NY Resolution Progress

1. Stop buying supermarket chicken.
   I haven't achieved this but I did try to place an order for chicken (and some other bits) with Penleigh Butchers and it only didn't happen because they are newly online and the tech said we were out of their catchment area. I've been in touch with Owen who said they will deliver to us and I have it on my to do list to try again. So hopefully by the next update our chicken buying habits will be much improved.
2. Reduce food waste.
   It's hard to measure this but I do feel I'm doing a better job. Thanks to a suggestion from Denia, I chop and freeze veggie cuts for soup (think broccoli stems, parsnips that are starting to look sad) and I am trying to buy fewer things that will go off quickly, like bagged salad. We have also started popping into our local Community Fridge. We try not to take too much as we want it to primarily serve those struggling to put food on the table, however by taking items that are in abundance and are often very near their shelflife, like bread, then we are helping reduce local waste as well as that in our own kitchen.
3. Learn to cook unfamiliar seasonal veg
   I'm doing ok with this. I started the year trying to buy seasonal, UK sourced veg from the supermarket and recently I've outsourced the need to think too hard by signing up to a fortnightly veg box from Root Connections. So far there has not been anything too alien, however I am faced with items I don't usually cook and that I'm a little worried my kids won't eat. Beetroot, red cabbage, spring greens. I will have to learn fast as I don't want to take the easy route which would be to just make a lot of soups!
4. Grow more
   No, not yet. I don't have an indoor space to grow seeds and quite honestly I'm a fair-weather gardener with much to learn.
5. Preserve more
   Again not much activity on this front however that beetroot and red cabbage would (I'm told) make a fantastic ferment, so watch this space!

In summary I've not made overwhelming progress but I think it's important to build habits that will last rather than try to achieve everything at once, find it too hard and quit. Growing more and preserving more sort of go hand-in-hand and I think will likely blossom with the seasons.

I think with slow and positive progress something else really important is happening; I'm constantly thinking about how to do better and have less and less reliance on supermarkets. I'm conscious of where my pound is going and where my food has come from. I think (and am happy to be told I'm wrong) that for dried goods like pasta, grains and legumes, as well as toiletries and cleaning products, I will continue shopping at the supermarket for a while. But by buying local meat, poultry, eggs, milk and vegetables, we're making sure that we support farmers and we're learning so much along the way.

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