So, I cancelled the Food Swap Day. I just didn't get enough people signing on to make it a success. Initially I was upset...and confused. Then I got an email from Jessie (remember Jessie from the green cleaning post?). Jessie often makes me see things in a different light. And this was no exception. She proposed that maybe my invitees didn't feel confident enough that the items they could offer for swap would be worthy of swapping. I hadn't thought of this. I love cooking, and as is often the case with something you love, I put a lot of time and energy into learning and practising cooking...and I enjoy doing this. Of course I have failures, that can happen to anyone. But most of the time I just love making something and sharing it with someone else. I forget that other people don't feel this way. I'm pretty bad a sport, pretty much all sport. I once scored an own goal in netball (I don't even know what you call that? That's how bad I am at sport). I could practise and maybe I would improve, but it's not my passion...and because I'm no good I wouldn't consider joining even a social sporting team. I feel I would just embarrass myself. When I started seeing things in this light, I understood a little better. Sure, some of the invitees were busy, some may have had better offers, some may just have wanted a quiet weekend. But those of you who didn't feel that they could be proud of something they'd made - I get you. I hope, one day, that I can give this whole thing another go and that maybe you will come along. The same thing can be said for many other things in life. Don't avoid participation because you don't think you're good enough yet...you get good by participating. Jump in and learn something. That's what SkillCycle is all about!
I've decided on the day for the food swap (March 25, three weeks away) and I've started making plans. The invites are sent (virtually) and I've begun the difficult task of making a list of what to make... So many options! This is the perfect opportunity to try out some new recipes. I often get overwhelmed with too many cookies or too much bread when I bake (good problem to have), a food swap allows you to have a little bit of everything. I can't wait to try what the other swappers bring too. It's a little bit like the best country fete/fair but everything is free!
So far, my list looks something like this:
pesto - my summer basil needs a trim
mini pies - there's some tasty apricots down at the green grocer
biscuits - too many options, but maybe these from 101 Cookbooks
jams - I have some rhubarb and vanilla bean jam I made earlier
salted caramel sauce - this looks amazing!
I better not get carried away though... What would you bring to a food swap?
I think about food a lot. Cooking it, eating it, growing it. But I also think about where it comes from. Not just the store but the real source of what I'm eating. I'm always trying to find the best option which meets my financial and moral (and taste) needs. I ask myself questions such as: "Is it better to choose an organic product from overseas or a local non-organic product?" or "What about when the quality of the imported product is higher (like with Italian canned tomatoes) and the product is so much cheaper?". I have to weigh these concerns against a tight budget of both time and money. I think these are pretty common limiting factors for many of you.
Over this past year my partner (Andy) and I have been discussing our food choices in fairly serious ways. We'd been slowly reducing the amount of pre-made food we purchased and our food bills had dropped significantly. We did this by replacing things such as tortillas, bread and pasta with home made versions and buy simply limiting the amount of 'junk' food we purchased. The majority of our shopping is now for the ingredients to make food instead of ready made food. We can also afford to purchase more organics and high quality products. When we see shelf-stable products on special we purchase multiples and stockpile. We also signed up for our local Community Supported Agriculture group Food Connect. Food Connect provides subscriptions of fruit and vegetables sourced from local, sustainable, chemical free or organic growers and gives a fair price to the farmer (approximately 40% of the sale price compared to 4-6% the large chains offer). The food is great and it has put us back in touch with the seasons and the effect weather can have on food production.
We also spoke about meat. I'm a vegetarian and have been all my life. Andy has always eaten meat, and was raised in a meat-and-three-veg family. He has reduced his meat consumption since we've been together. I don't think this is due to any sort of guilt tripping from me (I hope!) but because of the tasty vego food we make together. Andy has also learnt more about nutrition and so understands appropriate portion sizes for meat better now. We like the idea of 'meat as a treat' - choosing great quality, free-range or organic meat and paying more for it but buying less. As the quality is higher, you need to use less and having it less often makes you appreciate it more.
In the past I have been an active dumpster diver. I have collected food from bins all over Brisbane. When you start doing this it can really shock you. The quality of the food is amazing but the quantity is the really shocking thing. One of my regular haunts regularly had half a dozen wheelie bins full of fruit and veg on every visit. The photo below is a selection from one night's diving. There would have been 10 times that amount left after we were finished. It is estimated that we throw out over $6 billion of food a year from Australian households...I'd hate to think what the value for retail stores and restaurants would be.
I dumpster dive less since signing up for Food Connect. I'm not against diving any more, I still stand by the reasons I started doing it in the first place (namely, reducing the amount of food going to landfill) but we get enough food from our subscription. I also like that I'm supporting the farmers and hopefully making small steps to change. This is the reason I've always struggled to wholly support the freegan idea. I don't think we can see change unless we support those attempting to produce better products. Choosing to not spend at the large chain stores is one thing but neglecting the little guys trying to make a difference as well doesn't create change.
Since reducing my dumpster diving nights (or possuming, as I like to call it - after overhearing some packing staff say "Here come the possums" one night), I've been looking into some ways others are working on the supermarket food waste problem. I was glad to see a post on one of my favourite blogs about this here. Tricia gave some great links to charities and groups working to redistribute the food before it gets sent to landfill.
I guess this whole (rather long) post is about making the choices that are right for you. You can only work within your limits of time and money. Research your food and make active choices about what you buy. You'll feel better for it!
Kate, Hannah and I (Lucy) sat down for a meeting over afternoon tea (where we debuted the balsamic onions made last week and ate the rest of a jar of the pickles) yesterday to make sure we had everything sorted for Saturday's SkillCycle day. We want to ensure the day runs smoothly so lists were made and plans were hatched. We have decided that it will go something like this: first a demo on how to make my lazy girl bread, then yoghurt and ricotta making with Hannah. Hopefully we'll then have some yummy fresh bread and homemade ricotta for lunch. Then back to work with jam making and water bath preserving by Mel, followed by basic sewing skills and how to make your own produce bags by Kate. It will be a full day with lots on hands-on activity and hopefully everyone will leave with something made on the day!
We'll take plenty of photos and post an update after the weekend.
