Green Options

Clip coupons.  Shop sales.  Stock up.  While everyone seeks ways to save on food costs in today’s economy, most of the “tips” offered are sounding like a stale rerun, repeating the same conventional basics over and over.

Maybe what we really need is a time of crisis is to rewrite some of the old rulebook.  Maybe we need a dose of frugality innovation.
With that in mind, here are some fresh perspectives on saving a dime while saving the planet.  For those in the Madison, Wisconsin area, come join me for my workshop on this topic of cutting costs while eating well at the upcoming Isthmus Green Day on April 25 at the Monona Terrace.

1.  Use it Up
Every year around early spring, my family and I go on our annual “food buying detox diet” where we literally go cold turkey as best we can on buying food.  This isn’t as depriving as it sounds as we focus on eating through the pantry, using up all those items we already invested in that are often lingering near expiration dates.

If you haven’t heard the economy is in the drink. It seems every time I turn around there is more news of another bank or company on the brink, with no foreseeable end in sight.

We’ve heard the comparisons that this recession looks very much like the great depression. It is hitting everyone’s pocket book, no matter your socioeconomic status. This free fall to the bottom isn’t discriminating.

So why should you craft when there is even less disposable income for you to play with? Well here are my top reasons you should craft when times are tough:

There may be some ironic, redeeming inspiration over the fact that the economy is in the can: the revival of home canning. As headlines lament the downward spiral of retail, the canning industry reports an inspiring increase in sales.

A key reason roots back to probably the same reason why our grandmothers routinely canned: it simply made economic sense. By making fruit preserves as home, you could get a better-tasting, higher quality product much cheaper. Today we can add environmental sense to that equation: home canning enables us to eat more local, organically-raised produce year-round, eliminating the need for fossil fuel based transportation costs.

Despite this rationale manifesto for home canning, getting started can prove to be a discouraging hurdle as the process – from fruit processing to hot-water baths – can seem overtly time-consuming. Not so, according to Linda Amendt, the cape-crusader of home canning. Winner of over 900 awards in state fair culinary competitions and author of two cookbooks, Amendt is on a mission to help people rediscover for themselves the satisfaction and savings of home canning.

“Making a batch of jam is no more complicated than whipping up a batch of cookies,” explains Amendt. “And I promise, nothing off the store shelf will ever compare to what you make in your own kitchen.”

Here are some of her tips to get off to a successful start in homemade preserves, the easiest route for novice canners. While the official growing season is – alas – behind most of us, stockpile these tips till next year and in the meantime use fresh apple cider, which is still available, for a great beginning project (recipe after the jump).

When I moved from my Chicago apartment to a Wisconsin farm, I traded convenience for countryside. No more quick runs to the mini mart store at the end of the urban block for a missing ingredient. With civilization now a fifteen minute drive away, I’ve evolved to have all the necessities to do anything from feeding a round of B&B guests to whipping up multiple pear pies.

So here’s the simplest route to sustainability: keep a stocked pantry. Save money, time and fossil fuel – not to mention upping nutritional value — by dining chez you. Maybe not as sexy an eco initiative as backpacks with PV panels, but keeping an organized, stocked pantry goes a long way in creating a self-reliant, green kitchen and household.

Stocking the pantry saves time and money – two non-renewable resources and drains on greening our lifestyle. With a little planning and organization, your pantry will never let you down. I recently gushed about my pantry passion in an article for Hobby Farm Home magazine, going into more detail on stocking the kitchen.

Here’s a few starter tips:

Artists keep stocked with paint, pencils and other supplies so they can craft a masterpiece whenever the creative muse hits. Likewise, as someone passionate about food and cooking, your palette is your kitchen. Keep it stocked with the core ingredients necessary to whip up anything from bag lunches for the kids to an impromptu dinner party.

Stocking the pantry saves time and money – two non-renewable resources and drains on greening our lifestyle. With a little planning and organization, your pantry will never let you down. I recently gushed about my pantry passion in an article for Hobby Farm Home magazine, going into more detail on stocking the kitchen.

Here’s a few starter tips:

“Free organic fruit. Perfectly ripe. Locally grown. Yours for the taking.”

Your ears perking up yet? If this showed up on your local Craig’s List or Freecycle would you be frantically e-mailing, “When can I come over”? Amazingly, such an opportunity probably exists right now, perhaps right down your road, as fruit trees ripen and – too often – fall to the ground and rot.

Like an archeological remnant of a past generation, industrious homeowners often planted these fruit trees several decades ago, before our era of mega-supermarkets and the universal concept that we can, and should, buy everything 24/7. Seems these trees tend to fall into two categories: either they belong to senior residents who can’t physically pick and process the fruit, or newer residents who bought the house with the tree and don’t have the time to pick, much less know what to do with four bushels of pears. Other folks even go as far as considering these trees a nuisance, as overripe fruit falls to the ground and attracts bugs and rodents, eventually chopping the tree down.

Don’t anger the Lorax, make pear pie instead. By connecting with these untapped fruit sources, you cook up something bigger than your private food stash – you will be an ambassador for building community, one bite at a time. I made my annual pilgrimage yesterday to local seniors John and Mary’s house to raid their pear tree, coming home with three five-gallon buckets of fruit. No secret invasion needed; Mary calls every year right before Labor Day to let me know the pears are ripe and we’re welcome to harvest.

Here are three tips for foraging a fruit tree near you:

Today let’s talk about the merits of turnips, rutabagas, and kohlrabi. Not to mention bok choy and burdock root. Hello? Anyone out there? Please don’t panic and run away at the mention of vegetables that don’t fall into the standard pre-cut, ready for stir-fry frozen bag you see at the supermarket.

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