As I was taking stock of what we have here in the urban homestead's pantry for our next co-op order,  I remembered a recent comment from a friend that got me thinking. Been doing a lot of that lately, especially when it comes to our food staples that we don't grow.

Now, I am all for choices but sometimes I think Ma Ingalls had it, well, "easier." Ok, before ya'll go off on me, I am talking about  easier as consumer, that is.   There was the General Store and that's all there was to it. No aisles on top of aisles on top of aisles of  who knows how many products shipped in from all over the world. These days we are bombarded with so many brands, so many choices. Living the simple life, is, well, not exactly simple!

So, here's the deal. We purchased a case of Organic Non GMO corn starch from the co-op which we use for a variety of things from baking to beauty. Now that strawberries are in season, Jordanne's been whipping up trays of these tasty bars and ,to thicken the bright berry sauce that tops a shortbread like bottom, we use the organic, non gmo corn starch.

I am well aware that there are other natural thickening agents. Our friend recently suggested (hence this post topic) potato starch or tapioca. Of course, her suggestion got me thinking which thicker agent should we buy? Which starch is more sustainable, local?

Though corn has gotten a bad rap (ala the film King Corn) my reasoning for buying a corn product is that we live in California and corn is much more of a "local/native" crop than  potatoes or tapioca.

Care to weigh in on my reasoning? Should I keep corn starch as a staple in homestead pantry or not. Should it stay or should it go?

I have to place our co-op order by next week so ya'll be so kind as to speak up.

If you've seen our short Homegrown Revolution film (now available on DVD - purchase your copy here) where I say that we are "directly and indirectly self sufficient" from our little 1/10 plot here in the city.

BTW, the HGR film is NOT the same one that's on YouTube (view here)  which has over 318,000 views! It's been expanded and revised to include a section on citified animals and a walking tour of the backyard farm!

What food we don't grow ourselves we sell the surplus to bring in income to purchase staples like flour, rice, oats, etc.  Growing food for food!

These days business is picking up at our little front porch farm stand and that certainly helps cover our basic necessities.

We try to keep our staples simple - just like our pioneer counterparts.    Eating from the garden and in season we've learned that real food practically speaks for itself - no need for extra ingredients.  And with simple, basic staples you learn how it was to live in a simpler time.  Food was food.  There were no/not much choices when it came to food preparation.

How on earth did they survive?  Have you ever looked at an old fashion cookbook - the ingredients are pretty darn simple.  We find that by eating simply, we appreciate food more.

One of our urban farmstand clients, who's picking up food on a weekly basis and learning how to use and cook "real foods" asked me, "so what spices to you recommend?"  I had to pause a minute and think, "spices, huh?"  I went on to say that I really don't have to use spices in the cooking that the food speaks for itself.   Of course, "I use herbs" I told him.  But when you have real food picked within minutes of preparation there's no need to mask the intense flavor with spices.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I make a mean spanish rice that requires some kickin' hot spices!  *grin*

The same client gave us a gift of almond butter (thanks!) and we gals felt like Laura Ingalls savoring that orange during the holidays.  Or what about tasting the first ever tomato of the season - warm by the sun.   Our taste buds have been dulled, because of our 24/7 food culture - nothing is special.

How can you appreciate your food more?

Take steps backwards, take stock what's in your fridge and pantry (we did a fun challenge a few years back "SAY AHHH")

Since food miles/lines have been blurred by modern transportation, one question we ask ourselves to help with determining what we do purchase, "could this be grown in our area?"

Perhaps you can't grow all your food, but grow what you can.  That's the key word - what you "can."  One size doesn't fit all and you have to take the steps in your life that fit your situation.  "Don't compare yourself with others.  Compare yourself with what you were yesterday," as Farmer D says.

We put a "homegrown" twist on the popular "Locavore Pledge" to say:

If not from backyard, then locally produced

If not locally produced, then organic.
If not organic, then family farm.
If not family farm, then local business.
If not local business, then fair trade.

Don't forget! Keep it simple, keep it real.

PS Speaking  of challenges with so many blogs these day's doing them, wonder if there's any interest in doing one of our own here at LHITC.  And if so what's sort of one that's not already been/being done?

