Abigail Koffler On Food In The Time of Covid-19

Abigail Koffler, the founder of food newsletter This Needs Hot Sauce (and recent winner of a Substack grant!), joined me on Instagram Live this week to discuss food and money. 

You can watch a portion of that interview in our Instagram story highlights, but we thought it would be helpful to share the links and ideas that came out of our discussion in this newsletter. 
 
Saving Money On Groceries
Abigail, a vegetarian, suggests that eating less meat is a great place to start. Beans are a cheap protein substitute and can star in dishes like tacos, curry, or salads. Another tip? Avoid food waste by keeping your fridge organized. When things are about to go bad, you can turn them into pestos, smoothies, or sauces. Abigail also suggests relying on condiments when cooking to keep things interesting.

When it comes to shopping, it can be hard to price compare right now. We’re unable to go to several stores to get the best prices, so it’s important to give yourself a little slack when it comes to spending. Keep in mind that for most of us, grocery spending has taken over several budget categories: going out to eat, grabbing drinks with friends, and having a coffee on the way to work.

It may help ease anxiety to rework your budget. If you’re a person who categorizes based on spending, consider combining your dinner, drinks, and coffee line items into one broader “food” category. 

You may also want to consider splitting a grocery order with neighbors to reduce delivery costs. Abigail suggests agreeing to each order a certain amount of items, then splitting the delivery fee if there is one. 

Workers from Amazon, Target, Instacart, Walmart, and Shipt are striking Friday in honor of International Workers Day. Do your best to avoid crossing the picket line, and share your support for workers on social media.
 
Supporting Restaurant Workers
To start, advocate for better policies on paid leave, hazard pay, and a higher minimum wage by calling your federal, state, and local representatives. As Abigail said, the government is not doing enough to help workers. 

While we wait for better policies, you can support your favorite local spots by giving to the GoFundMe and Venmo funds to support displaced workers. This Eater list is a great place to find relief funds to support. Some restaurants have funds specifically for undocumented workers, who are an important group to support right now. 

Many restaurants are converting to grocery stores and selling ingredients like flour or farm shares, according to Abigail. Consider diverting some of your grocery shopping to a local restaurant. 

Abigail also has some surprising suggestions for how to support your favorites: order directly from winemakers, buy dishes from the ceramicists who work with restaurants, and buy merch from your go-to spot. 
 
Takeout Best Practices
Extremely! Important! It’s not enough just to buy takeout from your local spot. Do what you can to avoid using a platform like Seamless or Caviar — they take a cut of the payment.  Try to call the restaurant you’re ordering from directly, and consider picking up the order to spare a delivery worker from having to go out. 

Abigail suggests tipping $20 or 30%. She added that if you have the funds, ordering more than you normally would, like an appetizer or an extra meal that would be good to eat leftover, is another great way to offer support. 
 
Managing Mental Health & Meal Prep
According to Abigail, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, and “snack dinners” made of your favorite meats, cheeses, and dips are easy, comforting meals that may go down easy. 

She suggests staying hydrated, and going with the flow: if you want to eat two larger meals in a day, or several smaller ones, that’s okay!

Many people with eating disorders have found that they’ve fallen back into using certain behaviors like restricting, binging, or purging during this time. Diet talk has been rampant online, and even for folks who don’t have an eating disorder, food habits have changed quite a bit over the past month. 

Abigail suggests editing who you follow on social media, especially food and fitness accounts. If they’re making you feel bad, unfollow. 

I keep coming back to a quote from Ellyn Satter that my therapist shared with me when I was starting to recover from an eating disorder. 

“Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, or bored, or just because it feels good.” Yes!! 
 
Supporting Food Nonprofits
Abigail recommends giving money locally, with an eye toward vulnerable populations. For instance, Sage is a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ seniors. 

Check out your local mutual aid group: many are seeking volunteers to buy groceries for seniors or immunosuppressed people. 

If you end up getting sick, it may be hard to access food, as one community member, Gaby Garcia pointed out. She popped into our Instagram Live to suggest Eat Offbeat, a care package provider run by refugees. 

Finally, Abigail suggests supporting Feed the Frontlines, which helps pay restaurants to cook meals for hospital workers.