Bailee Bee!

I’ve heard for years that more people should be supporting local farms, but it just never made much sense to me. People claim that we should do this because getting food locally reduces emissions from transportation, but the truth is that transportation of food only accounts for 4% of the total emissions from the food industry. So buying local to reduce the impact of my food by less than 4% was not a motivating factor.

I mentioned in a previous post that I saved some money on my groceries in January and February of this year. Now it’s time to reveal how I spent that money. We used it in two ways:

There’s an amazing group in my community that works to reduce food waste. We gift unwanted food for free to other members so that that food will be used and not wasted. I picked up a box of food from one of these offerings and inside was a container of berry pie filling. It’s not something I would typically buy, and it was far too sweet to use in most dishes. Being determined to use the food and not waste it, I decided to make hand pies.

This year I participated in the #threeriverschallenge that Three Rivers Homestead organizes over on YouTube. It’s a challenge to use up odds and ends in your fridge, freezer, and pantry, and make sure to eat the food in your home rather than let it go to waste. There are no definite rules for this endeavor, but it’s a way for people to challenge themselves in a way that makes sense for them. The challenge organizer is a homesteading mother of 7, and she doesn’t go to the grocery store at all for the months of January and February. I, on the other hand, went to the grocery store several times but only purchased fresh fruits, vegetables, and milk for my children.

I envision this blog being about many things, but my primary focus will be food. Why? Because while swapping to something like a bamboo toothbrush is a great way to cut back on waste when it’s replaced 2-4 times per year, food is a choice we make several times per day, every day. Meals, drinks, snacks, desserts… they all have an impact, and we have the ability to make that impact smaller while still eating healthy and delicious food.