Sustainable Living on a Budget with Monique Dupre * (Vancouver Food Network)

Monique Dupre is a woman on a mission. A charismatic mix of down-home (raised up a dirt road outside Astoria) and sophisticated (married a handsome Frenchman), Monique pioneered the emerging genre of new-wave home economists, with a series of innovative classes to help people improve their lives with basic kitchen skills. She can single-handedly increase business for suppliers she mentions: a sort of neighborhood Oprah, promoting the idea of improved quality-of-life by consuming less and enjoying more. A rock-star inspiration for much of the younger, ladel-and-larder crowd, Dupre does this from a base in Vancouver.

Charisma, Common Sense, Condiments and Canning Jars

The Vancouver coordinator for a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Dupre was a proponent of whole grains, home fermentation and raw milk when some urban homesteaders couldn't tell a crock from a currant. A powerful proponent of pantry planning, she has been featured in The Oregonian's Food Day supplement, praised in a Columbian editorial, and even singled out as hip by hipsters at the Portland Mercury. Much of it is the solid information she presents, but what makes Monique distinct is her personal passion and her attention to "enough." Her classes are substantive, but not overwhelming, with an appropriate size for the subject matter and at a price that makes them possible for the folks who need them most. Each has enough to get the novice started, but also tips and tricks for the more seasoned, building on the others but also standing alone.

The Basics: Philosophy, Getting Started, Doing More, Continuing

Although Sustainable Budget adds new classes and workshops all the time, most people begin with her introductory class, which explains how living better on less is possible by paying more attention to things that matter most, like time and health and family. With a thick folder of handouts dense with information, this joy in life and spirit pervades all that follows. From learning the basics of whole-grain cookery to how to make better condiments at happen, a Sustainable Budget class might also be scheduled on a more specialized topic, such as bread-baking at home: the sort of thing Martha Stewart would do if she had less money, more sense, and lived locally. There is an entire thread on home dairy products and raw milk, for those who crave crème fraîche or just appreciate better yogurt. The fermentation class inspired one Vancouver man to make his first sauerkraut, and an active Google group of those who have taken Sustainable Budget classes is an ongoing resource, available to anyone who has attended.

Emerging Community and Stronger Home Food Cultures

Drawing on many of the same philosophies put forward in books such as Michael Pollan's, Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions or Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Sustainable Budget classes are a lifelong, daily thing. They encourage independence and deepening by design, so much so that admirers replicate them nationwide. Dupre herself travels to do workshops for garden clubs or church groups, and teaches many workshops in local homes. If one has a small group that can pay the modest fee, Dupre herself will come and freely share the same material that she has developed over several years, and inspired dozens of local groups and buying clubs throughout the region.

Clark County is a natural place for such a balance of influences to take hold. Between mountains and rivers, city and country, old world and new, Sustainable Budget demonstrates that a good life is accessible to all, and that health and pleasure are not only for the wealthy.

Contact Information for Monique Dupre