by JO ABI
The kids are back at school and I feel a bit dazed, like I’ve just been flung out of a twister. You know that dazed feeling?
After weeks of a house filled with my children, nieces, nephews, friends, electronic games and of feasting, forgetting to exercise and having a break from the kids many and varied activities, now the house is a little too quiet.
Day One and I decided to go grocery shopping on my own for the first time in months. We’ve been eating so badly over the holidays that I plan to focus on healthy foods as much as possible. We could all do with more fruit and vegetables in our diet after the cakes, chocolates and biscuits lovingly cooked and gifted by family and friends.
I grabbed a trolley and instead of having to put a toddler in the baby seat I put my handbag there. It’s the perfect place. Pushing determinedly past the hot cross buns (please) and the chocolate eggs (ridiculous), I headed straight for the fruit and vegetable section.
Recently, I read some brilliant advice on how to eat more healthily at home. It suggested cutting and washing fruit and vegetables and leaving them on the lower shelves of the fridge for the kids to grab. It suggested reorganizing the pantry in a similar way.
Throwing out junk food felt wasteful, so I stopped just buying it and threw away any open packets. I’d phase it out. I didn’t want my family to notice and I planned to act vague when asked where the Coco Pops were.
I spotted green grapes and red grapes, seedless, on special, hooray! $2.48 a kilo. I placed a bag of each in my trolley and added any fruits and vegetables I thought the kids might like, but not too much. I’m sick of throwing them away wilted and rotted.
Top Comments
Just a few things in response to some of the below comments:
Frozen berries are much cheaper (not perishable) and still delicious.
Always buy fruit and vegetables IN SEASON. If you're buying stuff that's out of season of course it's going to cost more, it's travelled further to get to you. It's also therefore going to be a lot less fresh. Don't know what's in season? Head to a farmer's market local to you, if it's not there, it's not in season.
Also, often I hear people say that when they decided to "go healthy" it cost them heaps more. Yes, buying lots of value-added health foods is going to cost you a lot. Buying simple whole foods is not. My partner and I (no kids) fill our trolley each week with fruit and vegetables, brown bread, rice and pasta, a little dairy, free-range meat and eggs and some fresh seafood. Plus the occasional treats such as muesli bars, and sometimes we splurge by trying different cuisines... We go out a maximum of one meal a week and eat in the rest of the time. This rarely comes to more than $100.
IT IS POSSIBLE.
I was in the supermarket one day and the manager was showing someone around.The supermarket is in a mall with other shops, butcher, baker, health food, newsagency etc. He said to the other person "Our aim ought to be to shut all these other shops down so that we sell everything to everyone". Apart from admiring the zeal of such a company man (the 1950's called, they want their attitude back!), I thought "WTF I am not helping you do that!".
So I see where you are coming from, but if you look at it overall as a benefit to your family and community, buying the least amount of food you can at the supermarket is better for everyone.
You can get the exact quantity you need at the butcher, independent baker and fruit shop, rather than what they think you need. (Unless you are running a scout camp, who needs 48 sausages?) My local fruit shop prides itself on stocking locally grown produce and often names the actual farmer who grows the produce. If a product is from overseas (e.g. lemons from the USA this week) they label them.
If you pass up the Tim Tams that $2 can pay the extra few cents per 10 products that you can choose to buy locally produced or name brand rather than Home Brand or overseas produced.
Supermarkets are not really helping anyone. Their employment conditions are rubbish, their demands on other industries such as the transport industry, farmers and primary producers are merciless and, in the case of the transport industry, dangerous. They are silently spreading throughout the community, through the liquor and hotel industry, fuel sellers, hardware etc. I fully expect to see Child care centres run by the big two soon.
Try to give them as little of your money as you can.