Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten

People often comment about the way their friends or family spend their money. Whether one chooses to pay $4.50 for a cup of coffee daily, $2000 on a fine piece of art, $15 for a salad, etc.

I firmly believe that we are at liberty to spend our money the way we deem fit. Nobody can tell us what is the "right" or "wrong" way to spend money. You may not agree with the way someone else spends their money, but that's okay, don't implement those practices in your life. For example, I don't need to pay $100 to go to a "professional" basketball game, it doesn't do anything for me, but if you want to do that, I don't mind, enjoy, if it makes you happy, by all means, do it! You may not spend $3.00 on a loaf of ciabatta bread from a local bakery, like I do. You may prefer to go to Costco, where you can buy 3 loaves of bread for that price.

What I am getting at is that you are making a lifestyle choice with the way you choose to spend your money. My $3.00 at the local bakery is supporting the bakers and the historic building the bakery is located in, the plethora of cute girls that work behind the counter, a slower lifestyle, where I get to talk to the producer of my food, etc. How cool! I have a personal relationship with the people who make my food and the people who sell me my food, I know that they are using ingredients that are of the highest quality and that we share similar beliefs in ways of life. It's real. You may think that this is putting too much thought into how we purchase our food but if you don't put thought into that, what do you put thought into? The food you eat is what keeps you alive. We often don't think about that in this society. Nobody I know has ever gone hungry. Food is so disposable and abundant that we forget that we need it to survive. It nourishes us. Without it, we would die. Seriously. That used to be a reality and it still is for some people, but for most people in our society, food is a chore or a treat or a vice. Most people eat without thinking where the food came from or where the food is going or what it is doing.

So if you are reading this, I just ask you to think about it. Think about what you consume. Think about how often you consume and who made your food, where did it come from. Who picked that apple? Who, or rather, what, made those crackers? Is the $3 for the fresh produce a better investment than the $.50 for the canned green beans. It is an investment, because, after all, your food nourishes you, the vitamins and the minerals in the food you eat affect your body, they aid in its optimal function. I don't know how much vitamins and minerals remain in canned green beans. You may end up paying the difference in medical bills or your health.