Tuesday 8 May 2012

The Dilemma......

Not really relevant but I love Highland cows!!

We're having a bit of a dilemma at the moment... cutting out processed food and eating healthier, more natural foods is great and going well but how far do you go? If you've read our story above you'll know we are pretty much skint at the moment so where do we draw the line between money and good food? To be honest I don't really know the answer!!

The more we read about what goes into our food and how food is produced the scarier it gets, there seems to be critics at every corner, one says to eat only organic, one says to eat only pasture-fed, one says to eat only local, one slams the whole lot and says eat anything you like because you're going to die anyway!! (ok I made that one up but you get the point!) The problem we have is that organic is just so highly priced it's mainly beyond our budget, we are living on very little really and so the dilemma begins......

We spent about ten minutes in the supermarket yesterday (yes we still have to go there sometimes!) discussing the merits and downfalls of cows milk versus goats milk, then organic versus non-organic, then onto local versus not local.....  we'd still be there if I hadn't got stressed and just went for the usual non-organic cows milk we've always drunk!!

So no real decision made yet, this is one that we'll just have to figure out as we go..........

5 comments:

  1. It's so difficult, isn't it, most especially on a budget? I think the main thing is to try to grow as much as you can, and as you say, work out the rest as you go. At least you have made a start, well done xx

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  2. Absolutely know where you are coming from! Cash is what makes it difficult isnt it?! I got in a real quandry about 4 years ago.. we (as usual) were pretty skint so I just picked out what my major concerns were (meat & eggs) and changed those.. I think thats the best we can do with so many conflicting 'experts'..

    My personal big concern was going free range, I had wanted to for years but could afford it.. I decided I'd rather only serve meat a couple of times a week in order to buy free range. We already brought lots of local veg & free range eggs from a nearby farm shop, and were thrilled to bits when a free range butcher opened up IN our farm shop - selling local meat.. the shocker was how much cheaper his meat was than supermarket free range - about half the price that Tesco charged! And it is way better quality too.

    My advice, if you want free range meat, is to find your closest free range butcher and stock your freezer! We go every month or so usually, it costs us a lot less and we eating healthier..

    I have a friend who travels about 20 miles to his FR butchers.. but it still works out better for him to fill his chest freezer every few months than shop at the supermarket.

    Like you I still haven't made the milk decision.. that gets harder cos what do you do about cheese etc? So we are drinking the normal stuff.. local if its there.

    Joy is absolutely right.. producing as much as you are able is def. the best answer..

    Deborah x
    p.s. love the cow :) We have belted galloway cows in the field by us.. they're like furry humbugs who love having their heads scratched :)

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  3. OMG totally embarrassed at how long that comment was.. sorry
    Deborah x

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  4. Thanks for the comments long or short (!), it's nice to hear other peoples views as well (and know I'm not talking to myself!!) We do buy free range eggs already and don't eat a lot of meat, mainly locally reared chicken as Dave is veggie anyway so we're getting there, it's just all the dairy we're really trying to figure out what to do with.

    Fortunately we live in a big farming area so I guess we will just have to ask around, I'm sure there must be someone doing reasonably priced, free range meat and dairy products somewhere near here.

    I love belted galloways too, we have the usual holstein freesians in our back field and I often wonder if there is a brain cell between them! I've had them all in a row by the back fence staring at me when I've been gardening before now...very freaky!!

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  5. :) We stayed in a farm cottage a few years back which was right up against the fence of a field of them.. was so funny when we got up in the morning and there was a row of them peering in through the window!
    x

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