Frugal Raw-Fooding!

[abeedabu]

Hi guys!

I'm a military wife hoping for a family soon, and my husband and I plan to raise our family raw. But as many of you may have realised by now, the raw food diet is not the most *ahem* economical way to eat. Of course, it's worth it... but a newsletter, website, book, just SOMETHING focusing on pinching pennies while raising raw kids would sure come in handy!

Anyone have any leads for me?

Thanks a bunch!

aubrey

[limabean]

Hi I am very new but I understand and want to help in anyway I can if at all. Right now it is only my boyfriend and I and I am the only raw one but I still shop for the both of us. Ok here goes, Farmers markets and local food shacks (notice the word shacks) are best in my opinion. I think it ??s because they are a no frills kind of shopping. I spent $17 at the fruit shack near my home (Atlanta GA) and I got 2lbs peaches, 2 lbs of apples, a tomato or 3 and some leafy greens, and then I found organic strawberries on some kind of sale the package was a $1 each (I think no one was buying them) that is a great deal. I also went to the super market after (owned by this Asian family not a franchise) and I found a little section for $1 so being the cheapy cheap girl I am I went to see what's what. Woohoo I got 2 packages of corn and potatoes and 2 packages of plums and there were other things but that was all I was interested in. I spent a little over $5. I hope I was some help and best of luck with your family and your shopping.

[durianrider]

keep an eye out for local fruit trees, wild greens and/or move to where they are...

its a great family moment when we can go out foraging for foods.

being 100% is so cheap for me, i can travel the world with the money i save...

when the 'why ' is strong enough, the 'how' comes instantly..

[greenbunny]

Back in the '80s I remember a great book by Victor Kulvinskas: Something or other "into the 21'st century". It explained how to live raw on 15 cents a day and get incredibly healthy. Maybe it might be a dollar by now, but couldn't be much more.

Eating live is much less expensive than eating cooked. Firstly, you need less food longer term because your body will get what it needs. You crave less food when you are getting the nutrients you need. Another thing, is that if you want a family, one of the most catastrophic expenditures a family can have emotionally as well as monetarily is sickness. Every woman I have ever known who was completely raw had a painless and easy birth. The baby comes out clean - without all the "gook" on it - and really healthy. If you are planning on having a kid it is the most economical thing you can do. Have a healthy baby pop out at home. Also, longer term, medications, doctors and hospitals over the course of a lifetime add up tremendously if you aren't raw. It is much cheaper to eat raw no matter how much you spend on it. If you get Victor's book and spend close to nothing - well then - you can put all that extra cash into a money market account starting now and be wealthy by the time your kid goes to college.

greenbunny

[MamaSutras]

Raw nuts can be pretty expensive at some places. I go to a natural food market and buy in bulk. It is a lot less expensive than the packages at the supermarket.

Also, look around for a food co-op. I was lucky enough to have one close when I was young. You can exchange hours worked (honestly a few hours per week) for a discount on the food. Pretty sweet deal!

Amber

[Double Helix]

Eating whole food meals, like whole fresh fruits and vegetables.

Staying away or limiting raw gourmet recipes. If using recipes, halving or quartering the recipe, and/or replacing more expensive nuts with less expensive (ie. using cashews instead of macadamias; walnuts instead of pecans)

Limiting waste by blending greens instead of juicing. Re-using juicing pulp (we freeze ours, then feed our carrot-apple pulp to neighbor's horses and mix it into our dog's raw food - so nothing goes to waste).

Freezing fruit before it goes bad, or feeding it to a pet, or putting it in the compost. I've put mangos into a smoothie that I otherwise wouldn't eat by itself. I freeze overripe bananas and use them in smoothies or to make ice cream.

Growing your own sprouts and lettuces and any other food you can garden or grow indoors during the cold months.

Avoiding or limiting special ingredients, "superfoods" (processed and packaged foods such as maca, cacao, 'green' powders, lara bars, etc.). Note - fresh foods provide the most useable anti-oxidents and nutrients than any other.

Avoiding or limiting dried foods. Most "dried" food is dried at high temps, and not sun-dried.

Avoiding or limiting oils & nuts. Seeds are more economical.

Eating higher calorie filling foods, such as bananas, mangos, grapes, etc.

Buying by the case, seasonally and locally.

[MamaSutras]

I agree with doulbe helix... There is beauty in eating simply.

I also want to add- I belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture) I pay a fixed amount every quarter and pick up a basket of fresh organic, locally grown fruits and veggies (works out to $15/wk). It is a great way to save $, eat organic, and benefits the community (limits pollution from transporting produce and keeps small farms in business). Honestly, by the time I am to pick up the next basket- I still have produce from the previous week! It is a lot of food!

I joined a yahoo group called freecycle.org. The purpose it to keep items out of landfills by offering it to other community members. You can find ANYTHING on the boards (I am picking up a 6mo old champion juicer from someone who would like it out of her kitchen...)

[Lotusblu]

I was wondering about the cost of this adventure myself. Thank you for all the insight.

[greenbunny]

Hey DH - you gave a tremendous list of suggestions (and so did everyone else). There is no longer after reading all this any reason for someone to say that eating raw is too expensive.

But my point DH is about giving the fiber from your juicing to your dog. From everything I understand about the dog digestive tract that's a bad idea. They have a very hard time digesting carbohydrate fiber even in a whole fruit or veggie. My vet says that I need to blend into liquid my dogs veggies and fruits so that they can digest it. My doggies get some of my smoothies, but not whole veggies and fruits and never plain fiber. They are all raw like me but carnivorous types.

I can't dig up a bone out of the yard and eat it without dying an early death because I'm not a carnivore by nature and they can't eat produce fiber because they aren't fruitivores by nature.

If you have rabbits it would be the ideal food for them though. They can eat the fiberous bark off of trees and live on it!

That's my take on it. Thought I'd drop that in.

Greenbunny