Greetings!
Great discussion going on in my Food Inc post. I love that we can talk about issues like this! So inspiring and thought-provoking.
Yesterday Eric asked me to send him a grocery list so he could pick up a few things on the way home from work. I made a note beside the milk that he needed saying:
Eric- please buy organic cow’s milk this week….you deserve it.
I wasn’t sure what he would think, but I would soon find out.
Well he got home and there was no organic milk to be found. I asked him about it and he said, ‘It was $9 dollars, there is no way I was going to pay $9 for milk. I have been drinking non-organic my entire life and I am fine.’
It was definitely not a victorious mission I had!
I said, ‘Wow that is expensive, but you know what? I do think we can afford it. All we have to do is a make a cut-back in another area.’
For example, the milk he currently buys is $4 for 3 bags of milk. So we need to find $5 a week somewhere to make this work.
Eric has gotten into the habit of going out to buy his lunch lately (mostly out of laziness of not packing his lunch like he had been doing). So this morning, I got up a bit earlier and packed him a lunch. We saved about $8 just by doing that today!
I handed him the lunch and I said, ‘Here is a savings of $8. We can now afford organic milk.’ ;)
Another thing I wish the movie had touched on were the current regulations for organic food products. I am going to look into the Canadian regulations and see what I find.
Obviously, I realize that there are many families who can barely afford to put food on the table, let alone buy organic. And yes, we are definitely privileged to have this choice. One part of the movie that really saddened me, was the family who had to choose between paying for their dad’s diabetes medication or buying healthy food. They ate fast food every day because it was all they could afford due to having to spend $150 a month on his medication.
It is such a catch-22. Many people cannot afford to eat healthy, however the current food system, with its’ heavy reliance on animal-based products, is in large part the reason why there is so much starvation in the world. There are currently 840 million people going hungry this very second.
This is a fact that many people do not want to accept:
The more meat we eat, the more people there will be that will go hungry in the world.
Many of you ask why I decided to go vegan. When I read this statistic it was without a doubt one of the most powerful convincers for my decision:
It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of edible animal flesh. According to the USDA and the United Nations, using an acre of land to raise cattle for slaughter yields 20 pounds of usable protein. That same acre would yield 356 pounds of protein if soybeans were grown instead—more than 17 times as much!
Raising animals for meat consumption is not energy efficient! If you think about it, it really doesn’t make sense that we are giving all of this grain to animals, only to kill them and eat them, when we could ‘cut out the middle man’ and just all eat grains and be able to feed the entire world. That doesn’t even get into the fact that cows are supposed to eat GRASS and not grain to begin with!
If everyone on Earth received 25 percent of his or her calories from animal products, only 3.2 billion people would have food to eat. Dropping that figure to 15 percent would mean that 4.2 billion people could be fed. If the whole world became vegan, there would be plenty food to feed all of us—more than 6.3 billion people.
[Source]
I believe that going vegan was one of the best things I personally ever did. I have always felt so powerless in trying to help the global crises and I always felt like there was nothing I could do to make an impact. Now I feel otherwise. I’m not saying it will be right for you, my best friend, or even Eric, but it was right for me. I am not writing these posts to try and get you to change your lifestyle; I am just trying to increase awareness about the issues that desperately need attention. Before I started to look into these issues, I honestly had no clue about them. Knowledge is power and whatever you decide to do with that knowledge is up to you.
On that note, for those of you who are participating in Project Feed Me, the next two food items are now up. Visit Natalie’s page for more information. It is not too late to join Project Feed Me either, we are only in week two. Week One’s 2 items were 2 cans of chili. Please help us feed hungry families by participating today!
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Lastly, I would love your help in naming my new Glo Bar. I created this Glo Bar this week and it is quite possibly my all time favourite bar. I just fell in love. It is a dark chocolate roasted coffee bar and it is intense, aromatic, and energizing.
I asked for your help on Twitter yesterday to offer one-word suggestions for a name and I compiled a list of most of them for you to vote on:
Also, the Healthy Halloween Chocolate Lovers Packs are no longer sold out- I just added a couple more on the cart.
