At Home in Benicia....February's Column

When traveling abroad, I have always admired the connection other cultures have to the earth. The markets are filled with fresh produce straight from local farms and you eat whatever is in season. I love to observe other people in their daily rituals, to see how they differ from Americans. I am interested in what produce they buy and how much. I strive to imagine their thoughts; what will the supper menu look like and how fulfilled their family will be. Many people that I see in other cultures seem content to shop fresh, local harvest foods. They are limited to what is before them, and in reality, isn’t such structure the foundation of contentment? We Americans can purchase strawberries in December, but like a child without boundaries, are we ever satisfied? Perhaps our foods would taste better if it were bound by the limitations of season and location.
American food is found in cold warehouse supermarkets where everything is packaged and full of preservatives until it no longer resembles anything that came from the earth. Food is purchased on the basis of how quick and easy it is to prepare, not on what it contains and how it tastes. Then, we wonder why 38 percent of Americans are obese. Could it be that nothing tastes the way nature intended. Tomatoes picked while green and ripened in a refrigerator are missing the flavor of the sun. We can eat all day and yet never be satisfied.
Popular stories like Under the Tuscan Sun, Babette’s Feast and Chocolat celebrate all that is wonderful about fresh food and cooking where the preparation is a ritual and the meal is an event. Every bite is a celebration and people are satisfied after eating good food, slowly, while in deep thought or conversation. Hence, obesity is not an issue. People sit down at a beautifully set table and really taste and enjoy everything they put into their mouths. They eat slowly, savor the meal and drink in life.
As a mom of a large family, I have always tried to stretch a dollar as far as possible. But, with the economy the way it is, I have a renewed commitment to simple and frugal living. As I have talked to my friends around town, a lot of them seem to be thinking the same thing; how to get more from less. How can we spend money wisely on quality items that add real value to our lives? Simple living can be defined as the desire to buy less, use less, and in so doing, leave a smaller mark upon our world.
One of the best things about Benicia is the Farmer’s Market in the summer. It is enjoyable to shop the local fare and pick fresh tomatoes for brushetta and peaches for cobbler. The kids also get to enjoy the experience of picking out the fruit and tasting it right there on the street with peach juice running down their chins. We can meet up with friends and visit. The buying of food, then, becomes an occasion for the whole family. Benicia’s own moveable feast!
With my New Year’s resolution of being mindful of cost and living more simply, I spent January cooking, baking and calculating what the benefits might be towards my family and the earth. My goal was to determine if it really was cheaper to make things at home and if it took extra time, then was it worth it.
I started with school lunches. Through my research I found that the average California elementary school generates 18,760 pounds of lunch waste a year. The average price of school lunch is $3.00. I sent my children to school with a reusable lunch bag and thermos, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chips, homemade granola bar and apple. My cost was $1.00 and we contributed nothing to the school trash for the month. Big savings!
Cooking from scratch also keeps the trash out of our bodies. Food that is made at home does not include the long list of preservatives found in packaged food. Avoiding these chemicals alone is worth the extra time spent on preparation. It is a huge return on my investment in my children and in the earth.
When I was a little girl, my great grandma would make us chicken soup with homemade noodles. We called the noodles slickers because they were so big and slippery. Whenever we would visit, she was either mixing them up or they were already drying on the table. Nothing says “home” like homemade food crafted with love. Isn’t that why we love comfort foods so much? They are homemade.
I made slickers and chicken soup for my family and we served 12 people for $2.60. We also made homemade bread which cost around 25 cents a loaf, compared to $3.00 at the store. It all smelled delicious while cooking and tasted wonderful. We set the table nicely and everyone lingered longer talking around the meal.
More impressive than the money savings was the inclusion of the family into the meal preparation. We made homemade granola bars and all the kids helped, from peeling apples to mixing ingredients. They really enjoyed the time spent together creating their food. In past times, children learned these skills next to their mothers while they cooked, sewed, and cleaned. But, we have gotten so busy and convenience-oriented that the skills of homemaking are being lost. These are skills that are valuable, even if we work outside the home; they are what give value to our homes.
The kids loved the granola bars we made and they were much heartier, with big chunks of fruit, and more filling than the store bought brands. Sixteen granola bars cost us $1.80 to make. Not only did we cut costs, but we also cut out preservatives, unnatural ingredients and packaging.
My month long experiment was a great success. By cooking from scratch I reduced my grocery bill by 30 percent. I also kept a lot of packaging trash out of landfills. But, most importantly, I got my family to embrace the simple life and to think about what we put into the earth and what we take out of it. We truly reap what we sow.