http://sanslux.com/2009/09/remembering-my-roots/ An Experiment in Living Without Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:43:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://sanslux.com/2009/09/remembering-my-roots/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Pyx Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:54:34 +0000 http://sanslux.com/?p=196#comment-28 You know, reading this entry reminded me, strongly, of one of the things that surprised me most of my trip to the US a few years ago, which was the relative price of foods. You see, while, of course, eating organic is a relatively pricey thing here, learning to cook and eat well on fresh veggies and whatnot was, originally, for me, a way of living on very little money. I remember being very broke, not being able to afford anything processed, and learning how to make my own meals from what fresh veggies and giant bags of rice and beans and whatnot I could afford instead. And then a few years later I found myself in your lovely city, picking up some veggies to make dinner for the people I was staying with.. and realising that making dinner was going to be way, way more expensive than throwing something processed together. It was a shock! I'd always seen processed-vs-fresh as being a trade-off between money and time, or at least similar money vs far better food, but here I was in the US, realising that putting in the extra time was costing me way more money than doing things the other way 'round! It was kind of a shock to realise how much more privileged being able to afford the time, energy <i>and</i> the money to eat fresh, healthy foods was there, versus the still-present privilege of simply having the time and energy to do that here. You know, reading this entry reminded me, strongly, of one of the things that surprised me most of my trip to the US a few years ago, which was the relative price of foods. You see, while, of course, eating organic is a relatively pricey thing here, learning to cook and eat well on fresh veggies and whatnot was, originally, for me, a way of living on very little money. I remember being very broke, not being able to afford anything processed, and learning how to make my own meals from what fresh veggies and giant bags of rice and beans and whatnot I could afford instead.
And then a few years later I found myself in your lovely city, picking up some veggies to make dinner for the people I was staying with.. and realising that making dinner was going to be way, way more expensive than throwing something processed together. It was a shock! I’d always seen processed-vs-fresh as being a trade-off between money and time, or at least similar money vs far better food, but here I was in the US, realising that putting in the extra time was costing me way more money than doing things the other way ’round! It was kind of a shock to realise how much more privileged being able to afford the time, energy and the money to eat fresh, healthy foods was there, versus the still-present privilege of simply having the time and energy to do that here.

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