Any thoughts?

"These are the top 10 items sold at grocery stores for the 52 weeks ending June 14, 2009. They are ranked by dollar sales.

1. Carbonated beverages
2. Milk
3. Fresh bread and rolls
4. Beer/Ale/Hard cider
5. Salty snacks
6. Natural cheese
7. Frozen dinners/entrees
8. Cold cereal
9. Wine
10. Cigarettes

Via GROCERY - Bitten Blog - NYTimes.com

Question: I assume many of our readers are growing some, most or even all their own food.  How has growing your own changed your eating habits?  Care to share what's in your basket?

Over the years we've made, remade and tweaked our basic "grocery list" of things we can't grow here on the urban homestead and for the most part we pretty much stick to the list week after week, month after month.  When I say "stick to the list" we don't buy outside the list which helps save money and keeps our  simple basic diet in motion.

Now, this is not to say we cannot improve - there's still more we'd like to remove from the list!  Throwing away the entire list would be awesome but we have to realistic!  We are smack dab in the middle of the city and there aint any wheat fields -- well, at least not yet.

The list includes staples like grandma would have had on her shopping list: things like flour, oil, spices, salt, cheeses and vinegar which are the primary items on our grocery list.

Only when it's canning season does the list change a bit to include more of certain canning essentials.

What you will notice absent from the list - eggs, meat, over processed, frozen or even canned foods.   Instead we, try as best we can (with some exceptions - yeah, we aint perfect!), to purchase the ingredients and make our food/meals from scratch.

Also you will notice there are no produce except for that of onions and potatoes which we purchase only when necessary.  95-99% of our produce (fruits, veggies, herbs) we grow ourselves, barter with our local contingent of Freedom Gardeners  We have this little saying, "If it aint growing in our backyard we don't eat it" - plain and simple.

Another thing you will notice is "dual uses items" - items that you can use both in the kitchen and around the household for cleaning like vinegar, baking soda and or making your own toiletries.

Why do we do this?

Well, we have this motto that our family uses a lot "What would the Ingalls do"  and we try and transcend that in our everyday life (sometimes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully)

By eating down the list we opt to eat more from our backyard/frontyard or homepreserves in our pantry with a little "help" from the general store.

Eating locally and with the seasons it brings about a whole new meaning to the saying "give us this day our daily bread."

How has you or your family eating habits changed, care to share?

Are you connnecting with your community via barter, swaps, etc?  Are you growing more, preserving and making things from scratch?

How are you dealing with increase in food prices?   How are you fighting back by letting retailers know that "we don't need no stinkin' packages!"

Here are our 'Seven Keys' to saving money.  Care to add?

Grow your own
Buy local and in season
Look for bulk goods and staples
Cook and bake from scratch using basic ingredients
Preserve - can, dry, freeze and store
Build community - start a food cooperative, get your neighbors involved,  barter and swap goods or services
Do more with less - save, stretch or do without

I stumbled across this article via Frugal Domesticity, she also noted a helpful website (www.mouseprint.com) which exposes the fine print on many name brands.

The incredible shrinking cereal box (CNN Money)

The packaging may look the same but the amount inside has gone down, that's how companies try to pass on food inflation. But consumers are wising up.

As manufacturers cope with the rising cost of raw ingredients and fuel, downsizing their package sizes is one increasingly popular way to pass along a price increase without drawing too much attention.

"They're raising the prices a little, and shrinking the boxes a little," said Marcia Mogelonsky, consumer analyst with Mintel International, a consumer research firm in Chicago. "If you're running through the supermarket, you don't necessarily notice that your cereal box is an ounce or two smaller. That's how they're controlling the prices."

Read full article

How we went about determining our monthly grocery list is to see what "staples" we commonly use throughout the month and made up a "basic shopping list" that we tack prominently on the fridge. The "basics" of course would be flour, rice, oil, oats, vinegar, dried beans, etc. When we run out, we check the little box next to the item on the list.

