Living an organic life on a kool-aid budget

I had planned to skip posting today since its been a flurry of activity with both the spousal unit and I on deadlines. Plus I am still trying to get caught up on client work since I basically lost two weeks of work this month between me and mini-me being sick, plus I start the new gig as director of a community center in a couple of weeks, so I gotta hustle.

However as I was doing my usual tour of blogs, I was visiting one of the homey blogs and the blogger had posted a picture of some lush looking house-slippers that she had gotten her kids, handmade, fair-trade action. Good stuff, you would think until I clicked the link of the place she bought them at…how come these nice lil slippers were $36? House-shoes for $36? For a kid? Come on now…

No, I am not sipping my hater-aid but while I care about getting good quality shit for my family the idea of buying some house-shoes for $36 for a kid who will outgrow them in no time is just not something I personally would do. Shit, I am still wearing the $5 specials I bought last year at a local store, some shit just does not warrant spending a crazy sum of money. Yep, go ahead and call me cheap.

On a deeper level though, I was once again reminded of how living a more eco-friendly and healthy lifestyle is something that is conveniently priced out of reach of the working and poor masses. Seriously, when is the last time you saw someone at the health food store with food stamps? Um, that’s not something I see. Shit, when I go to the local health food place, I can spend $50 and not even have a whole bag full of food. I exist smack in the middle class but even I have to pick and choose what I can afford to do as far as living a conscious lifestyle.

Let’s not even talk about the fact that in some areas, you can’t access 100% organic nothing even if you wanted to, how many times have I talked about life on the southside of Chicago and the best I could get for produce was some damn iceberg lettuce and sorry looking apples and bananas?

Now I know there are folks who do manage to eat healthy on a kool-aid budget, however to generally do this requires living some place where you can grow some food yourself. Last time I checked many po folks live in concrete jungles devoid of any land which to grow anything except something in a pot provided they have some decent windowsills. Shit, one might think it was a conspiracy to keep the most vulnerable members of society away from the good shit as far as good eats goes.

I know I am probably just ranting and shit, but nope no $36 house-shoes here for anyone who can’t earn some cash towards paying for em.

7 thoughts on “Living an organic life on a kool-aid budget”

  1. I feel you it is much cheaper to get a burger off the value meal or fried chicken it is than a grilled chicken and some salad (and that ain’t even the best healthies food for you).

    Its really sad.

    And $36 for children’s slippers, WHAT?

    -OG

  2. I agree. The first thing I noticed upon moving out of the ghetto and going to college was the grocery stores. The variety of fresh food, the air conditioning, working grocery carts (or the fact that they had any at all), the doors opening up all by themselves. LOL crying shame.

    But your post is on point. It’s definitely a conspiracy to keep the poor away from ANYTHING with quality. Can somebody post the name of this blog so I can see these damn house shoes? lol

  3. i feel ya, but to be honest, health food stores dont have the healithies food, just the more expensive foods, healithier foods u grow yourself

    have a great weekend

  4. LOL…Teeyuh, being in a mulitracial relationship, I’ve had to adjust to the phrase “house shoes” and gradually dump my inclination to say “slippers” instead. I sometimes regress, but mostly I do good. Not that I’m out to dump all my white stuff, because…well, I’m white and there’s no changing that fact…but I’ve always been of the attitude that I need to do my fair share of assimilation into black culture.
    😉

    (Also, in this time of year, I’m reminded that I need to call the stuff you serve with the Thanksgiving turkey “dressing” instead of “stuffing.”)

  5. I’m with you, that’s an insane price for some house shoes. (BTW, you took me back to childhood with that phrase. I don’t think my husband or his family use that term, but then again, they are white folks. LOL)

    Let me confess, I have gone to the Hanna Andersson website way too many times and put their ‘unders’ in my cart, only to debate why I need to spend so much money on draws that my daughter doesn’t even ask for. I can tell she thinks they are comfortable, but she ain’t complainin’ about her Hanes, so I continue to keep taking the ‘unders’ out of my cart (or just leave the site altogether).

    I’m nosy about these damn house shoes, now, btw. I’m gonna have to know where to find that blog now. Hehe.

  6. I am rolling on the floor laughing girl. This post is so on point. It is a conspiracy to keep the healthiest foods away from the folks who need it most. When I used to live in the South Bronx, I had to take the subway almost 30 minutes away to get some whole grain, non-high fructose corn syrup bread. If I had my kids back then, I would have been headed right across the street to the bodega to get whatever the hell they sold there.

    I’m on a kool-aid budget for real and unfortunately, organics had to go. The only way I am seeing organic food becoming part of our lives again is through this garden I’m trying to do so I’m so happy that we live just outside the city and have a little yard to do something with. I can’t justify going to the HFS and dropping $100 for 1 and 1/2 bags of groceries. Not that I can’t justify it. I just can’t do it. I need that dollar to stretch.

    It’s so frustrating too, to note how condescending these “eco-friendly folks” can be . . .

    Shoot, I don’t even buy myself $36 slippers much less for the kids. Really? I can think of at least 36 eco-friendly things to do with $36.

    LoL. Great post.

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