Make a plan

As I said in the previous post, I want to look in more detail at the 25 suggestions for eating healthily for less. (Sorry, I know the article title uses 'healthy' but I couldn't bring myself to use an adjective when an adverb was called for!) In her first, she suggests that you need to make a plan. I think it may go beyond that. I think you have to be ready for a fundamental change. It's rather like going on a diet. Unless you are ready to adopt a new way of eating, you won't succeed for long at dieting.

Oh no, you may say! All I want to do is eat less expensively. I don't want to adopt a new philosophy of life and you wouldn't need to do so if you were just trying reduce costs until the prices come down again. However, if you want to change the way you source food and cook it as part of a more environmentally friendly life-style, you probably do need to look at your philosophy of life. You may have no choice about reducing costs due to your income, or you may be able to cope financially with the increase but choose not to spend the money. In either case, you are more likely to continue with your changes if you aren't longing for the old food life-style. Yes, there are lots of wonderful things to eat but that is true about less expensive food as well. You will need to find ways of not longing for the food you used to eat and instead, enjoy what you are eating once you have made changes.

So here is my list of suggestions for starting the change:

1. Talk with the rest of the family. Make sure that they are on board with the reasons for changing. If they aren't, then you will have as hard a time as Jamie Oliver has had in changing the food English children eat for school lunches.

2. If your family/friends haven't shared your journey to this point, plan a campaign to change their point of view. However, don't proselytise! You will probably end up annoying people. If you have a young family, it should be easier. Start children out eating fruit and vegetables when they are young and they will continue to do so in later life. You could start by cooking a new meal once a week. You could also have the occasional discussion at mealtimes about food and a particular food issue.

3. Eat as a family. I know this can be difficult but it is one of the best ways to disseminate information to other members of the family. It's also good for bonding and forming a family philosophy. You can also keep an eye on what everyone is eating. If children watch television while they eat, they may well be throwing away food that you know nothing about. Furthermore, if you eat away from the distraction of television you are likely to eat less quickly and therefore eat less in order to make you feel full. That way you may start consuming a more appropriate amount of food.

4. Plan new rituals relating to food. If you have never planned out meals on a regular and consistent basis, this will need to become part of your ritual. You will want to do some menu planning as well. What meals are you going to cook during the week? What ingredients will you need? If you want to be efficient and save money, you must make a list and check the cupboards and refrigerator before you go out shopping. There's no point buying something you all ready have, not does it make sense to make a second trip out to get something you forgot to put on the list.