In article >,
OmManiPadmeOmelet > wrote:

> Has anyone else had to make any compromises due to rising prices?
> I've just had to cut back on other items but I'm reluctant to "cheapen"
> our diets. It's too important.

Haven't yet, really, mostly because I, too, am reluctant to buy
"cheap" food, but also because I think things will get worse this
fall.

The farmer's markets here are a boon to a food budget, at least for
vegetables. But the season here is very short.

One thing I do to bring costs down is to eat seasonally. Fresh
out-of-season fruits and vegetables can get expensive quickly. I
won't be eating another orange or tangerine until frost. They may be
in season halfway across the world, but that doesn't make eating
them worthwhile or particularly responsible.

Another money saver is foods which haven't "caught on" yet. 'Tis the
season for snow pea pod shoots, and, at the farmer's market, they're
downright cheap. At a dollar for _several_ healthy servings, they're
much less expensive than spinach. Many people I know who aren't
crazy about greens _like_ "pea tips". Maybe you'll still prefer
spinach, but it would be a less-expensive option.

If you don't already know how to cut up a whole chicken, it's easy
to learn; whole chickens usually cost less per pound than cut-up
chickens. At my co-op, they take the meat that is near its sell-by
dat, freeze it, and sell it at a discount. If the menu that week can
handle the wait to defrost, I'll buy that meat rather than spend
more to buy it fresh.

And, of course, be flexible. If I want to buy sole some week but
halibut is on sale and cheaper, I'll either try to substitute
halibut in whatever recipe I have planned or I'll ditch the sole
idea and make something with halibut.

HTH...

sd