17 Healthier Choices that Start in the Cart
Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #141 [vol4, 8.4]
We make lots of commerce choices, daily - sometimes hourly. One of my first ah-ha choices many years ago was that packaged snacks can be more expensive than in-season produce. Because finances were stretched I stopped buying a weekly allotment of chips. And started occasionally making popcorn on the stove in coconut oil. (Unlike microwave popcorn, it tastes great a week later if stored in plastic bags.)
Did you know that Doritos cost more per ounce than organic grapes?
When striving for better health, don’t burn your house and spend a million dollars to start anew. Fad diets don’t work.
There is also a time-money-energy continuum for better health. Sometimes we have more money than time. Or more energy to make from food from scratch.
Good choices start in the cart, whether making food from scratch or desiring better snack options.
What do you buy weekly?
What is something your family eats every week? or maybe every day? Find the best quality of that food.
Here are 6 examples of how my family did this:
For years, my oldest son took an apple every day for lunch. It was an easy switch in the cart to buy organic apples. Did you know apples are sprayed at least 12 times?
Become familiar with the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen to know which produce is sprayed most (or dirty) & is worth paying more for organic. Since we were eating a lot of apples, it was worth it to me to pay more for them. Costco has affordable organic produce options, as well as Azure Standard (which is available all over the country: you order bulk monthly online and a semi-truck delivers to a centrally located parking lot.)
Seek to buy the highest quality of food you eat regularly.
What goes better with apples than peanut butter? When I learned about how much peanuts are sprayed and how much sugar and added oils are in the sweet creamy kind, my head said to change but my taste buds longed for nostalgia. Shockingly, this change was hardest for me than anyone else in our family. I grew up eating sweet, creamy peanut butter.
Baby step = buy both. Buy your favorite peanut butter AND natural, organic peanut butter. Mix them together in a ratio you can tolerate (try the same for maple syrup if you need to train your taste buds). Or just the natural peanut butter for baking. Baby steps.
My kids regularly eat sandwiches for lunch. I try to buy the best quality sliced turkey. (There’s an organic packaged version at Costco cheaper per pound than most national brands which are pumped full of preservatives and salt.)
Enjoy ice cream every night? Seek cleaner ingredients. We like Breyer’s all natural vanilla. Look for the first ingredients to be milk, cream, sugar or eggs. Corn syrup is a red flag for me in ice cream. Haagan Dazs is another reputable brand.
Our dollars hold power. When we choose better in our carts the industry listens and provides better options.
“We vote three times a day with our fork.” - food advocate Michael Pollan
“We are using commerce as an engine for change. Safer should be in the hands of everyone.” - Gregg Renfrew, Beautycounter Founder
Maybe you are old enough to remember a time when there were fewer choices of eggs at the store: white or brown shells. In the last 20 years consumers have demanded better choices and now we have more options. Eggs are a cheap source of protein protein and nutrition so I pay more for quality.
Here's the order in which I buy eggs:
pastured, from a farmer I trust or a neighbor's back yard that has green grass
grocery store pastured - Vital Farms is a trusted brand
farmer or back yard that is a dirt pen
organic from grocery store
free range or cage free from grocery store
dirt cheap eggs from grocery store
The cheapest industrial eggs from the grocery store are still real food. They have a shell. There is nutritional value to them. I wrote an article here to explain more.
Bonus: last week, I mentioned substituting sea salt for regular table salt as one baby step for real food success.
Is there something that comes to mind when you think of a food you consistently have on your grocery list? Whatever that food is — is there a healthier option? Not sure? Reply to this email and I can brainstorm with you.
Twelve (Better) Cart Decisions
Full fat dairy: whole milk instead of skim (brains and bodies especially children need the fat). Bonus points: buy raw milk, locally. Search here for raw milk sources or if you’re in Little Rock or Louisville, reply to this email and I can connect you to a farmer. I buy 2 gallons of raw milk a week knowing it is something everyone in my family likes. It’s an easy, super-nutrient-dense food that I consider highest of priorities for our family.
Buy cane sugar. Domino brand, yellow label, is cane sugar. Some larger stores (like Kroger) carry cane sugar with their label. The other white sugar is made from GMO sugar beets. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) use more chemicals and are harmful for our gut health and the environment. The cost difference of a 4 pound bag of white sugar is a few pennies. Make sure to find the words CANE SUGAR on your bag. Otherwise you’re buying GMO sugar. As a reminder when buying organic, you are never buying GMO.
Ruthlessly eliminate artificial sweeteners. They’re neurotoxins. Could I say this one louder? Just don’t eat artificial sweeteners, they are so bad for our health. When I make such a declaration, people who are addicted usually ask what I think of stevia or monk fruit. Personally I do not like the taste of them. They are, however, better choices than aspartame, saccharine or sucralose.
Drink water for most of your liquids (not soda or anything sweetened). Squeeze a lemon (or splash of raw vinegar!), pinch of sea salt for electrolytes. I can tell you SO MANY STORIES of friends loosing weight simply from eliminating sugary drinks, even diet drinks.
Stop buying cereal (or buy one less box this week.) Try for a nutrient dense breakfast once a week. Find a breakfast casserole to enjoy. I make this baked oatmeal almost weekly, sometimes twice a week. There are a million egg casseroles and quiches out there. We also like this baked fruit custard called Clafoutis.
As you run out of corn syrup “maple syrup”, then buy real maple syrup the next time.
As you run out of Tide with hormone disrupting fragrance, order Charlie’s Soap from Amazon.
Another thing I did early on was throwing away canola/vegetable oil. Yes it hurt my frugal self to throw it away but I knew if I didn’t toss it I would use it. Just melt butter for the boxed brownies!
When you’re out of night cream, this is the best - it performs and gets great marks from the Skin Deep Database, which is a third party testing agency. Our skin is our largest organ and what goes on the skin makes a difference in our overall health.
Make salad dressings with extra virgin olive oil. Store bought dressings are made with cheap inflammatory oils and sugars (usually GMO corn syrup). If you must purchase dressings, Primal Kitchen uses avocado oil and they taste great. Find at Costco and health food stores.
Here are my family’s top 8 dressings. They come together quickly and keep for 2 weeks in the fridge. It’s not hard. And so much better for our health.
Buy fermented food: kombucha, kefir, kimchi or raw sauerkraut - there are countless options in the refrigerated sections of health food stores and even Kroger and WalMart. Just one tablespoon per meal makes a gigantic difference in digestion and immunity. Here’s an article I wrote on why fermented / probiotic foods.
Buy meat in bulk from a farmer. Here’s an article for baby steps (& questions to ask) when buying local meat. Once your freezer is filled with quality meat the only decision is what to cook first.
Power of Small Changes
I’m not trying to lay a big fat guilt trip on anyone. Nor am I saying that healthier is always cheaper or faster. I’m reminding us all of the power of small choices. It’s small baby steps with consistency that make the marathon and empties essential oil bottles.
Find one thing from this list and make a change the next time you’re at the grocery store.
Keep going. Remember it starts in the cart. When tempted to buy questionable foods, remind yourself that if it’s not at home within reach, it’s more difficult to eat that food.
As always, reply to this email with questions or leave a comment and others might benefit from your question as well.
Cheering you on! Life is hard; food doesn’t have to be.
Julie
PS Take a moment to reflect on some of the changes you’ve already made during your health journey. I think you would be encouraged.
Absolutely fantastic article! I’m downloading this one to keep as a reminder to myself as well as to send to others learning or struggling with how to make wiser food options. Great job, Julie!