I type this post with fear and trembling. I have made a huge goal for the month of February. I have no idea what it will even entail. But, there is no going back. I announced it to the Face Book World at large.
My goal is to kick Wal-Mart & Sam’s OUT of my family’s life. To be fair, I have already begun to move that way in our eating. It’s the convenience of Sam’s Club, I have not given up. With Sam’s, you can log online, sign in, fill your grocery cart and magically, pick your groceries up the next day in 30 minutes or less. Not a bad deal for a mother of four small children
I remember when Wal-Mart, then Sam’s came to Mobile. With sparkly fairy dust in our eyes, we were in awe.
If we only knew what we knew now.
Socially, economically, & nutritionally, Wal-Mart/Sam’s is not a business that I support. We have all heard that they treat their employees unfairly, we know that their prices are horrible & let’s just say that their fresh fruits & veggies are less than fresh.
So, now I begin to act on my desire to feed my children fresh, wholesome food, to support local businesses & farmers to the best of my ability. I first step is the kick the Wally World Habit.
Here is what I do now. This is my baseline:
I belong to Grow Alabama CSA. ;-P If you choose to sign up, please tell them I sent you!
I grind my own wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, which I buy from honeyville grains.
I hear that there is a cheese farm in Elberta & there are at least two ranches with local meat.
I am planning a backyard garden with friends. My dream is to learn to grow edible & medical herbs & mushrooms.
I will soon meet with a city councilman to begin working toward changing my city’s livestock laws. In this day of urban homesteading, I think 6 chickens is very reasonable. In fact, I read a wonderful article in Chickens Magazine – no roosters, neighbors’ permission & flock limit of 6.
So, send me happy thoughts & many prayers! I’ll let you know how I do!
Wow! I saw your post on FB & was about to comment “why”. Then I read a little further. What a goal! I still have my grainmill (hand crank) but I haven’t used it since Myah was born. I can’t wait to get back to the “fresh” breads. We are so much alike. I had chickens & roosters when I got pregnant. They left when the morning sickness set in! I try to buy local fresh produce. I would love to buy free-range meat but it’s expensive. Meat is one thing I don’t buy at WM. My dad works at WM & yes they treat their employees terribly. His saving grace is that he doesn’t have to work, it’s a get-out-of-the-house-thing for him. I’m going to check out Grow Alabama. I buy my grains from BreadBeckers but will compare prices with Honeyville. You & your new goal will be in my prayers! Thanks for the inspiration!
A plug for Food For Less, locally owned and operated. The Manning family is a wonderful Christian, generous family. That would help with the things like paper goods, and cleaning supplies. I would rather give them my money than the big money maker. I have also started to frequent our new Dollar General. The selection is not as vast, but you are in and out. They have also added more herbs and supplements to their store. Now, we just need a cow for milk.
Good for you! I think it’s fantastic that you’ve made this decision. A few years ago I began buying our produce and misc stock from a local farm and I feel so much better for it. And as far as chickens go, I sincerely hope you’ll be able to change your councils policy. I live in Western Australia in a suburban neighborhood and we are allowed up to 6 chickens that are penned. My husband and I have had only 4 at any one time and we’ve never had any problems with smell or noise. You take care of your chickens and they’ll take care of you with wonderful eggs in abundance.
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