When shopping at the local grocer or from the food co-op we really don't deviate from the "Basic Staples-Grocery List" too much. Why? We find that keeps food costs down and helps with lowering food miles.

There's certainly a lot of temptations that fill the grocery isles but we have "the list" in hand and we stick to it! Our lives and our diet is fuller because of this exercise against over packaged goods, overconsumption and excess variety. It puts into perspective what basics we need for a good life.

To help with the "Basic Staples List" we referred back to our pioneer counterpart - the Ingalls family. What would the have purchased at their local General Store. What food items would have been available to them? The Ingalls family didn't have a gazillions brands of this or innumerable food choices from all over the world. So we 21st century urban homesteaders try to emulate their simple food choices in our modern day lifestyle.

And we also have to realize that this lifestyle is all about being flexible. If the food prices continue to go up one has to be willing to cut back/out certain items or be creative and try/grow new alternatives to certain typical staples.

Care to share in an little exercise? When Pa Ingalls hitched up the wagon, what did Ma Ingalls put on her grocery list?

Under a sweltering sun in a parking lot in front of the Rose Bowl, me (left - in the homemade crohet hippie hat ) and fellow co-opers wait for the rest of our orders

On the pick up list this month for us urban homesteaders are:

100 lbs Organic Chicken Feed
50 lbs Animal Kelp
Seventh Generation Toilet Paper 48 count
1 Gal Olive oil (for soapmaking)
10 lbs organic raw cheese
10 lbs unbleached flour
7 lbs of organic raw sugar

Getting bulk goods for the urban homestead is such a fun experience - with a garden and a monthly pick up for supplies who needs grocery stores anyhow? Today, a guy who bought chickens from Jordanne last year informed me that they are doing exceptionally well. He happily reported that they were very healthy and friendly (must have been the apple cider vinegar water fed to them as baby chicks). Always great to hear back from folks who are truly loving their gals.

This month's pick up everyone went away happy - all grain and chicken feed orders were supplied.

As the days get longer our grocery bill gets shorter as our plates are full with more and more homegrown produce (which is certainly a blessing!)

BTW, for those interested in our Grow for 10K Challenge, our total tally from Jan-May stands at 1,614 pounds.

This week will be harvesting "heavy weight crops" - potatoes and turnips (that should help boost the poundage up a bit!)

Last weeks' trip to the grocer ended totaling $60 for four people (milk, pasta, cheese, salt and a few "indulgence items" chocolate and ice cream for a Sabbath treat) for a whole week's worth of food.

Of course, there's the monthly co-op to consider and that tallies in at about $100 a month ( organic flour, organic rice, raw cheese, raw sugar). So that's now about $400 per month for our family. Which I think is pretty darn good considering we purchase organic (local as best we can) and we live in LA where family farms are scarcer then hens teeth.

Curious to how we compare to the average American, I did a bit of online search and found

Rebecca's Blood in San Fransisco who's Thrifty Food Budget is budget: 74.00/week or 320.80/month, the USDA "Thrifty" standard for a family of 2 adults, aged 20-50 years.

The site Eat Local Challenge had these stats:

1 person in the family, one wage earner: $68 a week
2+ persons in the family, one wage earner: $121 a week
2+ persons in the family, 2 wage earners: $144 a week
2+ persons in the family, 3+ wage earners: $184 a week

Ok, so we know how much we are spending (and how much we are earning from our 1/10 acre plot)- that's easy! What would be interesting (and I am not sure how to do this just yet) is to figure out how much we are saving not having to buy eggs, fruits, vegetables, herbs so much honey and hopefully one day dairy!

Suggestions? One possibility is to go through our weekly menu posting, see what items come directly from the urban homestead, guesstimate the poundage or dozen used, find what's a compatible price and then tally the figure per week. Whew!

Then the food shortage situation and seeing if we can adjust our diet accordingly. Perhaps cut back on certain "traditional staples."

Are you beginning to see signs of food shortages in your neck of the wood? Care to share your thoughts on the subject and your plans?

