by Chiots
Not Dabbling In Normal

Growing your own food isn’t just about saving money, it’s about so much more. I truly believe that as humans we posses an innate desire or need to take a hand-on role in the production of the food we consume. Whether through growing your own, foraging in the wild, hunting or even going to a local farm, knowing exactly where your food comes from provides a deep sense of appreciation for what you eat.

When you think about how Americans acquire their food and the detachment from where it comes from it’s no surprise to learn the staggering facts about food waste in this country:

• In the US, food waste has increased 50% since 1974
• Americans throw away 25% of the food they prepare
• Americans waste 94 billion pounds of food per year
• 40 percent of all the food produced in the US is thrown out
• Food is the third largest waste stream after paper and yard waste

Mr Chiots and I have noticed that the more we take a hand-on role in what we eat, the less food gets wasted in our home. When you’ve nurtured spinach from a tiny seed, you’re not about to let it get slimy in the fridge. When it’s past it’s prime for salads, it gets thrown into a pot of soup or cooked and frozen for a future meal. When you’ve spend hours collecting and boiling down maple sap, not a drop of syrup gets left on your plate. When you spend time searching for a local farm to get milk from and have seen how hard the farmers work to produce great quality milk for you, it never spoils in the fridge. It’s true that buying from a small farm and locally can cost a little more than the grocery store counterpart, but when you figure in the savings of the food you won’t be wasting you’re really not spending any extra. Plus if you grow some of your own you can offset the cost of that pastured beef or bacon.

Take this omelet we ate the other night for example, it contained:

3 pastured eggs from Martha’s Farm which cost 70 cents
Spinach, potatoes, dried tomatoes, & chives from my garden which were all free
Local raw milk artisan gruyere cheese that costs $17/lb, I used about $2 worth

Since my tomatoes, spinach, chives, and potatoes were homegrown, I could afford to indulge in some raw milk local cheese, even at $17/lb. The entire meal for both of us was only $2.60 – now that’s a cheap meal, even for non-real food. When people tell me they would eat locally if they could afford it, I tell them that Mr Chiots and I are actually spending less on food now than we did 6 years ago. Sure some of that is because we grow some of our own, but when you’re paying $8/gallon for raw organic milk, and $17/lb for your cheese it still adds up. We spend less on groceries because we waste less and we eat less. Generally good REAL food is more nutrient dense so you don’t need to eat as much. Since our food is so nourishing we no longer feel the need to snack between meals, if we go get hungry we often enjoy some raw milk, yogurt or some dried fruit. We do not feel the need to buy dedicated snack foods.

But growing your own and eating REAL food isn’t just about the cost. When you take the time to grow REAL food you will find that you will cultivate a deep appreciation not only for the food that you produce, but for the process in and of itself. Growing your own food nourishes not only your body, but your soul as well – and you certainly can’t put a price on that.

Has growing your own, or seeking out REAL food changed your attitude towards food? Have you noticed any less food waste in your home as you’ve transitioned to REAL food?

I can also be found at Chiot’s Run where I blog daily about gardening, cooking, local eating, maple sugaring, and all kinds of stuff. You can also find me at Ethel Gloves, Simple, Green, Frugal, Co-op, and you can follow me on Twitter.