What I Learned from A Year of Living Locally

Can you believe it has been an entire year since I switched to local? That is a year of supporting local businesses, eating delicious local food and discovering hidden gems close to home.

Ryerson University

In one year I...

• Lost 20 lbs 
• Paid off all my credit cards (How I Paid off my Credit Cards by Going Local)
• Learned how to make cheese
• Learned about the food system
• Discovered local business's
• Became a gardener
• Went on the local radio and news
• Learned about myself
• And spread the word of local

There were times when being a Locavore felt socially isolating but what I learned from this experience far exceeded any of the personal struggles I faced. I learned that eating local is just the tip of the iceberg of things we can do to live more sustainably. My eyes were opened to the flaws in the food system that became more obvious when I took the time to learn about my food and what I was consuming. And once you have been wisened to the ills of the world, it is difficult to ever go back.

"Live simply so others can simply live."- Mahatma Gandhi

Un-Local Night

I learned that I have changed, even if the world around me has not. I recently visited Toronto for the National Student Food Summit and was disillusioned with a city that used to feel like home, instead it felt like an urban sink hole where all the problems of society seemed to flourish. I know now that I can carve out the kind of life I want by making decisions every day that will benefit me as well as others.

My first week of un-local-ness culminated with a blow out un-local night at Earl's Prince George with friends. When the cloud in my head lifted the next morning I understood that though it felt good to be bad I still had a guilty feeling left over, a feeling I could be free from as an ethical consumer.

I am a Locavore, I am a Freegan, I am a Change Maker.

Cheers to the end of a great year, and the beginning of a lifetime of local living.

XX Melanie

"Be the change you want to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

How I Paid Off my Credit Cards by Going Local

Today was a good day. Today I paid off the last dollar on my last credit card, a card that has carried a balance since I got it in 2008. I made a goal this year of paying off ½ of my credit card hoping the sacrifices I was making as a Locavore would pay off. And it did! In 10 months I have paid off my entire card!

I got my first credit card on my 18th Birthday to book plane tickets to Ireland. By the time I left on the trip I had maxed it out. The next year, I applied for a second credit card with another bank...and then a third, low interest card. These cards funded important causes like the Melanie goes to the Dominic Republic fund,  Melanie moves to Europe foundation and the all important Coach purse investments. That's when the eye opener hit me, I had accumulated over $10,000 in credit card debt. Any money I saved I used to travel thus the cycle of debt continued and my balance has remained quite high since. Until now.

Here are some of the ways going local has helped me reduce my debt and maybe how it can help you: 

• Buy less
• Reducing your overall consumption is the best possible way to go and that means keeping more $$$ for other things. Those impulse buys like Starbucks and Target are off the table when you only shop local. I still get treats from the market though ;) 
• Buy better
• Better quality purchases have cut down on my cost of replacing items over and over again. Spending a little more money on things that are hand made or from local business's pays off when it lasts 10x longer then the Wal-Mart equivalent. 
• Make your passion work for you
• I have been so lucky to find work doing the things I am interested and passionate about. Managing the University Farmers Markets means I get paid to be where I love which is also where I shop and get to know lovely people. 
• Freegan it up
• I have been pretty active in collecting food waste when I find it and over time this adds up to savings on my grocery bill. I would say nearly ½ of my diet has been food that would other wise have gone in the garbage. I have also foraged for wild foods ( Going Wild) and grown my own produce to help save. 
• Credit Union



Notankers.ca

• Switching banks has helped me save even more money (Putting your money where your mouth is), I switched to a local credit union and don't pay fee's for storing my money now. Integris has been helpful in my personal life as well as housing business accounts for my work and helping me save money as a student. 
• Travel
• Instead of buying flights I spent money exploring beautiful British Columbia this year. I saved again when I used Couchsurfing and AirBnB for my accommodation instead of booking into a corporate hotel. 
• Biking
• If you drive or take the bus to get around, biking will help save you money on transportation. This is year I've biked my legs off and see the benefits on my wallet and my waist line. 
• Healthier
• Eating better food and being more active has also made me healthier. I don't use any medications anymore including my asthma inhaler and even shy away from Tylenol for headaches choosing natural remedies and keeping my money away from grubby pharmaceutical companies and in savings. 

