Consumerism

I'm not a crazy granola-crunchy, attachment-parenting, worried about everything hyper-liberal mom (no, Time Magazine, I'm not "Mom enough," but thanks for asking). I'm not some psycho mama-grizzly from "real America." I'm just a mom somewhere in the middle trying to do what's right.

I try to be a conscientious consumer, but day after day I'm finding it harder and harder. Maybe part of it is that I'm trying to balance too many things all at once. Maybe part of it is that I have too much time to stand in the grocery store paralyzed between the various choices.

I want to help my budget at home = buy cheap

I want to help the national economy = buy American

I want to shield my daughter from unnecessary chemicals = buy organic

I want to shield the planet from unnecessary fossil fuels = buy local

And that's just a start.

I have trouble getting Lily to eat protein that isn't soy based. One of the few forms of meat she'll eat is spaghetti and meatballs. So, last week I headed out to go buy ingredients for spaghetti and meatballs.

Because my husband is diabetic, I have to buy the Dreamfields pasta that I can only reliably find at our local Vons.

I've been trying to avoid canned tomatoes when possible (I'm not afraid of all plastic bottles, but having read up on the whole BPA in canned tomatoes issue, and given the amount of tomato sauce we rely on, it seems like something to avoid when possible), so I wanted to buy the kind in a box. Those are only available at the Italian deli down the street.

I also prefer to buy grass-fed beef, since it's usually leaner, has more nutritional value, and, when it comes right down to it, tastes better. There are two stores nearby that sell it, but at one the beef is imported from Uruguay, and at the other the beef is imported from Australia. Hmm...what do I care more about? Nutrients or carbon footprints?

In the end, I gave in and headed for Vons since the diabetes is the most pressing of the various issues. I ended up buying Bison from Colorado instead of the beef (not sure if it's actually a better choice nutritionally, but at least it's not coming from halfway around the world). I bought prepared marinara sauce in a glass jar instead of buying the canned tomatoes so that I could make my own. In the end I didn't feel overly guilty about any of the various purchases, and Lily ate her spaghetti and meatballs happily.

Even so, the amount of thinking and planning and compromising that went into just that one meal seemed crazy. Not to mention that buying the special pasta and the ($8/lb!!) bison and the prepared marinara sauce means that our basic spaghetti and meatballs dinner was really fairly expensive. Fortunately, our family is financially in a place where we can afford to make those choices, but for far too many people it's just not possible.

I have friends on all sides of the shopping ideology spectrum, from those on limited budgets whose only real concern is finding food cheap, to those who don't really cook and rely on frozen pizza and prepared meals, to those who are fanatical about certain issues (the gluten-free, vegan, all organic, farmer's market only, crowd). I try to split the difference and make the best decisions I can without driving all over town, spending a fortune, or going insane.

Part of me honestly doesn't understand why it's so hard. I have to imagine that I'm not the only one trying to be economically, environmentally, and nutritionally sound while also being practical and living my life. I just want to be able to make good choices for my family, my community, and my planet all at the same time.