By Larissa Cardey

Local reporter Larissa Cardey has started her adventure in eating locally on a budget.  She shares the ups and downs of her first week. This is the second part of a series.

The Experiment

What is it like for the average young person earning minimum wage to eat a diet that includes local foods? Well, I’ve decided to find out.

Over the last several years the eat local food movement has been touted as a great way to support the local economy and help the environment. 

I believe in the movement, but I’ve always assumed that only middle to high-income earning baby boomers and 30-somethings can actually afford the often higher price of local foods. I’m curious to find out if eating locally is possible even for those on a limited budget.

Since last week, I’ve been eating one meal per day made of local ingredients on a limited budget and will continue for the next three weeks. 

To figure out how much I should be spending each week, I turned to the City of Hamilton’s 2009 Nutritious Food Basket survey. It takes the lowest price of 67 foods from six local grocery stores and estimates the average cost of each item. These foods are based on nutritional value and Canadian eating patterns and buying habits.

I calculated the cost of my own Nutritious Food Basket by plugging my age and gender into the survey tool provided. According to the survey, I should be able to eat nutritiously on $46.49 per week. I’ve divided my weekly budget by three so that I have $15.50 for the seven local meals. 

Since I’m approaching the idea of eating locally in small steps, I have excluded certain items from my budget such as oil, vinegar, butter, sugar and other seasonings. 

How will I do this? - Week One

Standing inside the Food Basics on Barton Street East last week, I stared at the produce in front of me and started to sweat. Not only did I need to find local foods, but I had to buy enough to last for at least seven meals on a limited budget.

While much of the produce was from the United States and Mexico, I did find some from Canada or Ontario. 

But what to buy? I decided to go with the most cost-efficient items: a large bag of beets for $1.67, a bag of mini potatoes for $2.99. After comparing prices of mushrooms, I replaced the sliced ones in my basket with the cheaper package of whole mushrooms. 

For the first time in my life, I weighed a yellow pepper, pulled out my cellphone to tally prices and told the cashier to take the $0.77 cucumber off my bill because it was beyond my budget. 

Taking my precious purchases home, I envisioned delicious salads topped with sautéed mushrooms and cheddar cheese. As for the beets, the only thing I could think of doing was marinating them in balsamic vinegar, oil and garlic. But for how long can someone eat marinated beets? 

Living on Minimum Wage

It is possible for people living on minimum wage to eat locally by making it their intention to do so and by making a small purchase like local strawberries, said Deirdre Pike, senior social planner at the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton.

However, if “things go wrong” in someone’s life, like losing their bus pass, that could prevent them from being able to buy food, she explained. 

If someone earning minimum wage has a medical condition they’re “screwed” because they don’t receive benefits, said Pike. Since they probably have a tight budget, the money for food would likely go toward paying for medication.

“It doesn’t take much to have everything unravel.”

Pike recalled the story of a woman whose grocery cart wheel broke off on her way to the food bank. That was a “huge thing” for her.

“She just talked about what that causes in terms of havoc in her life.”

Pike believes this type of situation happens to all kinds of people working minimum wage jobs. They are “striving to get it all together, striving for normal and then the wheel falls off, whatever that is.” 

Eating locally also needs to be more accessible for people living on minimum wage because most can’t easily access community gardens, although they are starting to emerge. Farmers’ markets can also be difficult to reach, said Pike. 

If you live in Hamilton’s north end, for example, the closest farmers’ market is on Ottawa Street. It’s closer to get to the grocery store rather than take the bus to the market. 

What About the Farmers?

The eat local movement has had a significant impact on Morden’s Organic Farm Store in Dundas, said farm owner Sandy Morden. Hamilton Eat Local has benefitted farmers by creating awareness about eating locally and by “educating the consumer en masse,” which is something farmers can’t afford to do themselves.

Despite recent successes, the “economic position for small farmers is poor” because they are being “slowly squeezed out” by agri-business, she said. Agri-businesses are very large, commercially-run farms that use chemicals on their products.

For local farmers, the cost and paperwork required to sell their products in the large grocery stores makes it “impossible” to do. 

Morden described her farm as a “diamond in the rough” because she believes it’s ahead of its time. Her farm sells the Nutri Spring Farms line of foods, which are organic or naturally raised. 

“Nobody’s ever going to get rich at selling produce,” she said. “If you’re lucky you can have a lifestyle on it and that’s more than most small farms can claim today.”

On the Farm

I returned to Sandy’s farm last week with Rural Routes, an initiative that brings city dwellers to local farms. Over 55 people, ranging from children to seniors, boarded a city bus for the 25-minute drive to the 12-acre certified organic farm.

On the tour we learned Morden’s sells its own produce, along with dairy products and certified organic and naturally raised meats from farmers within 100 miles (about 161 kilometres).

The farm pays $500 per year for Ecocert Canada to certify that it is organic. This contributes to the higher cost of organic foods, said Morden.

At the end of the tour, I joined the long lineup of shoppers eager to stock up on farm-fresh products. For $9.22, I brought home green beans, four potatoes, a red onion and a bag of apples. 

Let the Adventure Continue

What began as a depressing first week has started to turn into the adventure I was hoping it would be. After my first shopping trip, I had no idea how I would get through the first week, let alone the next three. I was sure that by the seventh day I would either be starving or eating beets for breakfast.  

Luckily, I have an abundance of lettuce and rhubarb growing in the garden at home. Purple-spotted counter tops and stained fingers have led to omelettes topped with shredded beets. Although the meals have been repetitive, I’m slowly learning how to use what I have to make new and interesting dishes.

I sold my bag of potatoes and pepper to my mom so I could purchase farm-fresh eggs, providing the much-needed breakfast food I was missing. Cracking open the very first egg and watching the yellow yolk flop into the bowl to make an omelette filled me with confidence.

Here’s to another three weeks of eating locally.

Check out these links for more information:

Nutritious Food Basket 

http://www.hamilton.ca/HealthandSocialServices/PublicHealth/Nutrition/FactSheets.htm

Select the pdf entitled: How Much Does Healthy Eating Cost? 

Rural Routes 

http://cms1.smartcommute.ca/hamilton/ruralroutes

Morden’s Organic Farm Store

http://www.mordensorganicfarmstore.com/