Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge Week 1

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge Post

Well, honestly, I haven't exactly been trying with this too much. 99% of the food I buy is either made in Florence or made/grown in Italy. Organic is incredibly, INCREDIBLY more expensive here than it is in the States so I really cannot even try with that. The fresh bread, the fresh fruit, cheese, and of course wine all comes from my backyard. As for my personal goals...

  • Eat. Less. Cheese. I am definitely eating less cheese. Right now all I have is Parmesan in the fridge to grate on salads and pasta.
  • Drink less regular milk! Last week I bought a container of soy milk which has been lasting me. When I go out for coffee though, I don't really have a say in what type of milk they foam for my cappuccino.
  • Go to a new fresh market instead of the supermarket. I haven't gone to any fresh markets yet. Believe me, it's on my super long to-do list.
  • Eat more color.I have been eating so much fruit since it's all coming into season now: ruby red grapefruits, pineapple, strawberries, bananas...yum. Still need to work on those vegetables.
  • Limit my sweets intake First of all, it's getting to be summer here. Seeing all these tourists walking around with gelato has caused me to cave into buying it THREE times last week. Second, Easter was on Sunday.
Last week I spent under my goal by 10 cents on groceries and eating out {31.90 Euros}. By tracking exactly what I bought I realized that I spent a ridiculous amount on food that's so easy to grab and go on my way to or from class...coffee, pastries, gelato.

This week has been off to a rocky start as well with more gelato and more coffee. I hope that all this tracking and seeing exactly where my money is going will help me stop this excess spending.

7 comments:

Nikita said...

Small world! Hey girlll oh gosh I'm so excited to see you and Lizzie on here, I'm at a loss for words!

Glad to see you are making the most of your time over seas, and I salute you for trying to avoid the gelato, 'cause I'd never be able to.

Omg I'm still so excited.

Farmer's Daughter said...

So jealous of your fruit!!! (oh, and the gelato, too)

You're doing much better than we are! We only have like $18 left for the month. Ha!

Thought of you while shopping today when I tried to buy things in style! Haha! "Kayla would be so proud..."

Lizzybells said...

So many North Haven comments!

I don't think I've ever ate more candy than I have this week.

Since I've started work I haven't really been eating breakfast and sometimes I forget lunch too.. Yesterday when I worked 12 hours I also forgot dinner.

That's one way to save money and the environment, yeah? Forgetfulness? So long as I don't pass out from malnourishment.

Mariana said...

hey, my email is m.mandanas@gmail.com
shoot me an email anytime :)

oooh are you from florence?

Elizabeth Victoria Clark said...

I am totally like you, it is so hard not to buy coffee or pastries when on the go, and I end up spending so much more money that could have been put to better use. Fruit is the best snack though, sweet AND good for you. xo

tanya said...

this is hilarious, I literally said to myself five minutes before checking your blog "eat. less. cheese." I love cheese as well...ahh, it's so yummy!

Farmer's Daughter said...

Thinking more about it... based on what I know organic is pretty much unnecessary in Europe. The restrictions on pesticides and other chemicals are much stricter than here, and people feel such a pride and connection to the land and their food. I wouldn't pay extra for organic in Italy :)