Got Over the Car

Dana here.  Ok, so it's been a while.  A LONG while.  I have been pondering many things during our little break...most of all, how I feel now that we've been car-less for nearly three months.  In the last few weeks, I've realized something amazing; I'M OVER IT!  I am so over scraping off, warming up, and trying to navigate a car on snowy streets.  I am over paying nearly $3.50/gallon for gas and feeling angry about supporting big oil companies.  I am over worrying about inspections, repairs, registrations, and licenses.  It is liberating to NOT own a car.

I came to this conclusion slowly.  I used to be all about the car, even for short trips.  I loved the fact that I could be protected from the elements, and yet failed to see that the car was also "protecting" me from many interactions with my environment, my neighbors, and my city.  Now, as I walk (and yes, some winter days I still bike) around town, I get to see Buffalo from a different perspective, and on a human scale.  Does it take me a little while longer to get places?  Sure!  But I use that time to reflect and come up with ideas.  I am much more peaceful than I used to be, not to mention healthier!

I have taken the city bus for the first time, learned to ride the Metro rail, and used CarShare on a handful of occasions when we have to run many errands or buy heavy things.  There really is a decent network of public transportation in this town, if only people learned to use it.  I will gladly take you on a "guided tour", just let me know.

It's Jon writing!  When we first sold our car, I was already open to the idea of other modes of transport, including bike, bus and train.  Since we weren't using the car that often, but biking a lot, it didn't seem like too drastic a change.  Through these months, I've biked when possible, but some days it's too cold/windy, or we need more than we can carry in our bike trailer.  On those days, we ride the bus, take the train, or use CarShare.  During our most recent trip to 464 Gallery, we chose the bus, and I was impressed with the speed at which we arrived.  We passed Guercio's on Grant Street, and I realized how simple it would be to make a grocery run up there.

When I'm on my bike, I have a chance to think and be solitary.  Riding frequently has made me healthier and more motivated to exercise in other ways.  I get a sense of satisfaction knowing that the energy that I'm expending comes only from my body and the healthy, organic food I eat to fuel it.

It's exciting to see how many people have taken an interest in our experiences.  We now know that is is more than just possible to live without a car, but it's GREAT!  There are so many resources and people who have helped us in small and large ways.  We encourage all of you to take small steps, like riding the bus, walking instead of driving to a restaurant, or biking on sunny days when the roads are clear.  You will surprise yourself.