$2 for a head of lettuce

I have always loved to eat. In fact, I learned how to cook when I was about 9 or 10 because I was so greedy that my mother finally told me, "If you want home cooked meals, cook it yourself". I didn't hesitate to jump right in and get to work. I remember coming home from dance class or track practice and completely destroying the kitchen cuz I was so hungry! I was a growing child, and I needed my nourishment damn it!

I have always enjoyed junk food-french fries, pizza, cookies, you name it. But nothing brings a bigger smile to my face like a BIG plate of pasta. Ah, I love it! I could eat pasta everyday. What's even better is having a nice, leafy green salad on the side before I devour my pasta. Ah, beautiful greens...nice shiny dressing hanging off the sides...crunchy croutons...Wait-$2 lettuce...What the....
YO! Are you serious??!! $2 for a head of lettuce??!! I hate to sound like my Grandpa Raymond, but "I remember the old days when..." Okay, never mind. I'm sure you get the picture.

But seriously though-I really DO remember when lettuce was like $.69 a head. Seems like I went down for a nap and woke up to find it $2 a head; and forget about trying to find something organic. You'll have to put your first born on layaway. Needless to say, my family does not eat salad very much anymore. It makes me kind of sad to cut out my salad addiction. When I was in college, my old roommate and I used to have salad twice a day, every single day. Sometimes I would just make a gigantic super-salad for dinner. Nowadays I would go broke trying to feed my cravings.

I even thought about starting a garden. Both of my grandparents have always been great gardeners. And I remember having fresh vegetables all of the time. I could start a garden of my own right? Well, that would mean digging in dirt and everything; and I really HATE worms. In fact, I hate most bugs. I'm pretty chicken when it comes to bugs. Digging in dirt would also mean getting my nails dirty. Gloves don't really help that much-they just make them a tiny bit less dirty. Besides, starting a garden in my backyard that is not fenced in is probably against some Homeowner's Association rule or something. We'd get fined, everyone would be pissed at us, etc. etc. So-scratch the whole garden thing.

My efforts to keep veggies in my diet has not been an easy one. As 30 started to creep up on me, I decided I needed to start eating a little healthier. Problem is, eating healthy is more expensive than eating junk. It is so much easier to grab a cheeseburger off the Dollar Menu at McDonald's than it is to get some steamed veggies and brown rice. No wonder the poorest of our population is the most unhealthy. I can only imagine how they fare in this whole quest for healthy living. Pretty sad. Perhaps instead of starting a garden, I will make a plea to the government to give my local farmers yet another tax break. Perhaps then I can afford fresh veggies without breaking the bank.