I laughed out loud when I saw the results after tuning the new spring menu and shopping lists for Cook for Good. The cart cost for organic ingredients using the Cook for Good plan matches the new food-stamp allotment in North Carolina to the penny at just $1.99 a meal!
The spring menu has a Mothers' Day dinner with asparagus quiche and strawberry shortcake on the first Sunday and a Fathers' Day dinner with pizza and strawberry ice cream on the second Sunday. It's loaded with fresh, seasonal ingredients such as sugar-snap peas, asparagus, mustard greens, and strawberries.
And yet, the spring menu averages just $1.20 a meal per person when made with regular ingredients, up from $1.16 using the winter menu. The same menu made with green ingredients is just $1.80 a meal, up from $1.67 using the winter menu.
All of these options cost less than than the food-stamp allowance in North Carolina of $1.99 per meal for a family of four with no other means. The allowance was raised on April 1, 2009. In fact, $1.99 a meal is what the Cook for Good cart cost is for organic ingredients, which what you actually pay to get the food you need, starting almost from scratch. For example, you have to buy a whole bottle of corn oil to get any corn oil, but you will have some left at the end of the month.
For both the regular and green shopping lists, prices reflect local but not organic asparagus and sugar-snap peas. If I'm able to find local organic sources for these, I'll update the prices in the May prices.
Farm-to-Fork Summit Rocks! — I was delighted to join about 400 other supporters of sustainable local food systems at Farm-to-Fork Summit this week. Highlights included a great speech by North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, in which she said "I'm on your team. Tell me what you need to grow this whole new industry. . . . You are beginning to change the tide, directing the links between local agriculture and jobs and the economy. You all are red hot. Finally people across the state and the country are beginning to realize you are red hot."
Farmers, market coordinators, chefs, human-services professionals, anti-hunger advocates, and more gathered to create a state-wide plan for a sustainable food economy. I'll report more next week.
Recipe — Until then, enjoy this week's recipe: glazed carrots. Don't waste money on pre-peeled "baby" carrots. In just three minutes of active time and seven minutes total, you can have these sweet and cinnamony carrots on the table. Carrots are on my menus year-round, but they are especially tender and sweet in the spring.
Have a delicious day! ... Linda