I went to the store today because I needed to pick up prescriptions. I also went with a list of things to acquire if I could. We’ve changed the way we eat and plan meals. That changes the ways we need to shop and store food. I have to think about shopping differently. I have to choose what to buy using different criteria. Any time anyone wants to eat, we’re pausing and using up leftovers or cooking from scratch rather than defaulting to our habits of easy frozen food or fast food. Food is a fundamental portion of our lives and right now it is exhausting because we have to think about every step. In a couple more weeks we’ll have built habits which make our new food reality as easy (or as difficult) as it was before. As I re-calibrate our food management, I can’t help but feel that what we’re doing now is closer to what we should have been doing all along. It is going to be less wasteful and bring us together more.
We’re settling in for the long haul, assuming that food availability will vary from week to week. I’m also building our food system around the belief that money is only going to get tighter for us. Our finances aren’t directly impacted yet, but they will be and we’ll be better off if we cut out unnecessary waste right now.