One Small Change February – Goodbye Grocery Store
In the nuttiness of this past week, I didn’t get a chance yet to post about my February pledge for the One Small Change Project. (By the way, if you haven’t checked out the site, there is a lot of really amazing inspiration to be found by the over 200 participants!)
In January, I wanted to get cracking on some insulated curtains and draft snakes – and I did it! I made two curtains (starting with the draftiest, north-facing windows in our most used rooms, kitchen and living room), and two draft snakes for the other living room windows, plus two almost-finished snakes for our bedroom. I made the curtains with the outer layer of a thick, upholstery-weight fabric, wool quilt batting inside, and a pretty quilting-weight fabric for the inside (the side that faces the room). I have more to sew, for sure, but a good start.
(yeah, we really do need more insulation – this lazy Susan in our kitchen doubles as a root cellar!)
And now . . . February! Goodbye to the grocery store. I actually hope to keep this going the whole year (and beyond!), but let’s start with a month. I haven’t been to the store since we came home from Montreal in January.
First, why avoid the grocery store? There’s always the driving, which we obsessively try to avoid, other than our drive to work and back home (and that kills us – if you know of an affordable 30 acre farm biking distance to Wheatberry let me know!) There’s the industrial food chain, which is our life’s work to avoid, and while our local coops do carry some local veggies, 90% of what’s inside comes from the factory system.
Also, lately, I had noticed a disturbing behavior developing with Ella in the store. She was becoming obssessed with buying stuff. Ack! You may recall that we are not too keen on stuff. Walking through the grocery store with Ella, she was suddenly aware that everything there could, in theory, be purchased by us. And she wanted it. I was finding myself buying things I really didn’t want to buy (say, a juice box with a plastic straw wrapped in another plastic liner), because it was better than the candy bar she really wanted. Ugh. I was also finding myself buying things I didn’t really want or need. Stores are, after all, set up to inspire these behaviors in us, and they do a good job.
Plus, now that we have locally grown grains, we actually don’t need anything from the store!
How are we doing it? We have a winter (root vegetable) CSA share, we have a pantry bursting with our grain & bean CSA share, our local meat CSA, a pantry still heartily stocked with food we preserved from the summer (yay! I am still humbled and amazed that we were able to do this), and we get milk and eggs from local farms. What am I missing here? We bring home supplies like baking soda, baking powder, vinegar, and recycled toilet paper from our bakery (although now I’m really contemplating the family cloth, thanks to Suzy). We try to make our own vinegar, make or buy locally made soap, and we don’t really drink wine or beer except on very rare occasions.
I have certainly been tempted a few times already to go to the coop, to get some item that would be tasty (ice cream), just to get out of the house, or to get something that seems like it would make dinner “easier.” So far, I’ve resisted temptation, and each time, I’ve been relieved that I did. Here’s wishing you luck with your own small changes in your lives!
Added on Feb 8:
I just wanted to say that I in no way mean this to seem as an attack on coops. We love our local coop – we are, actually, dues-paying members. If I didn’t have the option of ordering various goods bulk through the bakery, I would go the route of some of the families we know, who place bulk orders through the coop (a wonderful service they provide) every month or so. It is the addictive nature of buying from stores that I am trying to break away from, and the purchasing of goods from the industrial system.
This is a great change! I’ve been amazed at how infrequently we need to go the store now that we preserve enough local produce to get us through the winter, but I’m not quite at no store yet. I LOVE your lazy susan root cellar; why hadn’t I thought of that?? Our lazy susan is that cold, too. Certainly we need insulation, but in the meantime…
This is wonderful! We are also working towards this, but not there 100% yet, although our local general store does have biweekly ordering from Associated Buyers which should pretty much cover everything we can’t get at our local farms and that we put up.
Now, I think I know our March one small change.
Best wishes with our month.
So I’m wondering if you’ve noticed a difference now that you have your new curtains and draft snake! Sounds cozy!
