There comes a time when you have to take a serious look at how much you are actually spending in the supermarkets and shops on food... we have been spending an inordinate amount of money recently without any idea of how much is too much.....So we are trying to track our food money spending... I thought I would start with one weeks groceries and see if I could avoid return trips over the next seven days....I took a picture to remind myself what I had bought and was shocked to see (for someone who thinks she is conscious about not using plastics !!) the huge amount of plastic contained in one supermarket visit. While I never use plastic bags to put fruit and veg in (usually not purchased from the supermarket but this was a test) the plastic wrapped meats ( I usually buy at the butcher), cheeses, pasta and roast chicken etc...... WOW all that plastic !!! While the menu planning did work and I didn't return to the supermarket for 7 days, the truth is I want to avoid the supermarkets all together...easier said than done but my meat and vegies will continue to be sourced from the butcher and organic store, need to find unwrapped cheeses etc.. Food for thought.
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| Supermarket shopping for one week.....SO MUCH PLASTIC. |
The unseasonal autumn heat has thankfully settled down and beautiful mild days have been the norm....I love autumn..long shadows and falling leaves......planting out the vegie beds and growing our own seedlings and getting into the garden...I didn't like the shrub that sits alongside the deck and contemplated pulling it out, but decided to trim it into a love- heart.....'corny' right but I really like how it looks now and happy to not have to remove it.
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| Practicing topiary in my yard |
It was a glorious day on Sunday so we took a drive to Noojee.....it was a beautiful trip...we had a picnic on the lawns behind the Noojee hotel....live music was playing as we sat by the river, we then took the dogs for a stroll on the Loch Valley tramway walk...followed up with afternoon tea (thermos and home made fruit cake..very 'old school') and enjoyed it alongside the old trestle bridge.
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| Trestle bridge in Noojee... amazing. |
I posted recently about my wonderful Auntie who passed away from an unexpected stroke .... my cousin was very chuffed to see that they have made a memorial gate in her honour at the football club....so nice that the community remembered her in this way, for all her help and support of the sporting groups over many years....RIP darling Joyce xx
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| The sign on the memorial gate in honour of my Auntie. |
I've recently joined a fabulous yoga and mediation studio in Warragul....finally found the right teacher who resonates with me and what I hope to achieve through Yoga and daily practice..... so far it's been a really great experience and I think I've learnt quite a lot about myself....I love it....Namaste !
The plastic bag that groceries come home in is one thing but plastic packaging wrapped around so many products that come home inside the plastic bag is another problem altogether! It's great that you want to reduce that as much as you can because I think taking ownership of the problem oneself and doing all you can to minimise or eliminate that packaging is going to bring change about faster than waiting for food companies and supermarkets to do something! To reduce packaging at our place, I looked at each grocery item we were buying and tried to think of an alternative e.g. I now buy flour, nuts, sugar, choc chips and so on from bulk bins instead of packets of these things. Meg:) p.s. Love your heart shrub!
ReplyDeleteIt's so true Meg...I don't have a local bulk bin supplier but will be happy to travel the distance when I find one. Incidental plastic is such a problem and you are so right in saying we all have to take responsibility :-)
DeleteThe dollars spent on food always adds up. $250 per week average (not unheard of for a family of 4 and if you are having lots of fresh fruit that could be up to $300 per week averaged over the year as school holidays and Christmas more $$ is spent on food. That's $1,000 and $1,200 respectively for a month which is a huge amount. Since the beginning of the year I have been shopping at Aldi 95% of the time and 5% at Woolworths and I have noticed a difference in my weekly grocery bill. Trying to go to the supermarket once of maybe twice is so much better than every 2 days because we all know once you are there you'll see things that may be on special and you'll buy more than you need. I think doing one of those "pantry challenges once every 2-3 months is good" where you only spend $50 on milk fresh fruit and veg and make up recipes from your pantry and that freezer that has hidden food in it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Kathy ...I love the sound of the pantry and freezer challenge...we are trying to use up the contents of both. :-)
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