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why go to one big store with annoying music and bright lights when you could go to a small market, a butcher, a fishmonger, a wine store, and the farmers market to get everything you need? you get to spend so much more time in your community and often meet the people involved in the production of your food. making a meal with ingredients you've spent all day shopping for always feels like so much more of an accomplishment. it seems like our culture exports the act of mindful cooking onto 'organic' or 'whole food' type restaurants, when any individual person can really do it on their own
sure, it can be more expensive but in my experience supermarket costs are rising while other businesses have stayed relatively the same, so the cost difference is becoming smaller. it is admittedly easiest to do this in large cities and wealthier towns, but you'd be surprised at the resources you can find in even the most sprawling of suburbs. the home butcher and locally sourced produce can be hunted down fairly easily on places like craigslist and fb marketplace. for more rural people there are often wonderful options from native tribes and local hunting clubs for local game and fish. these options are honestly better than your urban gourmet markets since they do more to build community through individual connections
not every meal has to be a work of art, but taking the time once a month to source your food, inviting folks over to help cook and sharing the meal widely (buying in bulk is the most cost effective way to do this) does wonders for many things in your life, I cannot recommend this enough
this may sound like stating the obvious-- "local hipster says shop local" --but I mean this more in the way of mindfulness than anything. experience what you consume to the fullest manner you can
tldr
going to many small stores instead of one makes for a more mindful cooking experience and is only marginally more expensive.
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definitely niche, but grocery shopping feels so much nicer now?? like I know my money isn't going to some faceless corporation across the country
Jan 25, 2024
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whenever you can shopping at local/small businesses is good! that way youβre feeding back into the economy of real people rather than big corps which are obv more likely to be using problematic labor, sourcing, etc. even if nothings perfect, I feel like this tends to make the biggest direct impact in normal things youβd already do in everyday life (without also needing to be rich afπ)
Jan 25, 2025
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its kind of like a little shoppy shop if you really put your mind to it there is wonder to be discovered within. for example when you find the mini cheese ends that are like $2
Aug 26, 2024
Top Recs from @peskydog
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doodle some stuff and photocopy some random objects. write terrible poetry and print it. It doesn't have to mean anything to be art. leave them in cafes and train stations for anyone to find
Feb 16, 2025
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without the heater on (or just set to a lower temperature) you get to break out your cute throw blankets and make cozy drinks plus you're more aware of the weather. Cool easy way to connect with your environment and also save some money
Feb 15, 2025
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get fun postcards when traveling, they're usually in bookshops. write a bunch of inside jokes and stuff for your friends. once you start doing it everyone sends them to you when they travel its so fun
Feb 17, 2025