Don't get concerned about the title - this is not about to be a post about my lady bits or reproductive anything, I swear. I have a Paleo stumbling block, which I'm a bit stuck on. Paleo and really, any awesome eating, encourages QUALITY. Free range, organic, grassfed, no cage, happy life, etc. That's all fine and dandy, and I'm sure it does taste awesome, but this girl's got a mortgage. A big one. One that will be paid off when I'm 40. That's awesome - but it does get in the way of free-range goodness.
My husband eats at least 4 eggs a day, for breakfast. I eat two. That's six eggs (big math here) on a daily basis. I know it doesn't sound like it could be a budget buster, but let's do the math. I went to the Farmer's Market this weekend - and those happy chickens are apparently the next Oprahs because their eggs were $5/dozen. That's $0.42 an egg. Still cheaper than what I'd be up to in my former Starbucks Drive Thru Life (tm) but that means my husband and I, were we free range loving folk, would be eating $2.50 a DAY in eggs. Just for breakfast!
Let's rock that over a year. Would you spend $912.50 on eggs? Let's compare. My love/hate SuperWalmart relationship continues. Their eggs are $1.87 for EIGHTEEN. Let's round up to $0.11 an egg. Which means we have a $0.66 a day egg habit. Translates to $240.90 a year in eggs.
That means in order for me to eat those healthy, happy eggs - I have to have almost $700 more a year in my food budget. And that's just the eggs! What about grassfed beef? Buffalo? Bison? Organic chicken?
I won't be winning any awards for this post - but a girl's gotta eat, and I'm not talking about $900 worth of eggs. I'll do my best Paleo, but I'm not down for my grocery bill looking like a house payment.
This is the argument I have with my trainer all the time. At the end of the day it isn't Wal-Mart eggs that are making Americans fat or in my case 1/2 - 3/4 cup of white rice...it's the dozen cupcakes I have sitting on my desk tempting me to eat them as I type this message. How do you say no to that?
ReplyDeleteAfter my $50 trip to Sprouts and my sinking fear that all of those veggies and whatnot will go bad before I eat them - I get you. Yeh, bison's $7.99 a pound at the store, and I have a husband who eats 3/4lb at a time. Not gonna happen. Good job and great post.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't even include our 4 piece a day bacon habit! Insane.
ReplyDeleteI did see that Target had ground bison (SuperT up on Parmer) but really? I like to put my husband on the "the meat that's on sale in the ad this week" plan, but even sometimes that is painful.
can we compromise? i mean, walmart eggs are cheap, and grassfed, life loving eggs are expensive, but the walmart chickens do not have good lives, they eat crazy artificial shit which you in turn eat, and well, it's walmart. how about just the free range variety you get at vitamin cottage for 2.50? breakfast really is the most important meal of the day- which makes it seem silly that is should also be the cheapest. In our cases, it's usually also trying a major source of calorie replacement. makin' em count. where's my paleo brownie??
ReplyDeleteGreat post Kelly. I completely agree with you.
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