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Last Night's Dinner of Farro with Green Onion Sauce, Toasted Walnuts and Asparagus, taken from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson, was all local apart from the Farro. This recipe made enough for five healthy meals at an approximate cost of $3 per portion.

Yesterday's post, designed to find out how my shopping list compares to other readers' backfired on me and instead I was grilled by the commentors. I purposely did not add too much extra information to the original because my purpose was to highlight he shopping list itself. But now its clear some extra information will help put it in perspective.

The green onions were expensive (two bunches $3.50): Yes they were, but they were rather large with a more developed bulb and they just looked so beautiful.

Just curious, will that feed both of you b/l/d for a week? Not exactly. Fred doesn't eat breakfast and he takes care of himself at lunchtime. Aside from the two nights I will be out this week, this (along with ingredients I already had in the fridge/pantry) will feed me for lunch, dinner and breakfast. Mealtimes at weekends are a bit Topsy turvy for us and don't usually fit into a regular mealtime pattern.

What's the average number of meals you eat at home during the week? Also do you only shop once per week?: Evenings we probably average four or five meals at home a week. Apart from the rare time when I absolutely need an ingredient I don't have and have to rush to the local grocery, yes, I only shop once a week.

Does this feed you and Fred without eating out? Fred and I always eat out every week so it is difficult to judge. However, I do believe that I could stretch this bunch of ingredients, in conjunction with what is in my pantry/fridge, to feed us well for a week if we weren't to go out. In fact I think I bought too much here. For example - the avocados will probably last me three weeks in total.

Where is Acme selling the sandwich? Inside?: Yes the sandwich was inside - you'll have to double check which days it is available.

Do you cook everyday? Do you plan your meals ahead of time? If you do cook everyday, What time do you get home from work and what time do you eat dinner? I cook every day that we are not eating out. Usually when I go to the market I have one or two recipes in mind for which I have a physical list of ingredients and then I pick up what else looks good to make dishes ad lib. When I choose recipes in advance, of course I only [plan recipes I know will be in season. I get home from work at about 7.30 pm. I spend anything from 20 minutes to an hour cooking dinner and we don't eat until after 9pm. (We're European). I make staples like bread at the weekend and freeze it.

[Your List] seems to be lacking in proteins aside from eggs and sausage: Well there are only two of us - I think we have proteins every day and that is a dozen eggs there. That bacon will last us for two meals at least.

I guess during the week you both eat at work: Fred does but I don't. I can't bear to eat at the icky office cafeteria when I could take a healthful packed lunch full of these delicious ingredients instead. I always have leftovers when I cook a recipe - this is a good way to make sure they get eaten.

Not trying to nitpick: maybe Fatted Calf could let you know where their meats come from: I split the list into the Artisans and Farmers. I could have gone farther by detailing each of their ingredients as you suggest but this would have been difficult, to cover every ingredient in a clairesquare or Taylor's charcuterie. I have talked to Taylor about where his meat comes from in the past, but like you say - it is a mix I believe so it would be too difficult to track in a post like yesterday's. I think supporting local artisans over buying processed foods in a supermarket is a better way to go.

If we drive to the Ferry Building, and the food comes from 100 miles away, are we really eating local? That's a good point. After making that shopping list I was thinking I should probably support Star Route Farms over Heirloom Organics, because they travel less distance to get to the market.

Oh, how lucky you area: This is something I should remember every day. I realise eating locally is a no-brainer here in California.

How on earth do you find the time for this kind of important examination of your food habits??? If you keep notes as you go along it's not so hard. That said, I'm going to play devil's advocate a bit. I know you guys eat out a fair bit, which probably puts your $104 a little over-budget on a relative basis: Of course you are right. We can easily spend $100 on just one meal when dining out. I originally included a paragraph in yesterday's post about restaurant dining but later removed it because I wanted to keep the focus on the shopping list. However, I do think that I could actually live extremely well on $144 worth of local produce for a week if we weren't to dine out. It seems like more than enough money for two to me. I am not sure about having a family. That question is beyond my level of experience.

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