I have become a better spender now, and learnt that I want to live within my means and ultimately be debt free. In 3 years of University I will have a whole new set of debt to worry about and I am just grateful that now I can focus on debt from my education and be free from my big scary credit card, forever! 

Happy spending,

Melanie XX

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy local, and that's kind of the same." -Unknown 

From Party Girl to Locavore

2007

A wise teacher of mine sent me an article called: From Drunk Dude to Dude Making a Difference, to show I wasn't alone in my struggle to live better. And after reading I realized how far I had come from a corporate, self centred urbanite to...well a locavore. I wasn't necessarily a drunk chick and my house is way bigger than a shed but I can definitely see a bit of me in this blog. I worked in corporate sales for and airline, partied with my friends, ate crappy food, shopped all my money away (and built debt) and Toronto was my whole world. I might have still been doing that today if heart break and boredom did not push me to make a change.

2008

I travelled (nothing new there lots of people do this everyday day), I ate meat, breaking from my decade long vegetarian diet and I had experiences. Travelling expanded my horizons and made me think more about others, made me realize possibilities and allowed me to be who I wanted to be. When I returned to Canada I had a goal of learning more and finding out what I wanted to dedicate my life to.

2009

University has been a trans-formative experience for me. Not only have I changed most of my consumer behaviours but I am closer to finding a 'calling' then I have ever been before. Turning my interests into work and manoeuvring the student life had changed me for the better. I began to care, about something other than myself.

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Ok, so I haven't changed entirely (as you can see from the photos) but how far it seems I've come from my old self. Instead of hopping on the subway I bike, instead of designer purses I thrift, instead of creating debt I am eliminating it and instead of sugary cocktails I drink local wines and beers. I care about something other than my own existence and work at making the world a better place.

2014

This year as a Locavore has changed me too. Learning there is another way to live is the first step in changing yourself. Ten months later I know the end of my challenge is approaching but I don't feel like it will deter me from the lifestyle I have come to appreciate.


Have a lovely day,

Melanie XX

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself" - Leo Tolstoy

Walking the line

With my University recently on strike I was suddenly put in a scenario where throwing all of your eggs into one basket can have negative effects on every aspect of your life. After more then two weeks off of school I can safely say I have have watched more then my fair share of Netflix, caught up on enough sleep to get me through the year and eaten all the junk food in my cupboards. Being off of school also means I am out of work as I have taken up all of my jobs on campus. Not only is my routine totally thrown off by being home for weeks I am also cut off from my finances and social world. Pairing the strike and the preceding two week winter break (an extra week to support the Canada Winter Games held in Prince George) means that I have been off of work for over a month.

The direct effects so far, apart from obvious classes being cancelled, also trickle into what I have discovered was a very precarious situation I have set for myself. I shop weekly at the University Farmers Market, which we had to cancel as to not cross the picket lines (#solidarity). Because I buy only what I need week to week, I have had to go downtown and shop outside of my normal vendors. This will effect there business's and livelihoods as well as my own as I am spending more then usual. The UFM is also a job for me and missing out on that work and events we had planned will impact the other people we employ and vendors who come out weekly.  I am also effected because all of my jobs, my only sources of income are all on campus. I work 2 shifts a week for the campus coffee shop which was closed for the duration of the strike. I also work for PGPIRG as the local foods coordinator and had planned a Good Food Box that due the strike has been postponed, and because of that have had to cancel next months box, which will mean less pay for me (probably half) for this month and next month.

Losing the Good Food Box as a source of inexpensive produce for the month means that I have had to shop for more produce at a higher price then I had budgeted. At this time of year buying groceries is slightly more expensive as food is out of season and harder to come by, thus being out of money I am trying to be resourceful with my eating choices whilst trying to maintain my local only diet. This means cutting back on extravagances, like my favourite organic cheese that is about $10.00 a block at Ave Maria's , or any cheese at all for me. Still this lifestyle at times is more expensive then the average consumers diet and not being able to afford to continue purchasing good food I was driven to visit the campus food bank to grab a few cupboard items to tie me over.

In short, less money and more expenses makes Mel a broke girl.

I am not blaming the strike on anyone, it happened, but I was not prepared for how much it would effect me and how fine a line I walk. Heading back to class tomorrow (and to work) I am looking forward to moving forward with the end of this years studies and regaining my financial stability and seeing all of my friends at the Farmers Market again!

Have a great week!

Melanie

"No one benefits from a strike." Chaz Bickers