Thanks to these bloody articles I get 'hundred-mile' guilt every time I buy bananas (but, but they're organic!).

Thanks to the Trout Lake Farmer's Market for a whole summer of fresh, fantastic local food!

I purchase local and off shore food in the Safeway or Save-on. The idea is eat good and stay healthy. If I could I would support local food 100% of the time but that is not possible because of the 4 seasons.

Yes 100% of the time if I could!

You CAN pure, it just takes a little imagination.

and a lot of Kale.

!).

Oh my god, a leftie-enviro-criminal!! Thou shalt be castigated for not following the Party Line.

Sorry but I don't subscribe to left/right labels. I prefer to think for myself, hear both sides, and make my decisions based on my individual beliefs and experiences.

Really, the left, right shouting at each is getting rather old don't you think? Are we here to shout at each other, or discuss problems and find solutions? The latter seems more fun frankly and certainly more productive.

Yes stump, as long as you are not stumpped on something you will be just fine. Stop and think of what you are doing and your decision will be on target.

WM:

Naw! Just trying to consume a little less fuel bringing those bananas in.

Who can afford to eat organic foods:
1) Gordon Camppbell
2) Steven Harper
3) Jimmy P.
4) Donald Trump
5) Tiger Woods
And other rich people.

* All I can afford is food that is reduced from its regular price and our food cost per month continues at $700.00 plus soap, tissue and related products. That is for my wife and I. I do not know how families make it this day and age and they now want us to buy locally. Not a good idea.

Spartan apples are close to .70 each.

Let me shed some lite on this subject;
Eat lots of rice with olive oil and cooked hamburger.

Naw I am not prepared to write a book on this subject. Take care!

pure, I don't know what your problem is. I feed a family of four healthy food for $500 a month.

Try Superstore.

Try Superstore.

Thank God the farmer is willing to absorb the loss..........and don't forget the wash off the pesticides, etc.

It is easier to feed four then two. You are in a position to cook more at one time. I feel that my wife and I should be able to eat good food for about $350/per month however, this is not the case. I will take your advice and try the SuperStore. Thanks.

My husband and I spend around $400 a month on groceries and we eat pretty well. We buy from farmer's markets when we can, and I don't find that costs us any more than if we were to buy similar items from supermarkets. The difference is that produce from farmer's markets often keeps longer and there's less waste, so maybe that factors into my costs. It also tastes better, usually.

Superstore has pretty crappy produce, at least it did the last time I ever visited. Thrifty's is one of the better stores for produce. They have more local stuff than I've seen elsewhere and it's good quality. The difference in price on produce is pretty minimal as it's already cheap.

Food in general is dirt cheap these days as a percentage of our total costs, compared to what it was 30 or 40 years ago. I would rather pay a bit more for food if it meant there would be more small farms around. I don't suppose most people would, though.

My favourite is Famous Foods on Kingsway, and all those little private markets on the Drive- you have to look around, but they beat Capers (yeah, sorry, I don't have the cash flow to shop regularly at an over-priced "cool" place like that). Can't remember the last time I shopped at IGA or the like- for me those places are for the rare "Oh, I've run out of milk" moments... Superstore is great for bulk (I agree with Pure that it's sometimes cheaper to cook for a group of people) and those packages of 4 chocolate bars for $2.50... evil...
I find it's way to easy to "go for sushi" or dim sum in this city with a group of friends and drop about $50 a weekend on eating out. Ah well, it doubles as my entertainment, I guess.

I agree with Giant and Fii that a family should be able to eat good for around $400/mo at home. Yes, food is fairly cheap this day and age compared to years ago. However other items such as houses and cars are very expensive compared to years ago.

I never buy produce at Superstore. It is all shipped from Calgary and not fresh. I buy it at Kin's Market, always the best prices and the freshest.

Food is cheap. Cars are cheap, too when compared to say 25 years ago. Cars are much better built, have more equipment and are safer. Housing is insane in the Lower Mainland, though.

Cheap food that travels thousands of kilometers is picked unripe, when nutrient levels are lowest. It costs less but delivers inferior nutritional content. Imported processed foods are so high in Sugar - Fat & Salt , as well as contaminaation from Genetic Engineering (GE) that they are directly responsible for the rise in chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes. That costs us all billions a year in medical costs.

Sold in big box stores, cheap food imports only costs us about 14% of our net disposable income compared to 20 -30 % in Europe ( where they know what happens when farmers cannot afford to stay on the land ).

We spend much more then $400 per month on food and we are far from wealthy. Farmers deserve more for helping to keep us healthy with nutrient rich local food. If it is certified organic then it has been proven to be superior to conventional food with higher vitamin C levels and lower levels of cancer causing nitrates ( see the Dieticians of Canada web site and search for 2004 Organic Food article ).

This is not an us or them issue. Healthy local food can come from the farmers market or a community garden or community supported agriculture or from schools or universities.

Imported foods have a lower up front cost but then the future health costs, the environmental costs and the costs from losing that local production are immense.

Every time you buy a local lettuce from a local farmer and pay more for it, you improve the quality of your familes food, help reduce greenhouse gases because transportation distances are less and improve the local econommy because the economic multiplier effect of local food is twice that of imports.