Too Perfect. View of the mega produce section at the Pasadena Mega Whole Foods. Photo courtesy of Rainy Days and Sunday's

Since homey Wild Oats on Lake Ave shut its doors last November, we urban homesteaders have refused to step foot in the mega Whole Foods located on Arroyo Parkway. This monstrosity of a so-called health food store is just too excessive and gaudy for our simple taste. In fact when the new Whole Food store opened its doors, head urban homesteader, Jules Dervaes, said "That's it! We'll have to draw the line someplace."

Just because "they" are forcing us to choose this obscene eco-shopping experience, we are determined not to fall into the greenstream under the guise of "organic" or "local." Actually, when something becomes too popular, too chic, too greenstream the yellow warning lights go off. There are concerns if what we are being told is not necessarily truly green or sustainable but is instead actually a watered down form -- what is now being aptly coined "greenwashing."

This recent article in Sunday's paper has solidified why we urban homestead radicals refuse to step foot in this mega store. They've totally ruined the true meaning of grocery shopping, turning into some weird form of eco-status and a place to be seen. Pathfinders as we are and trying to choose the path less traveled, this store's burlesque distortion of local "green" grocer has us saying, "Heck, no -- we ain't going to go."

Pasadena’s Whole Foods Market: Is It Sustainable Design?

The giant supermarket on Arroyo Parkway calls itself eco-friendly, but it may be too much of a good thing.

The massive new Whole Foods Market on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena represents the height of one-upmanship in Southern California's increasingly competitive grocery store trade. I'll see your three brands of soy milk, it says cockily to Fresh & Easy, and raise you two.

But the store is even more striking for what it says about the similar discontents plaguing the organic food and green architecture movements. The way they come together in this Whole Foods--a piece of green architecture designed to hold an organic food emporium--suggests that both may need to adjust their priorities. Or at least start acknowledging that they've become victims of their own success.

....Somewhere along the way, for both organic grocers and the corporate patrons of green architecture, the line between planet-saving and aggressive marketing became blurred. Companies realized that promoting themselves as eco-friendly could be a powerful sales tool. Some, not surprisingly, concentrated more on the marketing message than on their green practices --a strategy that became known as "greenwashing."

....On the Sunday I visited, a group was settling down in the center of the second floor, just behind the pizza oven and not far from the roast-beef carving station, for a full-blown Champagne brunch. TVs hang everywhere so you can watch PGA golf (that's what was on when I was there) while you pick out fair-trade roses from Ecuador.

It's Vegas with organic, gluten-free scones.

...But the first rule of sustainable architecture is to keep new buildings as small and efficient as possible. With its soaring 30-foot ceilings and endless aisles, 280 subterranean parking spots and all those TVs flickering day and night, this place is neither. It's more like the grocery store version of a hybrid SUV made by Lexus or a 12,000-square-foot "green" house with a swimming pool and six-car garage accompanying its solar panels and sustainably harvested decking.

Forget about doing more with less. This green-tinged cornucopia is all about doing more with more

Read complete article

Luckily for us, we don't need "no stinkin' aisle" of organic packaged foods, colorfully perfect "local" produce, nor are we tempted by the gourmet wine, cheese and whatever sections. Instead we are blessed that our grocery store is located right outside our back/front door. Staples (rice, flour, oats) that we can't grow have and will come from another source.

Sure, our little local health food store, Granny's Pantry, won't have 12 feet of pasta sauces like the Whole Food store reportedly has. 12 feet! I mean, really, do we really need that much choice?

Any other local readers feel this way ? Here are a few local takes on the WHOLE FOOD"s FLAGSHIP and here's one blogger's eye popping photos from inside the store.

Have you refused to shop or have shopped at the mega Whole Foods located on Arroyo Parkway? Care to share your experience and which local stores you are supporting instead?

Yesterday was certainly a busy day for us urban homesteaders. We had a camera crew filming all day, following us around and sitting us down for personal interviews. Other than filming, PTF also had an exploratory meeting with some folks at city hall. And then there was the NELA co op pick up down at the Rose Bowl parking area which the film crew tagged along while we picked up our bulk goods. We like to bring the goats with us to the pick up and let them run and play in the park. They are just like kids, they love climbing on the playground equipment. It was a pretty exciting day!