http://www.foodday.org/food_literacy_quiz
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Test Your Food Literacy
Here is a great little food literacy quiz. I actually scored pretty high on this one!
http://www.foodday.org/food_literacy_quiz
http://www.foodday.org/food_literacy_quiz
Sunday, October 20, 2013
I'm Starting Over; Sustainability on a Budget
For the past couple of months, I've struggled with what this blog should be about. It turned into more of an online journal of my personal thoughts rather than a blog with a clear focus. While I think there could be a place for that, I don't think I'm interesting or funny enough to make that work. So I haven't been posting much as a result.
But, I had a pretty great day yesterday and because of it and the circumstances I face, I think I've finally figured out what I want to write about and share with whomever is out there reading...Hi, Mom!
I shared in an earlier blog that I recently got an amazing job with Sustainable Food Center as a Grant Writer. I'm so excited to be a part of this amazing organization and all the wonderful things they are doing right now but it has also helped me realize that I am not very sustainability-friendly. Sure, I've always recycled but after moving to Austin, I realized I wasn't even doing that to the fullest extent. I've always loved shopping at Farmers' Markets but when it didn't quite fit into my schedule to go to one, I wasn't buying local or organic. I've tinkered with having small kitchen gardens from time to time but with only limited success and I've given up easily.
So, I'm going to start making more of an effort. I've already started recycling more and more things to the point that our recycling bin is overflowing often.
There's another problem though. Eric and I are making about half of the money we're used to making, are newly married and have a baby on the way. We're taking advantage of WIC, a government food subsidy for pregnant moms and children up to the age of 5. We're also currently going through a budgeting course and trying to figure out how to spend less, save more and erase our debt. Let me tell you that this isn't easy. We've started Craigslist-ing everything and cut way back on buying new stuff. I've even just taken a second (not nearly as sustainable) job for the holiday season to try to work on our debt while I can before the baby is born. We are determined to get to a better place financially but it's going to take some time.
A lot of people think that living a more sustainable lifestyle is only for the wealthy or at least not for the poor. At times, I agree. At my work though, we try to make healthy, locally grown food available for everyone and we have some great ways of doing it. So, I want to give it a solid try. I know we're not as poor as many and Eric and I are very lucky to have family who won't let us fall, so we are different from a lot of low-income people who and this might not be the best test of living sustainable on a budget but it's a start.
I think time and energy will be another challenge to this test. Working two jobs while pregnant is going to wear me out. I'm tired after I get home from one job so I know that it will be worse with even more pressure on my time. I've been thinking a lot about why we've moved away from slow, organic cooking in the first place. Women, like my grandmother, were probably so excited to come home from working full-time, and be able to just open a can of food and fix dinner for her hungry boys. I recently told my grandmother that we were planning to use cloth diapers for our baby. She thought I was crazy! That's what she had to use. It makes sense that this would seem like a strange choice given that there is an easier way today. Maybe it will turn out to be an awful choice but I want to give it a try because there are so many disposable diapers sitting in the landfills right now. Which is more weird?
But I wonder if I'll have the energy and time to bake fresh bread each week or prepare healthy meals. Eric doesn't have the time given the pressures of graduate school. I've starting a plot in the community garden across the train tracks from my office. I'm so excited to get out there and start gardening. I just hope I have time to tend my garden.
So, I'm going to make an effort to chronicle my journey into becoming more sustainable on a tight budget over the upcoming months. I hope you'll follow my progress and offer suggestions or comments along the way.
Now, it's time to make the soup!
But, I had a pretty great day yesterday and because of it and the circumstances I face, I think I've finally figured out what I want to write about and share with whomever is out there reading...Hi, Mom!
I shared in an earlier blog that I recently got an amazing job with Sustainable Food Center as a Grant Writer. I'm so excited to be a part of this amazing organization and all the wonderful things they are doing right now but it has also helped me realize that I am not very sustainability-friendly. Sure, I've always recycled but after moving to Austin, I realized I wasn't even doing that to the fullest extent. I've always loved shopping at Farmers' Markets but when it didn't quite fit into my schedule to go to one, I wasn't buying local or organic. I've tinkered with having small kitchen gardens from time to time but with only limited success and I've given up easily.
So, I'm going to start making more of an effort. I've already started recycling more and more things to the point that our recycling bin is overflowing often.
There's another problem though. Eric and I are making about half of the money we're used to making, are newly married and have a baby on the way. We're taking advantage of WIC, a government food subsidy for pregnant moms and children up to the age of 5. We're also currently going through a budgeting course and trying to figure out how to spend less, save more and erase our debt. Let me tell you that this isn't easy. We've started Craigslist-ing everything and cut way back on buying new stuff. I've even just taken a second (not nearly as sustainable) job for the holiday season to try to work on our debt while I can before the baby is born. We are determined to get to a better place financially but it's going to take some time.
A lot of people think that living a more sustainable lifestyle is only for the wealthy or at least not for the poor. At times, I agree. At my work though, we try to make healthy, locally grown food available for everyone and we have some great ways of doing it. So, I want to give it a solid try. I know we're not as poor as many and Eric and I are very lucky to have family who won't let us fall, so we are different from a lot of low-income people who and this might not be the best test of living sustainable on a budget but it's a start.
I think time and energy will be another challenge to this test. Working two jobs while pregnant is going to wear me out. I'm tired after I get home from one job so I know that it will be worse with even more pressure on my time. I've been thinking a lot about why we've moved away from slow, organic cooking in the first place. Women, like my grandmother, were probably so excited to come home from working full-time, and be able to just open a can of food and fix dinner for her hungry boys. I recently told my grandmother that we were planning to use cloth diapers for our baby. She thought I was crazy! That's what she had to use. It makes sense that this would seem like a strange choice given that there is an easier way today. Maybe it will turn out to be an awful choice but I want to give it a try because there are so many disposable diapers sitting in the landfills right now. Which is more weird?
But I wonder if I'll have the energy and time to bake fresh bread each week or prepare healthy meals. Eric doesn't have the time given the pressures of graduate school. I've starting a plot in the community garden across the train tracks from my office. I'm so excited to get out there and start gardening. I just hope I have time to tend my garden.
So, I'm going to make an effort to chronicle my journey into becoming more sustainable on a tight budget over the upcoming months. I hope you'll follow my progress and offer suggestions or comments along the way.
Now, it's time to make the soup!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)