The Best Laid Plans

Okay, so the stars aligned for me today and from 8:30 AM until 1:15 PM I was left with only one child, the older two having gone off to spend the morning with Nanna & Pop. This was my chance to head out to Oakridge Farm and give their selection a once over with only one distraction, and she's still in an infant seat so I couldn't have asked for more. Baby had already been awake for 2 hours by the time the boys left, so I put her down for her morning nap as usual and planned to go once she awoke. She takes two naps a day at this point, a one hour & a two hour, but they seem to be interchangeable in her mind despite my need for a more consistent and reliable schedule. No problem though, even if she slept until 10:30 I'd have plenty of time to get there and back before the boys came home. No problem. No problem.

Three loads of laundry later 11:30 rolled around and not a peep from the monitor. I decided it was time to wake her. My fridge is completely void of milk, juice, eggs, and meat so I either make it to the store or eating locally will mean Pizza tonight. I went up and slowly opened the door to her room. Awww, she's actually smiling in her sleep. She's so peaceful and content. She looks so warm and cozy. I have the envy of one who only got six hours of interrupted sleep. I can't do it. Surely she'll wake up before noon and I can still make it out the door. One more of the seven loads of laundry I will finish today, and I finally here a pleasant squeak from the monitor. It's 12:15. I go and retrieve my well-rested smiley cherub. It's 12:40 by the time I finish nursing her (at least one of my children eats local). I can't possibly leave now. Sigh.

Soon after 1:00 Nanna and Pop arrive with the boys. I immediately whisk son number two up for his nap. He'll be down for the next 2 1/2 to 3 hours, so even if I wanted to take all three kids with me to the store it wouldn't be until 4 PM, and every mother of toddlers knows that 4:30 is the start of the witching hour when your normal well-mannered sweet children turn into crazed fussy needy things that drive you crazy while you're desperately trying to cook dinner. Luckily, I won't have to go then. Nanna offers to stay with the baby while my 4 year old and I run out to our local Shaws. I can't ask them to stick around while I run all the way to Oakridge. It's only 6.7 miles but it actually take 15 minutes to get there. My Shaws takes 4 minutes. So off we go to do our best at Shaw.

Other than a few quick label glances, I found it difficult to comparison shop at such a large store, while in a rush, and keeping tabs on my son. I wasn't sure how I'd done, so I'm actually reading the labels as I type this part. Here are the results:

Bananas - The banana are from Costa Rica. It's the only item I knowingly picked up that's not from this continent. And, I didn't buy organic. I usually buy organic when available but I haven't been doing so with bananas because the pesticides don't penetrate the peel and leach into the food that my children will ultimately consume. However, if I'm to truly consider my effect on the earth I guess I should try to avoid any item grown using pesticides that I know are toxic to this planet. Next time... Costa Rica to Clinton, MA? ~2,400 miles

Wild Harvest boneless chicken thighs @ 3.29/lb (.$30 more per pound then the alternative). This is Shaws own brand of organic meat. I can't figure out where it originates but it says on the package that it's distributed out of Boise, Idaho. 2,638 miles

Rold Gold pretzels made in Plano, TX. I don't suppose I'm going to find locally made pretzels in this day and age...I guess unless I live in Texas. 1,749 miles

Pace Pico de Gallo sauce. I did look long and hard for some local salsa; well, as long and hard as my 4 year old would allow anyway. He wasn't in a browsing mood so it was either move along or he was leaving without me. Parix, TX - 1,655 miles (any chance it road in with my pretzels?)

Snyders Multigrain Tortilla Strips, All Natural in Savory Blue, of Hanover, PA. We're getting closer! 403 miles (As an after note, these are yucky. I much prefer Tostitos blue chips but they were out.)

Weetabix cereal. Now we're talking. It doesn't get any closer than this. There's a Weetabix plant right here in my little town. I've never tried it before but it definitely fits in with my new mission. I'm a Cheerios gal but I'm willing to give it a go. Wait a second. I just noticed a funny label stuck on my box of Weetabix. It says "Made by Weetabix ltd Main Rd, UK". What's up with that??? There's a plant in my town and I just bought the stuff from England? Are you serious? Okay, now that I look at their USA site you can't even buy Wheetabix at any grocery store in Clinton. I can't win. ~3,663 miles

Let's move on to vegetables. I know that none of the fresh ones in the produce department are local, which is fine because the green beans and asparagus are really floppy today. Yuck. I opt for frozen Green Giant green beans & almonds, shoepeg white corn, and sweet peas & pearl onions. I'm still trying to stay in the states and these say they're from Minneapolis, MN. Or at least, that's where most of them are from. Turns out, now that I look closely, the pearl onions in my peas come from Belgium. I'm not kidding. It doesn't say, but I bet the water they used in the packaging is from France of something. Anyway, that makes 1,366 miles and 3,854 miles respectively. How depressing.

Saved By The Dairy:

I happen to be lucky enough to live 58.6 miles from Stonyfield Farms. These people are organic, they recycle, offset emissions, use solar electricity, and donate 10% of their profits to "efforts that help protect and restore the earth". At least with them I can't go wrong. I buy 1/2 gallon of milk for $4.79 ($2.00 more then the non-organic), a 10 oz strawberry organic smoothie for $1.79 ($.79 more), and one maple vanilla yogurt my son picked out for $1.00 (.$20 more). While I'm distracted my son throws in two Yoplait brand yogurts from Minneapolis. Hopefully they travelled with my Green Giant vegetables on the 1,366 mile journey.

I'm almost done! I just need juice and eggs. Stonyfield doesn't make juice, or if they do my Shaws doesn't carry it. I scour the shelf for something other than Tropicana. I find a Garelick Farms brand from Franklin, ME. I could do worse; 288 miles. And even though my son suddenly has to go to the bathroom (yes, I asked before we left the house) I do manage to find a package of Born Free eggs from Watertown, MA. 40 miles

I have to say this was a fairly enlightening trip to the grocery store. And I'd love to talk more about it but honestly, my daughter refuses to go down for her second nap...can't imagine why, and my 2 year old is calling me from his crib. It's also now 4:35 and time for me to try to cook dinner during the aforementioned witching hour. More later.