2 Weeks and Grocery Money

      This week I was able to meet author and activist Lynne Cherry. She was in Hickory in support of the "Little Read" program.    Ms. Cherry had spent the week reading her books on conservation and ecology to 2nd graders throughout Catawba County. There were many things that she said that struck a nerve in me. After some time to digest many of her ideas I was reminded of my friend Kristi A. Kristi and her family gave up something very precious for the Lenten season. They gave up grocery shopping. That's right ~ they gave up buying food. They were able to get milk and eggs and some refrigerated items,but  Kristi  and her family decided to eat what they had in the pantry. If this sounds "easy" to you, please think about NOT going to the store this week and buying macaroni just because that's what kid number three lives off of. You might also be surprised as to what you have hidden in your pantry that you really don't even like to eat. The idea that we should eat what we already have is not,  in my opinion, an American concept. We are consumers, and if ice cream is on sale then we need to get it now because it won't be on sale again for what...3 weeks? (the horror.). In a land of consumption, we are taught to FEAR that the item that we love may run out! We buy into the marketing, we buy into the consumption, we buy, we buy, we buy.
     Albert gets paid on Thursday. On Thursday, I will not be driving to the grocery to spend my regular $140.00 on groceries for the week. We have made a deal in this family: For the next 2 weeks we will use what we have. If we run out of something or need something for dinner then we will walk to the grocery and buy what we need. Now, you all know that we walk to get milk, bread and such each week. Walking to the store is not the point. If it should rain, sleet, or snow, then Albert will pick it up on his way home from work. The point being no excess food in the house and no excess driving to get food.
   We live in an area where we walk the kids to their bowling league on Saturdays. We walk to the park. We walk to the library and the theatre and the movies. We carry cloth bags to the store and yes we recycle. Are we tree-huggers? No, we are just people who have kids that need to continue to live in this world without being of this world. I hope that at the end of these 2 weeks that we will find that we have a little more money and maybe the trend will continue. I hope to update this in 2 weeks...I also hope I know what I  am doing. :)