Food is not just another expense item like your heating bill or your car payments, it is an investment in the health of your children. How much is that worth?

Most of one of my paychecks goes to rent; me and my husband still manage to eat freaking fantastic healthy food for $400 a month at the _most_.

Every time I look at my grocery receipts I notice the items that "break the bank" are packaged or processed in some major way. Sure I indulge in a little Miracle whip and cream cheese, but I have managed to cut my grocery bills way down by eating mostly fresh and basic foods instead. I try to buy organic and local foods; the key to cheap eats is going seasonal. And you don't have to buy everything organic. Check out the consumer's pesticide list and you'll be on your way. I'm not a strict follower of the 100-mile diet (yet) but am doing better than everyone else I know.

Stay away from the inside aisles of the grocery store and see how you do... I shop at a couple of little produce markets in my neighbourhood (Main st): Kea foods, Everfresh produce (they have lots of imported stuff but also cheap local stuff) and get the basics cheaply at Buy-Low. By focusing on the strengths of each of these little places I save way more than if I bought everything at Kea or everything at Buy-low or god forbid, IGA (there's a way to triple your bill super-easily!) I don't even drive to these places. It's amazing how much you can fit on bike handlebars!

Jen is right - my grocery bill would be a lot higher, too, if I were buying more processed foods. Basic is definitely the way to go. Even thought it meant we had to actually learn to cook, it just tastes so much better, it's healthier, and we know what we're eating.

I'm hoping we'll start seeing a lot more local organic produce in supermarkets, where the masses shop. Usually it's trucked in from California (and mass-produced??). At least that shows there's a market for it, though.

I saw some stats the other day on employment in Canada. Apparently agriculture was one sector that had declined, although there were no details as to why. This is Canada, Land of Agriculture. We need to find a way to make regular small farms prosperous - and not just those in specialty markets selling old fashioned apples and sheep cheese.

I think that some of these apples I buy at save-on-foods may be a year old as it states on the label product from usa. Not just apples but other fruits alike. It amazes me how profits are made when a person thinks of picking, packaging, storing, loading, unloading, storage again at this end, loading and unloading again, delivery to local stores and put on the shelves for consumers to purchase. No wonder people wind up with cancer and other health problems. I agree with Jen and Giant.

Drive to pick up groceries?? Hell, no. That's what the doggie backpack is for in the winter, when it's not being used for hiking... he's got to earn his keep, too...

I think I buy to much red meat for example; beef tenderloin, t-bone steaks and extra lean ground beef. That is why my monthly food bill is $700.00. However there is lots of fruits and veggies around the house.

I know that not everyone can do this but other than potatoes, onions and garlic, I haven't bought a vegetable since May. Got pears from my tree, apples and plums from the neighbor and endless amounts of blackberries from an abandoned lot down the street. Froze and canned some too, so I shouldn't need to go to the veggie dept of the Supermarket til about January. Next year it should be even better, as this was my first major garden and I just now found out about the Gleaners Club which goes and picks fruit and nuts from peoples trees who don't want the stuff. (I understand most people don't use the fruit and nuts growing in their yards)

On this side of the world we waist food and the other side they have a real shortage of food.
* It would be nice if we could find a happy medium and feed all people.

pure, there is no shortage of food anywhere in the world. What there is amounts to a shortage of distribution or governments impeding that distribution for political reasons.

And of course, there is often a shortage of money to buy it,

anarcho, speaking of the Gleaners club we have a similar idea near where I live.

For people who are unable or don't want to pick their own fruit from their trees... or simply have too much of it... a group of pickers will come and pick it for you. One third of the fruit picked you are allowed to keep for yourself. One third the pickers get to keep. And one third goes to people in need like the food bank. A great idea I think.

The 100 mile diet is great. Growing your own food is better.

Before it became imperative to keep up with the Jonses with a bigger and bigger house or to live in apartments, people used to have more space for a garden. In the future there will have to be more city allottment gardens and community agriculture to make up for this loss.

We have been experimenting with "urban agriculture" on our farm for several decades. In 1974 John Jeavon's wrote a book "How to Grow More Vegetables .. than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine" His group "Ecology Action" developed year round gardening techniques to provide enough basic vegetables for a family of four on 1000 sq. ft. of land.

While Jeavon's experiments were for California and Mexico we have found that we have enough vegetable varieties adapted to a northern climate that we can do almost as well here.

We also grow tomatoes year round in containers in our front window.

Believing that "an apple (full of antioxidants) a day keeps the doctor away" we have experimented with dwarf apple trees to find five varieties that can be grown in anyones back yard to provide apples 10 1/2 months a year without refrigeration. The 1 1/2 months we don't have fresh apples, in June and early July, we have dried apple treats, canned apples, applesauce, and fresh strawberries and raspberries from the garden.

Blackberries (also full of cancer fighting anti-oxidents)can be found grownig wild and are great fresh, frozen, canned or as blackberry wine.

When the trucks hauling food for a thousand miles or more start to feel the efrfects of the high cost of fuel when we reach peak oil we will have to produce more of our food locally. Too much farmland has been lost and more and more city dwellers will have to grow their own food.