My husband wanted biscuits and gravy for breakfast, but made with hot sausage. I accidentally picked up Italian sausage. But he realized hot sausage is just sausage with red pepper flakes added, so he added a bunch to normal sausage and got his spicier breakfast.
As he was telling me this I realized how trained we are to be consumers. The automatic reaction when he told me what he wanted was that I had to pick up hot sausage when I was out that day. My first thought wasn’t that I should make it myself. Or, honestly, have Art make it since he does most of the cooking.
Which is odd if you know us, if you have been around when we’re canning, spent any time in our pantry, helped stack firewood, and so on. It’s not like we live in an apartment in a city with easy access to what we need. It’s not like we’re not used to no power for days, or the highway shut down.
Yet with all that, I immediately, without thought, became a consumer. How weird.
I have a cookbook from the 1800s. I’ve kept it because it has everything in it and if the world ever goes to shit, that cookbook is going to be invaluable. It’s full of directions on raising food, harvesting, butchering, preserving, and using all with no waste. Do I ever open it? Rarely. Do I ever use any of the recipes? Even more rare.
Yes, I bake my own bread. I have sourdough starter. But wow, it’s so easy to just nip into the store when I’m down below and grab a loaf.
Yes, I make homemade soup, and made a great beef barley stew with red wine last night. But, wow, it’s so easy to just open a can.
Have you ever noticed how many homemade recipes involve opening a can of this and a can of that?
I recently came across a recipe for making your own pancake mix. I was actually surprised and thought it would be a great idea. Why am I surprised? How did I think people made pancakes before commercial pancake mix appeared? I mean, besides the sourdough pancakes I make with that starter.
We are so well-trained by this society we live in here, that we must buy without any thought to what an alternative might be. And the buy culture has been made so, so easy that we never give it a second thought. It’s so natural, so normal, that many don’t know any different and aren’t even aware of the trap.
Plus, don’t get me started on throwing things away. I remember as a kid, dad replacing picture tubes in the television when it quit working. Now, you can’t easily find repairmen. You just throw it away and buy another. Because it’s easier, and even more horrible, cheaper than repairing.
I like to think I’m not caught in that consumer trap but it’s the little things like a package of sausage that causes a quiet voice in my head to say, yes you are and you just don’t know it.
Lisa Stowe - The Story River Blog 
we all are😣
I feel lucky to know how it tastes when you cook your own garden veggies instead of bought ones! Some people are so used to all the additives in food that they don’t even know how normal foods tastes anymore.
But with how busy our lives are, it’s totally understandable when people just grab the easy way out.
it’s all about balance 😉🥰
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Balance in all things; so very important.
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Thought provoking post. I don’t use mixes for cakes, pancakes, etc., and we buy fresh breads at the many bakeries here in Braga (Portugal). But I do use canned goods – mainly beans, instead of soaking them overnight.
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We usually think of a bean dish too late to soak! And when I make cakes they’re from scratch, but not pancake mix unless it’s sourdough. I feel kind of silly for not thinking of making my own sooner.
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I make almost all my food from scratch – but I dream of getting my meals delivered (without plastic!) by a caterer some day! The scene for non-edibles is the same in my country – try and get anything repaired and they trot out the mantra ‘use-and-throw’ at you. It’s infuriating!
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Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a caterer or chef? Well, I probably have a chef since my husband does most of the meal cooking. I bake the bread, do the canning, etc., but he’s the cook. And homemade is not only cheaper in a lot of ways, but is better for you and actually has flavor. The temptation is the convenience though. I’m lucky that my husband is also great at taking things apart and fixing them. I don’t know how people manage who have to pay for those types of services. You’re right, that ‘use and throw’ is infuriating.
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My husband says he wants to do the cooking but I’m a very impatient teacher! Send so much easier to do it yourself than instruct someone (particularly a very inept someone) in everything from where to find things down to the last seasoning. Still, I guess it’ll be worthwhile in the end
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Not gonna lie I’m in my 20’s since after graduating I have been thinking in the same way.
I fact I have my trainers and want to repair them instead of buy new ones.
My mom is old 55 but she thinks like the society thinks just to replace buy new ones.
People around us don’t know anything about how much re the landfills loaded wid re replacing products
Thanks
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Sorry, I had to laugh when you said your mom was old at 55. Guess I’m ancient. I hate to think about landfills.
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