From Skilled Hands

Earth Hour 2009

I will be lighting a candle tonight. How about you?

photo courtesy Laura Weldon

I have known Laura Weldon for a pretty long time. We don’t see each other all that often, and talk infrequently. There’s a connection. We see many things similarly, and know that the choices we make are political statements. We both remain optimistic in the face of adversity and challenge; we share an idealistic spirit; and we cherish the time we have with our families.

Laura does many things. She and her family live on a farm in rural Ohio. Bit of Earth Farm is a lovely place. Eggs and beef and amazing honey come from her family’s farm. You can have a taste of some of Laura’s writing here, and her blog, here. You won’t be sorry.

At our Food Coop distribution, where she was on time and I was not, we talked about the need to support our local economies. If you live in the Medina County area of NE Ohio, you can find out about the Medina Food Coop here. I asked Laura to share her thoughts about conscious, healthy and economical meals. This is what she wrote:

Six Ways to Save Money on Healthy Meals

Concerned about sacrificing your healthy diet because of today’s difficult economy? According to the International Herald Tribune, “The Department of Agriculture forecasts that food prices will jump by 4 percent or 5 percent in 2009, compared with 5.5 percent this year. Some predict much steeper increases.” This is the largest increase in food prices in over 15 years. But there are changes you can make to your daily and weekly routine that will help you maintain a reasonable food budget. Advance planning and networking with others can result in bountiful rewards for your taste buds, your wallet and your commitment to sustainable meals.

Try these six tactics.

1. Eat at home.

*A recent issue of Progressive Grocer reported that meals consumed at home cost about a third of those purchased away from home. That choice alone saves $66 of every $100 in the food budget.

*An analysis presented at the Southwest Human Development Services showed that when in-home meals are made without convenience foods the savings are even greater. More importantly, the nutritional value of meals made from scratch is higher than those made from prepared foods or mixes. The difference extends to fresh ingredients as well. The report noted, “The bagged salads keeps growing in popularity even though they cost nearly 5 times as much as buying and washing your own head of lettuce…Compare the volume in the bag that is edible to what you get in one head of lettuce, you are left with a price difference of about $1.50 but about three times more edible lettuce from the head of lettuce.”

*Eating at home allows you to be more innovative in food selection than in any restaurant. You can eat beans, tomatoes, avocado and salsa for breakfast if you choose.

*Learn the time-honored methods of frugality your grandmother may have used. For example—advance meal planning; creative use of left-overs (one day’s entrée served over a salad the next day); using pricier food items as garnish rather than main focus of a meal; using healthy staple foods in a variety of ways; making home made sauces, drinks and cereals. And chances are grandma’s generation ate those well-balanced meals while conversing at the table, considering food eaten standing up or listening to media chatter as the height of rudeness.

2. Take it with you.

*Pack your lunch. Surveys indicate that two out of three employees pack a lunch at least once a week. The main motivation is to save money. Nutrition gets a boost too, because packed lunches generally have fewer calories and smaller portions.

*Bankrate.com offers a Lunch Savings Calculator at http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/savings/lunch_savings_calculator.asp

Plug in numbers for how often you plan to replace lunch out with a brown bag meal, finding out what your savings will be in a few years. The example given at the site shows that replacing lunch out during the workweek for four years results in savings of nearly $4,000.

*Always have healthy snacks available. Avoid single serving packages and convenience snack foods, even the healthiest versions are expensive. Instead, pack your own in reusable bags and containers. Keep a bag of almonds in your backpack, a jar of pumpkin seeds in your car, some granola in your briefcase. This helps avoid impulse buys when you, your children or companions are hungry.

*Don’t leave the house without something to drink in a reusable container. It takes a few moments to fill it with water, juice or a quickly blended smoothie.

3. Share the cooking

*Create a lunch club with co-workers. This is an excellent antidote when boredom or time considerations make packing a daily lunch difficult. Two, three or more colleagues can take turns bringing homemade lunches for the others. This saves time several days a week for everyone.

*Set up a potluck group with friends or neighbors. Get together on a regular basis either at one another’s homes or at the local park. This is a great way to try new foods, exchange leftovers and enjoy companionable dining without the expense of a restaurant meal.

