I've worked on knocking back our grocery budget significantly over the past year. We are a family of 4 (2 small children) and we spend around $480 - $500 each month on groceries, and that is FOOD ONLY (no paper products, cleaners, catfood.....separate category). We shop primarily at Trader Joe's and have streamlined our weekly list as much as possible, but lately something has been nagging me. As much as I love Trader Joe's, and as much as they SEEM like a hippie-based local store, they are part of a corporation, and whenever you try to research their products (most of which are the Trader Joe's brand) it's hard to find anything concrete. This leads me to believe that their prices are so low due to them being part of the vast conglomerate of food-producing companies out there.
Bottom line: At a certain point, I feel like finding the cheapest groceries is not necessarily the best answer for us. I don't want to shortchange my health or that of my family to buy god-knows-what that's been shipped from god-knows-where and has been sitting on a shelf for god-knows-how-long. I live in Loudoun County, VA, just MINUTES from several farms practicing sustainable agriculture at a local-sized level of production. I can find pasture-raised meats (beef, pork, goat, lamb, turkey, duck, chicken), eggs, vegetables, yogurt and cheese....even raw milk if I wanted to. And all without hormones, antibiotics, or mistreatment! I know these things cost more than the grocery store down the street, but there's no disputing the freshness, the miles to get it to me, and the fact that I can give my cash to the very same person who raised that animal or pulled those beets out of the ground. All of this, practically in my backyard, and offered year-round (colder season vegetables).
We've joined a CSA, and beginning in June we'll receive a 1/2-share box of produce from a local farm for around $25/week for 20 weeks!! We plan to supplement that with some meat, eggs and dairy from the farmer's market, plus perhaps a few extra bits of produce for canning. Because the meat is more expensive, we've decided we'll just eat less of it during the week! Only 3-4 nights a week of meat, and the rest of the time I'll be forced to get creative. In theory, this should balance out our costs. I think we can also be a little more discriminating in how much of anything we buy so that we don't over-buy and have to throw anything away (which is a crime and a shame). If we can shop deliberately, we might be able to stick close to the current budget, or be over by only a very little bit. We're not trying to be gourmet here, but rather to learn how to eat locally and seasonally.
My question for the group is: If given the opportunity, would you go for local groceries, even if it meant increasing your monthly budget? Would you welcome the chance to be creative with your food preparation? Or is it more important to you to spend as little on groceries as possible?
*PS - I might soon be posting a Local Food Challenge....