Congrats on being able to avoid the store. In the summer we might be able to swing it (we just found a source for local flour) but there are many things we can’t get at the farmer’s market and CSAs.
You know, I do use the store as a “teachable moment” with my kids; we talk about packaging and advertisements and how they’re designed to entice you to spend your money. I can’t say it works every time, but my eldest will change her mind about wanting something when we talk it through. I also explain that if we buy x, we can’t buy y (which may not be exactly true, but I want them to understand that it’s about choices). Still, if I can manage to go to the store alone, it’s much easier.
Pioneers still had the store, or general market… not like today, I’d agree. But they are darned handy. Perhaps a step would be choosing a co-op versus Big Box Store where it’s hard to find fresh organic veggies and products anyway. Adrie, I know you guys do this already… (as an aside, I was just thinking about this the other day — you can’t define organic veggies by what you find in Big Box Stores — they’re usually older and yucky looking… )
And co-ops are responsive to user feedback – ie. could you get xyz in bulk? Not to mention you can usually find bulk spices, honey, oil, peanut butter… etc.. It becomes a community place and if you join it, you feel a part of something that you have a say in.
I don’t see us avoiding the store anytime soon — but we are going less, esp since we get the ‘basics’ (and then some) locally, like you guys do. I’m glad we’ve been able to cut back. It does feel like an addiction.
Wow! This is a great challenge. I look forward to reading about how you manage this. We are eating mostly from food storage. But we order from Associated Buyers too. Fortunately, they carry many products from my home state Maine.
wow…you are an inspiration!!!
We are moving toward freedom from the grocery store, but we have a long way to go. In the meantime I try to plan meals well so I make fewer trips and do my best to go without my girls (4.5 and 1.5). When I must bring them with me I make sure to go at a time when we are well rested and fed so that requests for “stuff” are kept to a minimum. Then, by involving them in the search for things on our list and keeping a light and joyful energy I can usually make it through happily, but it takes A LOT of energy and creativity! I would much rather not have to go at all, with or without them. Someday soon, I hope! Thanks for the inspiration.
That’s a good change! I’ve been trying to stay away from the grocery store as much as possible-I’m looking forward to the markets opening up soon!
Lise,
Thank you! Preserving is awesome, and I look forward to learning much more as the years go on. Enjoy your new instant root cellar!
Tonya,
Sounds like you’re doing great! Good luck to you with your month as well!!
Nancy,
Using the store as a teaching tool is a great idea. (With a two and a half year old, it has limits, but with older kids I can see a lot of the value there.)
For the curtains and draft snake, I haven’t noticed a difference yet so much, but as I add more, I imagine I will. And even if I can’t feel it, I know they’re helping.
Pioneers did have stores of course, but used them very infrequently, to stock up on bulk supplies. I agree that coops are a great alternative to the Big Box Stores, and that the addiction factor is what I’m trying to avoid.
Thanks Karin! Sounds like you’re doing great.
Thank you Shannon!
Rose,
It can be done for sure, sounds like you have a good system! Thank you for stopping by, and best wishes to your family.
Jessica,
It will be great to have the markets back. Thanks for saying hello.
Wow. Wish I could quit the store altogether… I guess I really have made some good strides away from dependence on the store. The winter farmer’s market in Northampton has helped a lot, along with the meat CSA, the fabulous grains, all the food we’ve stored. We’re still getting milk and dairy products from the store, though, and a bunch of other things like mustard, balsamic vinegar, cashews, almonds, etc. I want to join a raw milk group but I’ve been putting it on hold until we move.
You’re making me think, though, that I should do some kind of audit of our purchases at the store and figure out how to minimize or even eliminate them!
Let me know how it goes! We are, obviously, very lucky that we are already ordering many things bulk through the bakery.
[...] let’s back up to last month’s pledge to say goodbye to the grocery store. I was definitely tempted a few time, but [...]