A father has shared the secret as to how his family spend just £5 on food a month. Jim Parums, 32, insists foraging is the future, as he cooks delicious meals from his forest finds.
The 32-year-old says he used to watch his grandmother picking mushrooms when was a youngster. Now, he is passing on the art of foraging to his wife, Kat, and his two daughters.
The family use what they find as part of every meal they eat alongside ingredients from their garden, reports Manchester Evening News. Jim says their natural resources mean that they only need to buy pasta and olive oil from the shops.
He said: "Some of the tastiest ingredients are waiting outside your doorstep. With a little bit of guidance, foraging can be used in every meal, and that expensive weekly shop can be reduced drastically.
"My family and I rarely visit our local Tesco because we have everything we need in our garden or outside. We only buy pasta and olive oil which barely breaks our £5 spending limit in the local shop."
The father gave up on weekly food shops back in 2020, after saying he became disillusioned by processed and expensive meals. After sticking with the decision, his family now save over £100 a week.
Jim met his partner back in 2015, with the duo meeting whilst working in hospitality. He says Kat took a while to warm to the prospect of foraging for her dinner but is now 'incredible'.
Jim said: "At first Kat was confused by my obsession with fungi, but after cooking her a full three course meal that was fully foraged she was blown away!
"After just five years, Kat is an incredible forager. Even our eldest daughter can distinguish mushrooms by their spots at just aged three."
"Our friends and family love the foraging lifestyle with some of them even learning a few helpful tips and tricks. Some of our meals are drastically amplified by the tastiness of the earthly flavours only nature can provide."
Jim says the great tasting meals are not the only incentive with the savings from foraging being huge. He said:" 'While people spend £10 on their fruit and veg every week, we are growing and foraging for nothing.
"Weekly food shops can be such a burden on people's finances, while we save hundreds each year by throwing away the idea of a weekly food shop. The average weekly food shop for a family of four is around £90 if not much more, and we barely hit that in a month.
"Our whole family is foodies and have discovered some of the tastiest combinations found outside. Our daughters have never been fussy eaters and enjoy every meal we make for them.
"No food is wasted, we use what we need and recycle and compost our leftovers." Jim now helps other families to reduce their cost-of-living through foraging though his business Forage Box.
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