Eating on a tight budget is nothing new for Queercents readers. We’re all trying to stretch that food dollar. Author Jerry Kolber is really taking that challenge to the extreme. In his new book $3 Dinner, Kolber shares recipes and shopping tips to help you make 30 dinners for under $3 a piece. The majority of the recipes feature organic ingredients, because Kolber says, ‘œI was getting tired of seeing everyone talking about organic this, and healthy that, and all from this mildly elitist perspective that organic somehow equals luxury. Organic food is what we used to just call food, and it should be readily available to everyone without having to spend $20 on a book and tons of money on ingredients.’

I caught up with Jerry last week to ask him about the book. Here’s what he had to say:

1. You say that “organic food” used to just be called “food,” and that you shouldn’t have to spend a ton of money to eat healthy. I couldn’t agree more. But what tips do you have for people who don’t have a farmers’ market they can go to for cheap produce?
Cheap organic produce is definitely the hardest thing to come by in some parts of the country, especially where there are not plentiful farmers’ markets or organic selections at grocery stores. Besides farmers’ markets, I suggest looking into Community Supported Agriculture, in which a number of city dwellers pool their resources to receive weekly delivery of fresh, local, organic produce from a small local farm. It not only gets you cheap produce, it supports the farmer. This week – a LIGHT early season week – I received 4 heads of lettuce, 3 pounds of greens, fresh herbs, bok choy, and assorted other produce, at about 50% of the price of a farmers’ market. If you don’t have a CSA, you can start one. Another option is a food co-op. You can check out both of these at www.localharvest.org.

2. If I’m doing the math correctly, your cookbook would enable families to live on food budget of $90 a month. Do you think that’s healthy?
The average family spends between $6 and $12 per meal cooking for four at home; a fast food meal for four is about $15 to $18. Three Dollar Dinner is all recipes that are under $3 per serving, most closer to $2.50. We are keeping the total dinner grocery bill to about $55 to $65 per week for a family of four, and provide detailed shopping lists so nothing goes to waste.

3. Do you think that organic foods will eventually become less expensive if consumers start to show a greater demand for them?
That’s an easy one – YES!! We already see it in Trader Joe’s and the generic Whole Foods brands. As more and more consumers decide they want to eat the way we ate until 60 years ago, without the chemicals that have been added to our meat, dairy, and produce, we’ll see prices continue to drop. As long as supply meets demand (and it will) demand will drive prices down.

4. What are some of your favorite recipes from the cookbook?
My favorite recipe is the risotto. I still can’t believe that a rice dish can be so creamy without adding any milk or cream. It’s rich, delicious, healthy and with a little lemon juice or some Parmesan it tastes very expensive.

5. If you could meet any one of today’s celebrity chefs, who would it be, and why?
I would love to meet Alice Waters. I think Alice has a great message about local, fresh ingredients, and I love her focus on teaching school kids how to raise and prepare their own food. I think Alice is the perfect person to adapt her message to the masses and become the organic Julia Childs.

Copies of $3 Dinners are available for download on Kolber’s website for, you guessed it, $3 through through mid-June, with a portion of all proceeds going to not-for-profit programs that support environmental justice at a grassroots level.

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