Brianna Humphrey, an owner of Radical Gardens Farm and a restaurant of the same name in Timmins, knows first hand about the challenges the high cost of food and she literally got into farming so she could afford to feed herself.
An enthusiastic group of residents came out to the Timmins Public Library on Saturday afternoon to learn how they too could tame their grocery bills.
Her message was clear.
“Take control of your food” she declared.
“Never let somebody else control your choice of food,” she added.
Humphrey no choice in seeking ways to pare down her grocery bill. She is allergic to gluten and couldn’t afford the cost of meeting her dietary needs at a supermarket.
“My grocery bill was so high that I just couldn’t afford to eat,” she informed the packed audience.
She ended up working at a farm to feed herself.
Humphrey, who grew up in Temagami, Ontario, apprenticed with local farmers and learned a lot about food.
“Our food security is being threatened by an over reliance on expensive imported foods,” Humphrey stated. “It’s expensive to truck food in from Costa Rica.”
“Going to the grocery at this time of the year and expecting cauliflower to be cheap is the problem,” she added.
Humphrey believes that we as consumers have let our poor food habits snow ball out of control to the point we cannot afford our grocery bill.
She pointed out that in 2014 according to StatsCan Canadian families spent $8,210 on groceries.
“That’s crazy!” she exclaimed.
Humphrey’s prescription for beating high grocery is simple:
- Grow your own garden – share among friends
- Plan ahead grow your food or purchase in bulk
- Buy directly from farmers
- Switch your diet and adjust seasonally
- Buy local
- Store, freeze or preserve
Humphrey is passionate about people taking charge of the food they eat by growing some of it.
“If you want to save you are going to have to put in a little labour,” she said. “But the pay off is huge!”
“Start growing one food,” she said. “Growing beets is easy throw the seeds on the ground - watch them grow.”
Apartment dwellers can rent a plot in community garden.
Humphrey advocates planning ahead for growing or purchasing in bulk what you need for winter like our grandparent’ generation did.
And to develop a cyclic diet based on the seasons – eat leafy vegetables in the summer but switch to root vegetables in winter.
She also reminded the audience that are alternatives to shopping at supermarkets.
“Farmers sell super cheap,” she said.
Humphrey pointed out that there are also plenty of free vegetables available around Timmins thanks to the work of Together We Inspire and Grow (TWIG) who plant on various open spaces or planters across the city.
Click here for information on TWIG
“TWIG is growing free food for you to take – that’s a sweet deal,” she said.
“If you need zucchini go out an pick it for free,” she added.
There are also innovative ways of managing the cost of meat which is estimated to be $1,000 or more per year for a typical family.
It can be purchased at a lower price directly from a farmer in bulk and then stored in a freezer. Some farmers are also open to options that lower the cost of raising animal in exchange your labour or the cost of feed.
Chicken is most expensive to raise at $4/lb for organic chicken. Humphrey said she saves her food points from a local supermarket and waits for sales to buy in bulk.
For Timmins resident Danielle Pietila the most important lesson she learned from Humphrey was the importance of planning what you will eat.
Her neighbour Marie-Eve grows a vegetable garden every year and has planted tomatoes, carrots and parsnip.
Marie-Eve has a secret for growing great tomatoes. She saves fish parts and applies the fish bits to her garden.
She also saves seeds from her plants as an efficient way of renewing her garden.
An added benefit of a garden is that it is a great way to interest her children in vegetables.
“They help tend the garden and love to snap off a pea pod or pull out a carrot to eat,” she said.
Click here for more information on Radical Gardens
or
https://www.facebook.com/radicalgardens
