Eating Well on a Budget

I grew up in a working family.  My father dropped out of school in the 6th grade to go to work in the local hosiery mill to support his family after his own dad had died.  He worked in one factory or another until age 55 when heart disease forced him into disability.

That's when my mom went back to work, first in a school cafeteria and then later in the same factory where my dad had worked.

I guess my first real work was mowing yards at about age 10.  As I grew, I moved on to farm work.  

By 12, I was on everybody's first list for hauling hay.  We sold honey from our own bees, had a huge garden, and bartered with neighbors for things we didn't grow.

Maybe we didn't have a lot but I was never hungry and never without a good roof over my head. 

When I was 14, I became good friends with a fellow whose family were tenant farmers.  That's where you worked on someone's farm and in return were provided housing on that farm.  I'm sure there was some pay but it wasn't much.

What I remember about those days is that whatever we could catch or kill, his dad would cook for us.  And mostly make it edible.  

About that same time, I became friends with another kid.  I remember visiting him in his home and sitting in his room.  The walls were covered with newspapers, which seemed odd.   Where we might have wallpaper, he had newspapers. 

Some time later I was talking about that with a quite wise adult.  He told me that it was because that family didn't have any insulation in their house.  They had covered the walls with newspapers to keep out the cold.  They probably made paste out of flour and water.

It was then that I began to see what real poverty was.  And it was all around.  My football teammate who didn't smell the best because his family worked on a pig farm and had only a well pump for water.

Kids that had breakfast and lunch at school because that was really the only food they could get.  My classmate that was so hungry that he tried to eat the flour straight from the bag and got it all over the kitchen.

I got challenged this week on all this diet and nutrition stuff I've been writing about lately.  Oh, it's not what you think--I've had nothing but support for the basic premise that we need less flour and sugar in our diets.

No, it was about the cost. 

I had admitted that it was more expensive to eat healthy and certainly took more time in shopping, food preparation, and cooking.  It really does. 

So how can someone who is struggling to make ends meet even begin to be able to afford a healthy diet?

It's not easy.  But it can be done.  You really need to do two things:  Eat smarter and shop smarter.

Eat fruit and vegetables.  You don't have to have grass-fed beef to improve what you do eat.  Just cut back on sugar and flour.  Fill your buggy from the perimeter of the grocery store, where you find more whole foods.

Grow a garden.  Buy fresh vegetables when in season and freeze them.  Plan your meals and plan your shopping. 

You don't have to have organic. Just do a little research and you'll find good alternatives.  Cook more/eat out less.  Sodas, junk food, and processed meats may fill you up for less but you'll pay a lot more in the long run in health care costs.