*Create a cooking night cooperative. Such a co-op allows people to swap chef duties in exchange for upcoming “catered” meals. For example, if four couples set up a cooking night cooperative for Tuesdays, each couple would take one Tuesday in the month to cook and deliver a meal to the other three couples on “their” night. On the other three Tuesdays a homemade meal would be delivered to them as each couple took a turn.

4. Buy wisely.

* According to a report titled “Food Without Thought” produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, U.S. consumers spend more than half of every food dollar on ready-to-eat food items. Most of these prepared foods are high in sugars, fats and additives. Processed foods, including frozen and baked goods, claim over 40% of total supermarket sales while fresh fruits and vegetables represent 9%.

*Pay attention to regular prices so you can gauge the validity of “sale” prices. Buy when on sale. If product must be used soon, make double batches of recipes to freeze or share.

*Buy in bulk for savings if necessary, splitting items with friends and family. Store food safely. Glass jars with tightly fitting screw top lids provide excellent storage for grains, beans, seeds, spices and teas.

5. Eat seasonally

*The “Food Without Thought” report indicates that U.S. farm policy has skewed pricing of foodstuffs in a profoundly unhealthy direction. It states, “…the real cost of fresh fruits and vegetables has risen nearly 40 percent in the past 20 years. The real costs of soda pop, sweets and fats and oils, on the other hand, have gone down.”

*Purchase locally grown produce items in season. Learn to can or freeze them for out-of-season use, if you choose. A Saturday spent with friends or family to pick apples, make applesauce and “put up” the results in canning jars can be a memorable yearly tradition.

*Grow your own. Even a small yard can produce a substantial produce yield. Urbanites can choose community gardens, container gardens on windowsills and balconies, plus growing sprouts and herbs indoors.

*Connect with area producers. Patronize farmers markets, join a CSA, visit local farm stands. Along with the fresh food purchased you’ll also gain invaluable insight about the people who tend the land and the meaning of locally raised products.

6. Join or start a food-buying club.
*These cooperatives can be formed with fewer than a dozen people interested in purchasing food directly from distributors. Many operate using simple guidelines to share the work of sending in orders, unloading the truck at delivery time and splitting bulk food if chosen without any need for a central location or regular meetings. Lower prices on such items as Fair Trade coffee, vitamins and healthy foods make the effort worthwhile.
*Check with individual distributors for sign-up details. Also check to see if the distributor delivers in your area, provides a listing of existing buying clubs and has a minimum order amount. Here’s a partial list of buying club distributors:
United Natural Foods Buying Clubs http://www.unitedbuyingclubs.com/

Frankferd Farms Buying Clubs http://www.frankferd.com

Frontier Wholesale Cooperative https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/

Atlantic Spice Company http://www.atlanticspice.com/

Sometimes a difficult economy causes us to rely more on ingenuity, thrift and community-building interdependence. We learn to pay close attention to what really matters in our lives.

Sources:

Food Without Thought http://www.iatp.org/iatp/publications.cfm?accountID=258&refID=80627

International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/20/business/food.php

Cost and Nutrition Analysis: Convenience vs. Homemade Foods
http://www.cacfp.org/2006ConHandouts/CostNut.Analysisoverheads.pdf

Progressive Grocer

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/progressivegrocer/content_display/features/fresh-foods/e3i38341e9ec9b07206ef2a2437f38ee32b?imw=Y

Reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS210949+10-Sep-2008+MW20080910

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Travis Erwin, the Main MTM Marauder is busy getting ready to move into his new house. This week, Jenn Jilks is collecting links to bloggers who wrote about their towns. Wander on over there and check it out.

Winter —and we’ve had plenty of it—doesn’t get in the way of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway. You can explore the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley, wander through the Village of Peninsula, population 602, enjoy stories for the entire family, or wine and beer tastings for the adults.

You’ll see the Cuyahoga Valley National Park dressed in Winter’s finery. Animals and birds will appear along the tracks; you may see intrepid joggers and bikers along the Towpath Trail.

It takes work to maintain the tracks year round. Climb aboard and see what it’s like.

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My Town Monday is a product of the wondrous mind of Travis Erwin. Check out the links to the sites of my fellow MTM Marauders.

Nestled in the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is the home of Happy Days Lodge.

Deriving it’s name from Happy Days Are Here Again, the theme song of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal platform, the lodge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938-1939. It started as a camp for the Akron Board of Education and the lodge was a dormitory.

