I - like most people - thought that eating NZ Grown would be expensive. A fair expectation, considering I am buying more dairy (All of which -excluding the butter- is organic), organic NZ grown flours and organic NZ grown/made pasta, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised that I am actually saving money.
So how am I saving money? I am still buying enough food to support my body and I'm buying more expensive products.
Well, it turns out by not being able to buy junk food (Shop bread, crumpets, potato chips, chocolate, take-out, V energy drinks and fizzy drinks, ice creams, sugar loaded juices), I'm saving a lot of money.
And in the great scheme of things, these foods are small sacrifices. By stripping these items from my diet for 2 weeks, I am giving myself a clean slate to work with. At the end of the 2 weeks, I have a fresh start where I can then choose what items I let back into my diet, and which items I don't. I can make adjustments to more ethical products and make changes where possible.
So if I wasn't allowed to buy junk food or foreign products, what was I buying?
I did my first shop for some NZ Grown products in preparation for my NZ Grown Fortnight on 2/5/2011 which was 6 days before I started my challenge, which means some of what I brought would have been consumed before I started my fortnight of NZ Grown, but here is the list of NZ Grown products I brought:
2/5/2011 Shopping List (at Pak'n'Save)
Harraways Rolled Oats 1.5kg - $4.29
Pams split yellow peas 500g - $1.39
Pams split green peas 500g - $1.39
Pams Lentils 500g - $2.91
Coulston Hill Eggs, 6pk (Free range)- $2.99
Mrs Rogers Organic Salt 335g- $4.25
Organic Hass Avocados - $2.99
Broccoli 2@ $1.25 - $2.50
Cabbage half - $0.99
Button Mushrooms - $2.55
Pumpkin 2@ $2.49 - $4.98
1kg pk Capsicums - $3.99
Potatoes (Washed), .825kg - $2.06
Carrots 1.16kg - $1.73
Pams Onion Alfalfa Sprouts - $1.75
Tomatoes 0.630kg - $4.41
Budget Butter, 2@ $4.19 - $8.38
Nature Lea Organic milk 2@3.45 - $6.90
Long Bush Feta - $3.29
Household Extras - (Toilet paper, cleaning products, baking papers, etc) - $3.88
Total - $67.62
I then went to Huckleberry Farms on Saturday, 7/5/2011, day before I started my challenge, to get some flour and pasta.
NZ Bio Grains Organic Whole meal spelt flour - $13.20
Pasta D'or Organic Rye Pasta - $6.10
Total - $19.30
Then on the 9/5/2011 I grabbed a couple of things while at the supermarket when the SO was doing his food shopping.
Pams Honey 500g - $4.79
2@1.49 Broccoli - $2.98
Celery - $1.99
Onions 1kg - $2.99
Household products - $5.41
Total - $18.16
I know, I do a lot of bitsy shops scattered throughout the week. I find this is better since I buy a lot of vegetables and if I buy them all at once they all just go off after a few days.
So all my little shops comes to a total of - $105.08
A shocking $35-55 cheaper than my usual fortnightly shopping, and then I would probably usually spend another $30+ on takeaways and junk food while I'm at work.
This shopping covered me for nearly a fortnight from the 2nd until the 15th since I did the first shop a little early! And some of these items I still have for the following fortnight such as the split peas, lentils, oats, flour, pasta, salt, butter and some vegetables.
Now the 15/5/2011 was my next staple shop, however it was mostly just a top-up on fresh veg and dairy products.
100% Kiwi NZ Extra Virgin Olive Oil 500ml - $11.99 (Finally found some and it was sitting right there amongst all the other olive oils, I don't know how I haven't noticed it before!)
Mandarins - $3.99
Leek - $1.49
Brussel Sprouts 400g - $1.89
Potatoes (washed) 2.61kg - $ 6.51
Carrots 1.245kg - $2.36
Mushrooms 0.169kg -$2.02
Biofarm acidophilus 1L Yogurt - $5.49
Naturalea Organic milk 1Lt - $3.45
Household Extras - $9.29
Total - $48.48
So, as if I need to say it, I have been eating a lot of vegetables.
I've been roasting them, boiling them, making vegetable stir-fries with them... it's been your common vegetable masacare in my house the last 2 weeks.
So there you have the numbers side of things... The simple costs of living NZ Grown. I'm buying organic dairy and grains, organic salt... the only thing I'm not really buying organic is Vegetables. I would love to be able to buy organic vegetables but unfortunately since I buy so many vegetables, I don't think I would be able to afford it. This lifestyle change for me isn't meant to be a stress/guilt scenario where I feel some obsessive need to buy everything organic, but rather making realistic changes where I can.
I might not be able to only eat NZ Grown for the rest of my life, but after my NZ Grown fortnight I plan to continue buying NZ organic flour and making my own bread, buying NZ olive oil and NZ Salt.
I will continue to try not to eat many foods from overseas and if I do, that they are fairtrade and organic. Particularly when it comes to buying sugar, cacao products, coffee and bananas.
This first week has already opened my eyes to so much! I walk through supermarkets now and whenever I look at an item I imagine all the products that go into making it and start listing off the countries where they might come from in my head.
So changing to NZ Grown grains, salt and olive oil and making sure that the majority of the chocolate, coffee, sugar and bananas I eat are organic/fairtrade are realistic changes for me. These are things that I can change without too much stress. For me these are realistic changes.
So as you are finishing reading this blog, take a moment to think about the products that are in your pantry/fridge.
Where did they come from?
Who made them?
Do I Need this item if it has come from unethical sources?
Take a look at the food you are buying and see if there is 1 product you can realistically change to a fairtrade and/or organic product instead.
I hope all the numbers weren't too boring and I promise my next post will be a little more interesting/exciting!
If you have an questions, comments or suggestions, please post them below and I'll answer them as soon as I can.
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