Shop more often at Farmer's Market (Change 137)

Well, Spring is here, and with it, all the assorted goodies of the season.  Fresh asparagus, rhubarb, spinach and lettuce are a few of the items in season.  With going back to work this spring, I missed out on sowing my spinach and lettuce for April, although I'm hopeful that the small lettuce plants I bought will thrive through the hot summer weather.  Our rhubarb is HUGE this year - I may have to start pawning the bounty off on my unsuspecting neighbours.  :)

Truthfully, our veggie garden is going to be smaller this year for a few reasons.  One, I just don't have the time right now to tend a large garden.  Two, we are in the process of landscaping our backyard, so some of my former veggie beds are under huge piles of dirt.  And three, I've decided to start using our local farmer's market.

Last year, I had investigated getting a CSA share.  With five of us to feed, I thought it might be economically worthwhile. However, the more I researched it, the more I realized that my picky eaters would not be happy with the variety offered by the CSA, and I'd probably end up composting quite a bit of the produce.

The farmer's market allows me to benefit from local, organic produce at reasonable prices, supporting local farmers' and agriculture, while providing me with the ability to pick and choose what I want to buy.  I think it will be a win-win situation - I'll keep you posted.

Purchase "less cruel" eggs (Change 113)

For those who know me, you are probably doing a double-take at the title of this blog entry.  For those of you who don't know me, DD1 is allergic to eggs, so I never have them in the house.

Well, almost never.  See, DH and I have a little secret.  We eat eggs when DD1 is away.

DH loves when the kids have a sleepover at the grandparents', because this means he can have eggs for breakfast every morning.  I got thinking about our ethical choices last weekend, when the kids went to my parents for a one night visit. 

Part of our date night ritual is to stop at the grocery store and buy fixings for breakfast.  Eggs, bacon or sausages, special treats (danishes, etc.) and lovely fruit.  This time, I decided to try buy a more environmentally-, or at least animal-friendly, choice.  And discovered, to my dismay, that there aren't many options at the local big chain store.

The links below take you to websites that explain the difference between caged chickens and more cruelty-free choices.

http://www.humanefood.ca/pdf%20links/cage-free-eggs-new-logo-v4.pdf

http://www.choosecagefree.ca/index.html

Although I watched "Food, Inc." and I've read several of Michael Pollan's books, the impact of factory farming shocks me every time I research ways to not support the system.

We ended up purchasing "free range, nest laid eggs", but after reading the definitions from the above websites, I'm still not convinced we made the best choice. 
 
Our next date night will involve a trip to the local health food store, to see if we can get Canada Organic, BC SPCA certified or Certified Local Sustainable eggs.