a month without supermarket - new challenge for 2011 starts at post 1013

the_optimist

Just found this on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGoWKVA87ro

'Every little helps' - hopefully this ad will too!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

i am soooo glad that this thread still keeps popping up as i must own up i have been slipping lately.... and i have found myself instead of buying high juice .. in a supermarket.. i have started buy some more bits.....

still use the butchers and the bakers etc.....

being realistic..... i think i need to set myself another challenge.....lol......boycott supermarkets for life......

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi

Still getting 2 pints of sterilised milk from the milkman on a Saturday. Get all other milk from Makros and freeze when at 10p a pint etc. Have been doing most of the shopping at Waitrose using 50% vouchers, so not entirely supermarket free but better than Mr T:D ....still get locally butter, honey and cheese/ham.

PP
xx

Icemaiden

Thought I'd drop by since this thread has popped up again:D Have had to vist the supermarket on a couple of occasions to stock up on Flour, bun cases etc... but other than that they are still no-go areas for us. I have increased my food budget to £230 a month for the 4 of us as the amount of fresh fruit we now consume has increased.

I'm currently reading a very interesting book called 'The Brain Food Plan' by Dr Robing Pauc , he explains the vital importance of diet and exercise in helping children achieve their optimum health. This is done by cooking from scratch using fresh ingredients and cutting out all the E numbers and additives. The book also teaches you how to read food labels and identify all the nasties we should be avoiding, some of which are really scary. It even includes a 14 day plan of recipes to get you started which are very easy to prepare.

I can honestly say by doing this challenge it has completely changed the way we think about food and where it comes from and what it contains. Yes I have always done alot of cooking from scratch but now feel we have taken it to the next level (if you know what I mean) by deciding where and whom we buy it from.

Good Luck everyone.

Maddie

Hello,

Just done a search for this thread as I'd love to join in. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I've been looking for alternatives.

I've finally got round to arranging to get an organic fruit & veg box again. Its a really good company, much cheaper than any other I've seen (£3 each for small fruit and veg boxes). They also supply store cupboard things and bread, dairy etc, so I've but in a big order for next week.

We went out to a local organic farm yesterday (also trying to only eat organic), who supply a farmers market nearby so that sorts out the meat (only they don't have cows and we mostly eat beef mince...).

Problem is where do I get Kelloggs cornflakes (yes has to be kelloggs - apparently there is no other the same), cordial, washing powder...?

Amazing thing is, you would really think its expensive eating local organic etc, but I bet we don't even spend half the average

Psykicpup

Maddie- there is probably a local independant near you who would benefit more from your cash than Tesco's, when it comes to buying your Kellogs cornflakes (I have to agree - dont even like the flavour of the big boxes - tastes like cheapo cornflakes lol)

odds-n-sods

I joined this and didn't even know it! Once I'm back and mobile again, we wont' be using tesco/sainsburies etc.

buxtonrabbitgreen

I thought I would resurrect this thread .As it is my long weekend off I thought I would make a prper vegetarian meal for the DS, as opposed to pizza, vege burgers or macaroni cheese.
I saw a programe last night, where 5 people take it in turns to host a dinner party. Anyway the joint winner cooked vegetarian moussakka. I thought it looked good so that is what I decided to make.
Well none of the 3 grocery stores in my villiage had green lentils. The Spar had red lentils so I thought they would probably be ok.
Then I went to the greengrocer for aubergines and nutmeg. He doesn't stock either because he wouldn't sell them, he said. He also wouldn't sell me a few strawberries for my DD scool cookery lesson tommorrow.
I am now making the lentil bake off the back of the packet, and it looks quite nice.
My point is, I know sainsburys have all the ingredients I need, but as I work there I don't go on my days off.
I don't see how the greengrocer keeps open if all he sells are the same things that the Co Op does. So how can you support them.
I was so annoyed that I bought the onions in the Spar. Ok rant over.

aimeelister

Well im going to drag the thread back up

Ive been re-evaluating my life and getting back with things after things slipped with the chaos of summer. But i still think its important to prevent the monopoly of the supermarkets. The foot and mouth outbreak and flooding is going to have an impact on our farmers and i know the price of food will go up, but i feel they should benefit from the price rise, not just the supermarkets increasing their profit margins.

I am also trying harder and harder to get a healthier diet and the latest news on the mix of additives has made me think harder about what our food goes through when it is shop bought. The amount of rubbish i am throwing out is also nagging at me. I want to re-cycle more and the packaging around the produce in supermarkets is annoying.

So.....

I am struggling to source everything local or independent BUT...

I have found a source for flour. I went to a local village open day where they had a water run flour mill running which produced wholemeal flour in front of me. No preservatives and locally grown wheat. So im going to make my own bread now (well buns)

Meat i have found local organic farms who do amazing meat. If not there is a fantastic butchers in one of the local villages.

Fruit and Veg i get from my green box.

Pet food from the local village pet shop

Everything else i am probably going to source from the co-op which i know is a supermarket BUT does support local projects with profits. Or i might occasionally do a stock up shop in Sainsburys for the odd tin of tomatoes or dried pasta BUT im going to try and avoid this as much as possible.

Is there anything else that anyones found out during the past few months that could benefit us? Or have we found we need a compromise?

Axxx

aimeelister

buxtonrabbitgreen - great minds think alike dragging this thread up!