How to Break Up with Your SupermarketDaisy Luther Then one day, you woke up and the honeymoon was over. Like any dysfunctional relationship, as you got to know the grocery store better, you learned that things werent as great as theyd seemed in the beginning. In fact, youd been misled the things you thought were healthy werent really healthy at all. It was all a lie most of what the store was selling you wasnt even actually food. You realized that this relationship was hard on your wallet, it was high maintenance, and it was unhealthy. But by the time you realized this, you were in too deep and there was no way out of it. So you stuck with it, grudgingly maintaining the relationship, thinking maybe there was something better out there, but not quite sure how to take the leap. Contrary to popular belief, you dont have to be stuck in this dead-end partnership forever. How do you leave this dysfunctional relationship? As anyone who has ever left a co-dependent, unhealthy relationship can tell you, breaking up is hard to do. You are getting rid of an established routine and embarking on something entirely new. Even when a relationship was bad, you pretty much knew what to expect from the other party. By freeing yourself, you were leaping into the unknown. But sometimes you just have to take the leap. If you want to break up with your supermarket, you cant expect your life to be exactly the same as it was before the parting of ways. If you want it to be exactly the same, you might as well keep pushing your cart through those brightly lit aisles. If you are going to take the leap, you have to expect things to be different, and you have to embrace it. Based on the current North American diet, anyone without many, many acres of farmland in a tropical region wont be able to eat the same stuff they were getting from the stores. For example: It takes about 10 square feet to grow enough wheat to result in a pound of flour. 10 square feet of garden space will get you one loaf of bread. The North American diet is highly grain-based, and grains may not be the most practical choice if you have limited space and resources. Heres another example: The most popular fresh fruits in the United States are (in order): Bananas, apples, oranges, grapes and strawberries. (source) Most of us dont have a banana tree and an orange tree in the backyard. Apples are not outside the realm of possibility. Grapes and strawberries are seasonal. Thus, if you are breaking up with your supermarket, you simply arent going to be able to consume these every week of the year. But take heart this doesnt mean its impossible to provide yourself with most of your food. The best approach to self-sufficiency is to adjust yourself to a more local diet. If you live in an area where wheat fields abound, and you know you can purchase directly from the farmer, then you can by all means, continue eating bread and pasta on a daily basis. For most of us, though, this is hardly practical. It might be time to consider revamping your familys diet so that you can focus on a healthy, self-sufficient lifestyle with food you know you can trust. Your menus are going to change, and for the better. For a starting point, look at ancestral diets. Paleo and Primal are two buzzwords in the nutrition and weight loss community that have some excellent potential for those seeking a more self-sufficient lifestyle. So what are these plans, exactly? In our household, as weve become more intent on producing our own food, weve naturally fallen into more of a primal diet lifestyle. While Im not necessarily recommending strict adherence to a diet or a set of rules, what I am suggesting is that you change your family lifestyle to revolve around foods that can be produced close to home. As prices go up and nutrition goes down, you really need to think about how you can provide as much of your own food as possible. A wonderful side effect is an improvement to your health and quite possibly, the loss of those last few pounds you may have been struggling with. People often ask me, If you dont shop at the grocery store, what do you eat? Because of a relocation we were unable to grow a huge garden last year so we did most of our shopping at a farm less than a mile down the road and the local Co-op. Our family diet includes lots of the following: We supplement a few times a week with: There really is a lot of simplicity with a local diet. The Internet abounds with paleo and primal websites loaded with recipes and ideas, many of them absolutely pure and delicious. The thing is, just like I recommended with a gluten-free diet, you have to let go of the way you eat now. If you go and buy highly processed substitutes for the food you eat right now, you arent doing your body or your budget any favors. If youre going to do that, you really shouldnt even bother making a change like this. Heres an example: 3 packs of paleo lasagna noodles for $55. Thats right:FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS. Are you kidding me? Id either live without lasagna, suck it up and eat regular wheat and endure the resulting bellyache, or make this fantastic eggplant lasagnawith produce from my garden and homemade cottage cheese. When planning your garden, be sure not to only grow food for the harvest season. Youll want to grow other food that can be preserved and eaten over the winter. For example, we grow row after row of tomatoes and peppers, and turn them into soup, marinara sauce, and salsa. We get bushels of apples at the local orchard, storing some in the cold cellar, while turning some into apple sauce, apple butter, and apple crisp filling. We grow far more potatoes than can be consumed at the time of harvest, and enjoy those throughout the winter as well. As with the end of any relationship, things will never be the same once you call it quits. But take heart in the fact that you are gaining far more than you are losing: youre saving tons of money; you are getting exercise and fresh air; providing delicious and healthy food; and spending time with your family learning some valuable skills. Do you have some small space gardening ideas to share with those who are just getting started? Are you living the dream of self-sufficiency? Please share your ideas in the comments section below! 