Have a lovely ‘Office’ day! ;)
PS- ANDY rules!!!! Eric and I saw Hangover last week and Andy was SO SO SO Funny in it. I loved that movie!
Lol! I love voting! Great job on saving mulaa today :) I knew I should have seen that movie, they had a screening at school but I was too busy studying! Great recap :)!
Ange, the whole thing about how many more people can eat off a vegan diet – and the environmental impact of a non-vegan diet – is the main reason I went vegan and definitely why I have been able to stick to it so far. I may not be passionate about many things, but those two I am very passionate about!
And packing the husband’s lunch myself is the only way I can prevent him from not packing his own and buying one that costs more. Good thing for our budget that I don’t mind it :)
I love the name zing! Looks like others do too! Way to go on saving the money and packing his lunch! that is so awesome!! Thanks for talking about project feed me! Have helped so much and I really appreciate it…and so will all the people we help!! xoxoxo
Its no problem…I am totally pumped about Project feed me!!! It is such an easy thing to do too. :)
Ange — I am a little surprised at your statement regarding meat (eating more meat = less food for others). There is no conclusive evidence for this. I was raised with the philosophy of _Diet for a Small Planet_ (a book you would probably very much enjoy), and understand the concept of balance. But the major problems with regard to malnourishment throughout the world are much more a matter of food distribution, poor/unsustainable agriculture practises, and climate, rather than a problem of production. That is, even if we reduced meat consumption in the US/developed countries, that would not translate into better nutrition in lesser-developed countries. There are many good reasons to advocate moderate consumption of animal products, but the “fact” that you stated is disputable, primarily because it suggests a causal link where there is only correlation at best.
About saving money to buy organic: bravo. I am a huge fan of family units taking a pragmatic approach to finances. This is a terrific example.
There’s a comment on the source post of that statistic that links to another article about misinformation regarding vegetarianism; it directly addresses the inaccuracy of that statistic. While in straightforward amount, it may be true that not consuming meat would save food, lack of food in the world is definitely not the cause of world hunger, and the food/land we’d be saving may not even be usable by humans. Obviously, every argument on each side should be examined equally carefully, but it is easy for people to seriously manipulate statistics to make a point.
AGS Your point is valid and no I don’t think there is a direct causal relationship between the two, however, there is a very strong correlation. You are right that MANY factors are involved in the process and they all need to be addressed as well.
Great idea finding places to save elsewhere. I love that you packed Eric’s lunch. I make and pack my hubby’s lunch everyday!
Hi Angie
Here are some links where you can look up Canada’s regulations for food. I don’t think there is much difference between organic and non-organic milk here as growth hormones are illegal in Canada and if a cow is given antibiotics when it is ill, that milk is tested until there are no antibiotics in it before releasing that milk back into our system.
http://www.bcdairyfoundation.ca/about_milk/milkquality.htm
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/index-eng.php
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/toce.shtml
I’m sure you’ll find lots of data to review here and hopefully help us understand it as there is lots of information.
I love your reasons for going vegan. I would love to go vegan, but unfortunately I am 15 years old and still live with my parents, who are very much meat eaters… particularly my step dad, which believe me, has caused some serious conflict in our household as I was a vegetarian for a year before starting to eat meat again to make sure I was getting adequate protein… which I wasn’t as a vegetarian.
But when I move out of home I intend to go vegan.
If only all the world could understand that meat is not a necessity… But there are so many GUYS in particular that think they’ll DIE without eating meat EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Humans are not designed to eat that much meat!
God, people are stupid.
Thank you for posting this. It was very thought-provoking to me.
While I like that you found a way to save the bucks and packed Eric a lunch, I’m wondering what his response was to this?
My hubby enjoys his lunches out when he gets them as it’s a social outlet for him and he’d be more than annoyed if I just up and packed him a lunch and told him he had to give that up just to save $8. He’d be doubly annoyed if I mentioned it on my blog and didn’t give his response.
I hope Eric appreciated it!!
As I mentioned in my post, Eric had been packing his own lunch for months up until recently. He prefers to have a packed lunch as opposed to buying it because he doesn’t like many of the options near his work. Thanks for your concern though!