Happy Days was built from local materials: wormy chestnut from American Chestnut trees killed by the early 19th century blight, and sandstone quarried from nearby quarries.

Happy Days is a beautiful place, in a wonderful setting. It is the location for a variety of interesting programs including concerts, discussions and hikes. If you’re ever in our neck of the woods, stop on by. And remember to bring your camera.

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My Town Monday is brought to you by Amarillo’s own Travis Erwin. Wander over there and check out the links. You’ll have the opportunity to see how other folks see their worlds. Pretty cool.

On this most amazing day, I want to share a poem by ee cummings that is dear to me.

i thank you god
for this most amazing day
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
for the blue true dream of sky
for everything that is infinite
that is natural
that is YES

My good friend Lisa wrote about this day. I am passing it forward—-both the exuberance of youth and the wisdom of experience.

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED

One World One Heart

I’ve written about our being connected and that living on Planet Earth, we really do live in the same town. We breathe the same air, look at the same moon and stars.

One World One Heart is an opportunity for people to share. Last year, Lisa Swifka, the originator of this event wrote:

The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way.

For me, it is another manifestation of the power of this medium. It is a way that we can embrace our humanity, and share it freely. It is interesting to me that it is the high tech that is providing the high touch in this high tech world. We have already demonstrated the Power of One in so many ways. This is another way for us to connect and to know that We Are One.

On Thursday, February 12, I will be doing another one of my high tech drawings—this one will probably be high tech die to the number of comments. I will be giving these to those whose names I draw. All items are crafted from fine porcelain clays, one at a time, by hand.

There will be at least 3 names drawn, and I will select which piece will be sent. The Touchstones may be given as a group or I may select some for several people.

Post a comment on this post by the deadline of 10:00 p.m.EST on February 11, and I will enter your name in the drawing. Please make sure that to add your email address when you post your comment so that I have a way to reach you .

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My Town Monday is another way to see that we all live in the same town. Travis Erwin, the man behind the curtain, is putting things back together after a devastating house fire. Chris, over at e-Cuniform scratchings, and Junosmom at Lifetime Learning are minding the store and posting links to blogs all over this fine planet. Take a look. You’ll learn a lot and have fun, too.
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And if you are so inclined, please visit Cups Of Kindness.
76 artists donated over 150 pieces of artwork. All proceeds from the sale of the artwork benefits the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank. To date, we have purchased 21,000 nutritious meals.

These are the times that try men’s souls and hearts. From an economy that is struggling to
people who have lost hope. This is the time to envision the light at the end of the tunnel we have know for so long. This is the time to know in our collective heart of hearts that the way to change is to be change.

This is the time to post a sign in a place we can see, and to open a place in our hearts that can feel it; to know that we are not alone and cannot do it alone. This is the time to Accept All Offers.

Many hands have worked to help Cups of Kindness. There is still incredibly beautiful art available: luminous paintings, sensitive photography, glass and pottery that “sing,” lovely jewelry, fiber, wood and other media that will make your spirit soar.

Last year, my friend, artist, writer and blogger Cat Bennett and I asked, Why Buy Art

-To lift your spirit

-To expand your spirit

-To meet your spirit

-To brighten your day

-To brighten your home

-To brighten your life

-To honor an artist

-To declare your value

-To have fun

-To know yourself

-To inspire yourself

-To inspire others

-To share your wealth

-To laugh

So many reasons.

Art feeds the spirit and soul; it brings light and life to being. Art can make your heart sing and your spirit soar. Something that comes from the heart through the hands. It is no accident that there is art in heART.

When you support an artist, you affirm the creative spirit. You have the opportunity to see the world in a different way, as the artist’s vision is manifested in the piece he or she has made.

This year, we can add, to help our friends and neighbors in a time of need.
Please remember that every dollar that we raise for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank will purchase 7 nutritious meals.

These are some of the amazing pieces that the hearts and hands of some of Northeast Ohio’s talented and generous artists have donated. These pieces and many others, are available on the Cups of Kindness website, and at the Peninsula Art Academy and Elements Gallery in the Village of Peninsula.

Necklace by Carol James

Earrings by Elena Juodisius

Loving Kindness by Dottie Goebel

Batiked Napkins by Wendy Mahon


Soli Deo Gloria by Shannon Casey

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Friends and neighbors helping each other.