Repost: Grocery Shopping No-Nos

Arrrrrrrrrrgh. This blog post has been in me for a while, but Saturday it all came to a boil. I was at the grocery store restocking on produce -- low and behold I spotted some major shopping offenses. The cart was being pushed by a young boy about ten years old and was full of processed crap: Totino's pizza, Noodle-A-Roni, Bar-S sausage, ice cream, etc, etc. There was no sign of REAL food in the cart. You know food that has not been genetically engineered. The boy's father was gleefully catching up to him with a bag of Cheetos in his hand, (apparently he had forgotten them and HAD to go back). Heavy sigh. What's even more disheartening the two were not native to America. So I guess it's like when in Rome do like the Romans do. SMH.

I shop at a variety of stores because certain stores have better bargains and some just have better quality. I am a regular at New Seasons Market and Chuck's Produce & Street Market for local, organic, specialty goods, meat and fish. I do shop at Fred Meyer's too because it's close and I like the one-stop shopping element. When I shop at New Seasons and Chuck's the shopping experience changes as well as the customers. This has nothing to do with race or ethnicity it's an economic issue. While in these stores you don't see grocery cart no-nos because most folks shopping there understand the importance of good real food and a lot of the name brand processed stuff isn't carried in these stores. Again, it comes down to socioeconomic status (class, education).

It is not my intention to come off as some food snob or act like I've never touched processed boxed so-called food. No doubt, I use to fill my cart with no-nos too, but I've since found my way and I want to raise awareness about processed, boxed so-called food. For me returning to the  basics of cooking fresh meals has been KEY to my success. I prepare 99 percent of my meals at home. Shopping at New Seasons Market and Chuck's Produce can be more expensive, but I bargain shop and most importantly I realize this is an investment in my health.

See the links below for more information...

The Benefits of Healthy Whole Foods
The World's Healthiest Foods
4 Most Harmful Ingredients in Packaged Foods
What are the problems with processed foods?
Wean Yourself Off Processed Foods in 7 steps