I grew up on a beef farm in rural Wisconsin. I was raised on hamburger helper and frozen fish sticks (bless my mother's heart). This was a time before eating healthy and "green" was trendy and a meal without meat was not a meal at all. When my sister became a vegetarian in 7th grade, we prayed to God that she would come back to us. After high school I was living in Madison, WI, and I took my dad to a persian restaurant(RIP CASPIAN CAFE FOREVER.) They had several vegan and vegetarian options on their menu, because of this my dad ordered twice as much food convinced that there was no way he was going to get enough food. (He was unable to finish his double entree for the record.) He asked me if kabob was the next step after vegan and to this day I'm not sure if that was a joke or not.
Needless to say I was raised with a very interesting mindset about eating healthy. My mother has always scoffed at her coworkers who drink their "fair trade coffee" and "shop at the co-op" for their organic produce. Meanwhile my mother had her own garden and most the produce we had we grew ourselves. I think it's some weird superiority complex that my mother felt social pressure and had to rebel, I'm not really sure. What I do know is doing all your shopping at whole foods and the co-op is expensive as fuck, so yeah fuck those people I guess.
During Fair Trade Coffee week in Madison they had a viewing of the documentary Black Gold, which I found to be very inspiring and it opened my eyes to the importance of shopping fair trade, coffee specifically. Since this experience (which you should totally watch) I cannot support companies like Starbucks, Illy or Nestle with a clear conscience. I must buy my coffee fair trade (sorry mom). I also understand there are so many things other than coffee to buy fair trade and it's overwhelming. I simply cannot afford to buy EVERYTHING fair trade and others have judged me for this. Do what you can is my motto, don't not support one thing because you cannot support everything.
Last summer I reconnected with an old acquaintance from "the scene" in Milwaukee circa 2005. After several interactions on the internet we finally met up and it's one of the best things that has happened to me since moving to Minneapolis. Aside from being a fantastic friend, she has awoken me from my slumber of depressing boring meals like ramen and mac and cheese with a protein bar on the side to savory sweet potato burritos and korean barbecue bulgogi stir fry. She introduced me to the "Clean 15" and the "Dirty Dozen" which has helped me make much better decisions when grocery shopping and meal planning. When her and I are together we obsess over food blogs and new recipes we've tried. She also introduced me to yoga for the first time and I think my life is finally starting to come together. Rachel, if you're reading this, THANK YOU.
I'm 26 years old, 5'10", 125 lbs. PT Model FT Retail. I don't have a juicer or a blender. I haven't been to a whole foods in years. I can't afford those new wave trendy drinks in the beverage isle or vitamins from the co-op. I rarely eat out and if I do it's the dollar menu at Mickey D's or Taco Bell with the occasional splurge on pepperoni pizza taquito's from the gas station. I have literally survived on cliff bars for months. I am in a constant struggle to eat healthy and save money, which is kind of an oxymoron these days. Even if I knew how to garden, I don't have time. My metabolism is that of a 12 year old boy and I am self diagnosed with hypoglycemia (I passed out in a parking lot after eating a muffin for breakfast.) I've never been "well off". My life is in a constant state of which bills to pay late and direct deposit advance. I have a knack for worsening my financial situation whether by accident or unintentional self sabotage. When food I purchase goes bad it breaks my heart because like, I could have eaten that. I find it near impossible to utilize all of my groceries to make different meals that give my body energy as well as the nutrients I need while on a budget.
I am about to begin a documentation of what I buy, where I buy it from and why. In addition to what I use it for and whether or not it totally sucked. I'll include recipes and if I can get this scanner working, some actual hand written and physical documentation. Maybe you can follow me in this adventure and learn from my mistakes and at the same time save money, eat healthy and sustainably, not be wasteful and be happy.
Needless to say I was raised with a very interesting mindset about eating healthy. My mother has always scoffed at her coworkers who drink their "fair trade coffee" and "shop at the co-op" for their organic produce. Meanwhile my mother had her own garden and most the produce we had we grew ourselves. I think it's some weird superiority complex that my mother felt social pressure and had to rebel, I'm not really sure. What I do know is doing all your shopping at whole foods and the co-op is expensive as fuck, so yeah fuck those people I guess.
During Fair Trade Coffee week in Madison they had a viewing of the documentary Black Gold, which I found to be very inspiring and it opened my eyes to the importance of shopping fair trade, coffee specifically. Since this experience (which you should totally watch) I cannot support companies like Starbucks, Illy or Nestle with a clear conscience. I must buy my coffee fair trade (sorry mom). I also understand there are so many things other than coffee to buy fair trade and it's overwhelming. I simply cannot afford to buy EVERYTHING fair trade and others have judged me for this. Do what you can is my motto, don't not support one thing because you cannot support everything.
Last summer I reconnected with an old acquaintance from "the scene" in Milwaukee circa 2005. After several interactions on the internet we finally met up and it's one of the best things that has happened to me since moving to Minneapolis. Aside from being a fantastic friend, she has awoken me from my slumber of depressing boring meals like ramen and mac and cheese with a protein bar on the side to savory sweet potato burritos and korean barbecue bulgogi stir fry. She introduced me to the "Clean 15" and the "Dirty Dozen" which has helped me make much better decisions when grocery shopping and meal planning. When her and I are together we obsess over food blogs and new recipes we've tried. She also introduced me to yoga for the first time and I think my life is finally starting to come together. Rachel, if you're reading this, THANK YOU.
I'm 26 years old, 5'10", 125 lbs. PT Model FT Retail. I don't have a juicer or a blender. I haven't been to a whole foods in years. I can't afford those new wave trendy drinks in the beverage isle or vitamins from the co-op. I rarely eat out and if I do it's the dollar menu at Mickey D's or Taco Bell with the occasional splurge on pepperoni pizza taquito's from the gas station. I have literally survived on cliff bars for months. I am in a constant struggle to eat healthy and save money, which is kind of an oxymoron these days. Even if I knew how to garden, I don't have time. My metabolism is that of a 12 year old boy and I am self diagnosed with hypoglycemia (I passed out in a parking lot after eating a muffin for breakfast.) I've never been "well off". My life is in a constant state of which bills to pay late and direct deposit advance. I have a knack for worsening my financial situation whether by accident or unintentional self sabotage. When food I purchase goes bad it breaks my heart because like, I could have eaten that. I find it near impossible to utilize all of my groceries to make different meals that give my body energy as well as the nutrients I need while on a budget.
I am about to begin a documentation of what I buy, where I buy it from and why. In addition to what I use it for and whether or not it totally sucked. I'll include recipes and if I can get this scanner working, some actual hand written and physical documentation. Maybe you can follow me in this adventure and learn from my mistakes and at the same time save money, eat healthy and sustainably, not be wasteful and be happy.
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