Skipping the Supermarket – Month 3 starts

 

We hit the end of two months of Skipping the Supermarket at the end of April.

Two months of not shopping at the supermarket – not once.

I have to confess that moving into month three I did go back between the automatic doors down the long aisles of the supermarket.

I felt like everyone was looking at me and that I was doing something very wrong. I felt so bad going through those doors!

I feel guilty and disappointed in myself but this is my honest account of our experience.

Why ?

Nappies for Cuddles, toothbrush heads and dish washing sponges…I know! Not very eco-friendly items to be going for.  

I am disappointed that these items ended our challenge but I am admitting my limitations. In addition to all of the things I do in my daily life I could not bring myself to initiate the extra washing that comes with using cloth nappies. I understand what is involved with using cloth nappies as I used them for Punky. I have to put my hand up and say – I am not superwoman. Something had to give.

Making things from scratch, seeking alternate supplies that do not cost the earth and travelling further to get these items all takes time and energy. This is time and energy that I could be devoting to playing with my children, tending my garden, cooking, more research for my posts, my ironing pile, my paid job…..Mr Fresh seems to want some time with me too.

Over the previous months I have explored alternatives to the supermarket and either made my own items from scratch, gone without or found a new local supplier. I have learned so much since commencing this activity – primarily it has re-inforced what I already knew and had practiced but to a lesser extent. 

I have always avoided processed foods for my family and am very fussy when I purchase tinned or packaged items. I have given readers a look in my pantry in a post at the start of this year. A look in my pantry now would show many more preserves stacked on the top shelf thanks to the bounty I have picked from the garden.

My Summary of Skipping the Supermarket:

• I am passionate about fresh produce
• I am teaching my boys to understand healthy foods and eating 
• I can make most things we need to use and eat at home. I enjoy doing it. I find it satisfying and I love that Punky is proud to discuss his food snacks at Kinder and show off his purple heirloom carrot sticks to his little mates :)
• What you have available to you as alternatives to supermarkets depends heavily on where you live:
• Before moving here I was buying nappies at an alternate local supplier, but our soil was so terrible and the climate so much cooler that I had a very poor performing vegie garden.
• My local co-ops are expensive and the range is poor.
• There are many more farmers markets in the area we live now
• We can not afford to pay more for grocery items that I could go and get from the supermarket
• The supermarket is a trap for impulse buying, there are so many items on the shelves that are very easy to dump into your trolley. You need will-power, a list and complete focus to not collect items you really don’t need

 

 

 My future shopping plans:

We will continue to shop as we have been since we started Skipping The Supermarket. I will visit the supermarket to buy nappies and some personal care items and cleaning accessories. If I find a viable option elsewhere I will happily switch.

I do not intend to do the daily grocery shop visits I did prior to this challenge.

We will:

• Grow as much as possible – I picked almost 14kg of produce from my garden in the month March-April
• Buy fruit and vegetables from the local farmers markets
• Dry my own fruit for baking and kinder snacks
• Buy our meat from the farm - we are complete converts to farm fresh meat now. Every meal we continue to be amazed at the quality and flavor
• Continue to make home made yogurt  and ice cream - Punky would not let me stop doing that!
• Make home made scrolls, breads and  kinder/lunch snacks - as I have always done
• Reduce our use of packing and purchases of items that are packaged
• I have found a product that is made from material and is used (and re-used) to wrap lunches and snacks as a starting point and have converted to little containers instead of using wrap also.

 

 

Some of the things I have written about Skipping the Supermarket over the previous months are listed below if you would like to read more about what we have been doing :

Skipping the Supermarket

5 Frugavore Tips

Shopping Local and Helpful Hints

Supermarket Alternatives – changing the way you shop and eat

Meat delivered from the farm

Have a great weekend,  check the date of your local Farmer’s Market and visit it if you can.

 

 

 

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