Does anyone else have "back to the land" instincts when reading bad news?
I occasionally yearn to grow my own but I have tried gardening and determined I like the idea of gardening way more than I like actual gardening. Come summer, I want to be out hiking or traveling. Not tending a garden.
Luckily I do like cooking.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I did a lot of stocking up when prices were at a premium and supplies were low. I felt like I was going to waste a lot more money buying food with the pandemic. I bought a deep freeze and some storage buckets so I could buy more things in bulk.
Over the summer, I casually continued to stock up until I had roughly a 3 month supply of non-perishables.
I am pleasantly surprised that now I am saving money and TIME buying food. I am shopping in person but only every two weeks. I have never managed to wait two weeks before grocery store visits as I can't figure out how to make produce last that long. But now that I have done it and become use to it, it's fine. It's comfortable. It's normal.
I am saving money by buying many staples with long shelf life in bulk and also stocking up on items with a long shelf life while they are on sale. In the past, I bought things only as I needed them. Now that I am all stocked up, I am seeing a big difference in my grocery bill. It's great!
We are such creatures of habit when it comes to eating. I love knowing how other people shop, cook, and eat. It helps me think outside of the box. Love this forum for getting a glimpse of all of your food consumption habits.
A few years ago, I was staying in a hostel in Costa Rica. I loved watching what other travelers cooked and ate. The girl who I remember best was maybe 18, all on her own from Germany. She said she didn't have any money but she wanted to see the world so she ate cheap. She only ate once a day. The first night she arrived she was tired and hadn't gone shopping so she ate 1/2 a bag of boiled rice. Just rice. And ate every bite. The next day she boiled 3 potatoes and a head of broccoli. I try to keep her habits in mind when shopping and eating, but changing my own habits has still been hard.
Pandemic has helped with that. A sliver of a silver lining.