Monday, April 6, 2009

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge

Have you ever participated in an online challenge?
Well, I haven't, and I decided better late now than never.

Crunchy Chicken {one of my favorite environmental bloggers!} came up with the "Sustainable Food Budget Challenge" for the month of April.

Here are the rules for buying food:
1. If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.
2. If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.
3. If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.
4. If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Terroir: purchase foods famous for the region they are grown in.
5. Hit the farmers market before the supermarket.


This does not include non-food items, or home-grown items {unfortunately I have none of those!}. Also, I have to make sure to include food bought on the go, like coffee or sandwiches.

Since I only buy for myself, I cannot spend more than $176 on groceries for the whole month. Living in Italy, this translates to about 32 Euros a week.

The good thing is that there is a lot of local produce that can be found at various markets throughout the city. I just have to make a point to go to them!

My own personal goals for this challenge:
  • Eat. Less. Cheese. - Right now I only have Parmesan in my fridge. I am determined to limit my cheese intake!
  • Drink less regular milk! - Back home in the states, all I drink is soymilk. I didn't eat cheese or drink regular milk for a reason {and because I just didn't like it}, and I have to remember that! It took me a while to find it here, so I became accustomed again to drinking regular milk. Eck! Get me off of that!
  • Go to a new fresh market instead of the supermarket. - Sidenote: the great thing about supermarkets here, though, is that they do tell you exactly where the fruits and vegetables come from.
  • Eat more color. - I have no problem eating fruit; I could eat fruit for a living if I had to. It's the vegetables I need to work on getting enough of.
  • Limit my sweets intake - Pastries and gelato are my two weaknesses, especially when there are bars that sell them every two feet on my walk to and from school!
My possible downfalls? My food and wine pairing class on Mondays {hello cheese, cream, whole-fat milk, sugar!} and the future trips I have planned where I will have to eat out for my meals.

I'm excited to be participating in this challenge. If you're interested, I highly recommend signing up!

3 comments:

Lizzybells said...

This sounds so crazy to me!

Mo would DIE without cheese.

Farmer's Daughter said...

I like that "eat more color" rule. You better enjoy all the beautiful food while you're there.

Kayla said...

Lizz - I am dying. Cheese might be the best thing in the world.

Abbie - I will try my best! Although I swear, Paris' markets looked a thousand times better.