My question was could I eat for a week on $40 dollars and have that food be mostly local and organic? It became easier to figure out how much I spent on food for the week and see if I could have kept it to $40 dollars.
This involved a fair amount of price checking and lead to some interesting comparisons. For example, local honey costs $1.75 for 1/2 cup, organic sugar costs .52 cents.
I thought a lot about how what I make for myself can keep costs down. The 1/2 gallon of local milk I bought for $3.00 made a batch of yogurt and some pudding (homemade). The price comparison: one quart of home made yogurt costs $1.50 versus purchased yogurt (Nancy's organic yogurt) at $2.99 on sale. I'll continue making my own.
Making a large batch of something and eating it for several meals helps a lot too. On Sunday I made chicken stew ($9.50 for about 4 servings) and risotto with lots of veggies ($6.50 for a lot, at least 6 cups) to eat through out the week. I could have kept the price down by not having had used wine in both. It added about $4.00 to the total cost of the main dishes. I also made granola for $1.00 a cup. Lots of ways to change the price on the granola depending on nuts and fruits. This was a more expensive choice than eating oatmeal for the week.
Another factor to consider is the savings of having my own fruit and vegetables. I've easily saved over $10 with the pears, apples, grapes, tomatoes and zucchini that came from either my garden or my parents.
All of this made me think quite a bit about the term "home economics." As defined at Wikipedia: "Home economics draws from a range of disciplines to achieve optimal and sustainable living for individuals, families, and communities. Historically, home economics has been in the context of home and household but this has extended in the 21st century to include the wider living environments as we better understand the capacities, choices and priorities of individuals and families impact at all levels..."
So a breakdown:
Local and organic: chicken breast, carrots, onions, apples, oat flour, honey, herbs, zucchini, carrots, flour, pears, peach, grapes, strawberries, tomato, sweet potato, cucumber, bacon and eggs.
Organic bulk: Walnuts, sugar, baking soda, salt, rice, oatmeal, peanuts, and cocoa powder.
Other: Milk (not certified organic but close enough, also glass bottles), blue cheese from California, Dry Jack cheese from California, Organic olive oil from California, organic corn starch, local cheddar cheese, lunch with the children at work twice (not organic and not local, healthy but not expensive). Organic butter. Locally processed organic chocolate. Wine, local but not organic. Coffee, organic and locally roasted. Also bulk if I remember to give the bag back to my mom and dad who did the roasting.
For comparison and to keep it in context:
Average spent of food where I live: $80
Average cost of food at home in the United States: Between $46.10 and $73.60.
What I spent: 57.95.
Could I have come down to $40.00? Yes if I hadn't used the wine, used less expensive chicken, had eaten less cheese, had made oatmeal instead of granola, and hadn't bought the chocolate.