Grocery Shopping - a new way

Written by Laura Rockow

March 14, 2014

A real food, whole food diet/lifestyle isn’t complicated once you find your new routine. Growing your own is optimal, but not always possible. Utilizing local farmers markets and CSA shares (Community Supported Agriculture) ensures seasonal, organic, local, quality produce and fruit. There are also meat and fish CSA’s available in many areas. Organic grocery stores are becoming more mainstream, but caution should be used as many “products” have tricky labels like “All Natural” - which often still contain mystery ingredients and added sweeteners or preservatives.

To begin shopping in a grocery, I like to keep it simple: purchase enough grass fed/grass finished meat/ wild fish/ seafood for a week of dinners for our family. Then I simply fill the rest of the cart with a large variety of fresh vegetables and some seasonal fruit. I seldom go anywhere else in a grocery store - just meat/fish/seafood, vegetables and fruit.

In shopping this way, there’s less a need for processed/packaged food. However, there are some minimally processed items I keep in the pantry. I always look for organic and for the fewest number of ingredients. One ingredient is obviously best. I buy local as much as possible. I buy tomatoes in aseptic packaging or glass jars because of the link of canned tomatoes and breast cancer. Some organic frozen fruit and vegetables can be nice to have on hand. Spices (check labels) and canned items are purchased when needed. I also buy kombucha (though you can make your own), sparkling water and very dark, soy/dairy/gluten free chocolate. Coffee and tea might be on your list. Check your tea for single ingredient. (Natural flavorings usually are NOT natural and I avoid those.) Soy Lecithin is a common and unnecessary ingredient in tea. I avoid this as well.

These are some of the products I buy. If you can’t find Natural Value brand in your stores, you can order on Amazon, or you can ask your grocer to carry Natural Value. These items contain ingredients I recognize with only one or very few ingredients.