While in college, like many of my colleagues, I experimented with food (among other things). After paying my tuition, buying my books, and paying my rent, I had just enough to afford me the standard starving student food budget. Meat is generally expensive, especially the sustainably sourced variety, but so are a lot of packaged meat-alternatives like Tofurky. After years of on and off pseudo-vegetarianism, I decided it was an opportunity to go on a primarily plant-based diet, but this time I was going to follow five simple guidelines:
1) Don’t be a bitch about meat.
I wouldn’t buy it at the grocers, but should an animal product just happen to be in something that I bought, I’d still eat it. Eating the chicken powder in my seemingly vegetarian dumplings (they were suspiciously cheap…) is better than licking my toes in starvation.
2) Buy local, buy seasonal.
By my ghetto student pad, there were three major grocery chains that ranged in price and quality. My room mate and I shopped at the cheapest one of course, locally known as the Fairway. Although Fairway didn’t have the abundance of products that Safeway or the higher end Thrifty Foods offered, their fruits and vegetables were usually the cheapest because they sourced from local farms and mostly offered in season produce. We ate a lot of apples and carrots.
To see what’s in season now, check out the BC Association of Farmer’s Markets website. Farmer’s markets are a great place to get seasonal, local produce. Unfortunately, if you’re on a tight budget and have a big appetite, it can kick your wallet in the balls.
3) Skip the packaging, get a cookbook.
Man, when I’m hungry, the less there is in between me and my food, the better! Packaged and prepared foods tend to be more expensive. Although quick and easy microwavable meals like Hungry Man and the super cheap Michelina’s were tempting options, the idea of being a Hungry Fat Man at the end of the semester wasn’t an appealing thought.
Instead, I picked up Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food, it’s a friggin’ tome of great recipes from a variety of culinary traditions. My favourite recipe is the lentil and potato curry with chapati (a quick Indian flatbread). I’d whip up a batch, down it, and at under 8 bucks for two days worth of meals for two people, I was a happy man.
4) The freezer is your friend.
I enjoy cooking but being a busy student busily downing jello shooters studying with friends, I didn’t have that time to prepare meals. When I cooked, I cooked, making large batches half of which I’d freeze for a meal on a busy night. Bread, berries, and a lot of other foods freeze exceptionally well. Buying food when it’s on sale and in season, then freezing it is a great way to always have good food on hand. It also saves you a mint because you don’t have to worry about spoilage.
5) Free food? Eat it.
My landlady was this wonderful Korean lady who occasionally brought down food for me and my room mate. One evening, we hear a knock on our door, open it and there she was, smiling and wielding a platter of lovingly baked baby back ribs. Similarly to the first rule I set out for myself (don’t be a bitch about meat), I kept going at those ribs well after my room mate had her fill. Wasted food, whether it’s healthy, sustainable, organic or not, serves nobody. And besides, I love ribs! It was a nice one off meaty meal.
These five simple rules worked for me, some may work for you, some may not, but it doesn’t hurt to give it a shot. Not only did I manage to survive on my meager budget, but a nice side effect is that I’ve permanently lost a few inches off my waist, a few pounds off the belly, and gained a whole new perspective on sustainable eating. I didn’t need to eat meat in order to fully enjoy food, but I also didn’t need to be bitch about it.
Now that I’m no longer under the immediate constaints of a student budget, meat has once again found a home in my diet, albeit, a much smaller home, but I’m ok with that. Whether you’re a self-proclaimed carnivore, a dedicated vegan, or somewhere in between like me, food plays an important role in shaping who you are and how you live your life. A few simple changes can make a world of difference to your health, your community, and to your wallet. Men, you don’t have to necessarily go meatless to go green. Food, consciously enjoyed and ethically sourced makes far more of a difference than indifference.
(4.50 out of 5)