I think organic milk is cheaper at costco- do you have a membership?
By the way- I find that milk in Ontario is more expensive than most places…it SUCKS! The dairy farmers must have a strong lobby here or something.
It’s crazy in Nova Scotia. Almost $4 just for a 2L of regular milk.
I’m from BC and was astonished when I saw dairy prices here.
Insane.
hahah please do not name it choffey.
Good for you for switching to organic and helping Eric to become more aware of the choices that you can make. For me, food is the number one thing I will spend more money on. I try to buy organic and locally grown food year round, and don’t mind if it goes over our budget a little bit. You are totally right about cutting some other costs (lunches add up) in order to buy the organic food you need!
I haven’t seen Food Inc, but I think it will be a reminder of what I already know of our food policy in the US. Although I don’t agree that vegan is the only way to help reduce consumption and decrease hunger around the world, I think it’s great that you can do it in a healthy way. It would be interesting to know how many veggies you have to eat to get the same nutritional value/calories as meat. You should definitely do a post on what to keep in mind while going vegan – how to stay healthy and get all the vitamins and nutrition you need to stay a strong and active person. Great post!
Another option for milk might be home delivery! My Father In Law still gets his milk from a farm near Minneapolis and it gets delivered once a week and it now comes in a carton.
$9??!!! Holy moly!!!! There are $1 off coupons online for Organic Valley brand milk, which is what we buy- I think it’s $4 and change…but I’m in Florida. It didn’t seem like grocery prices were that much higher than Fla in Vancouver this summer, but I didn’t buy milk…
Great post!
I second Chloe’s request for a post on what to keep in mind while going vegan. I’m still learning how to make sure I get everything I need out of my vegan diet and while I have learned a lot in the past few months, I would still love to read your take on it.
I found this website to be pretty helpful for new vegans
http://www.chooseveg.com/ and www.veganfitness.com is a great resource for athletes
organic milk is one of the only things i consistently buy organic… we use about 1/2 gallon a week. And the local, organic stuff i get is about $1-$1.50 more than regular… that’s less than a coffee!
my fiance could care less about the organic, but likes local. i was happy when i figured out i could get both :-)
I think it’s so sad that anybody has to choose whether or not to buy healthier, better quality food.
It’s very expensive to go organic. But all people deserve good food – not just the few who can afford it.
I love the poll. So many good names to choose from.
Cooking at home or packing lunches saves us so much money and allows us to have more of the healthy stuff we (our bodies) crave.
I love these posts about Food Inc. Have you read any of Michael Pollan’s books? I haven’t seen the movie yet but it sounds like the messages are very similar. I can’t afford to go completely vegan and I’m not entirely sure I’d want to but I am mostly vegetarian, buy local when possible, and have started making a point to buy organic meat if I choose to eat it at all. Vote with your fork!
I’m gravitating towards eating less meat. I’ve never been particularly attached to in the first place and HATE cooking it. I find I feel best after going vegetarian for a day and try to do so at least once a week (if not more).
angela, ohmigod, don’t you realize you are RUINING feminism by packing eric’s lunch for him!?
Count me in for the feminism ruining if packing my husband’s lunch means that I can save some cash :)
haha…feminism be damned I was on a mission! lol
Now that I think of it…taking control of the family finances sounds pretty feminist to me.
Hey…Caitlin you know I pack Jason’s lunch sometimes! It’s called love. And making sure our boyfriend (or husband) eat good quality food. :D
Go Angela! LOL
EVERYONE – i was being sarcastic! obviously (i hope it’s obvious). i pack kristien’s lunches, wash his laundry, and clean the entire house. i’m the only one who does it right.
You aren’t alone Caitlin! Haha! I also pack my Husband’s lunch (most of the time), wash his laundry and clean the whole house too!
Sometimes I even get up a few minutes earlier and make him a Green Monster for break-y too! ;)
What we do for those darn Husbands! They are so lucky…
I ruin feminism so much harder than Angela – I wear an aprong while doing it! Ta-da!
I love you Caitlin.