Make your vote count!
One thing we should all be very clear on, is the fact that grocery stores are stocking what we buy. Sure, grocery store will stock what is economic and profitable - they are a business, but they also need to stock what they think consumer wants. Having what the consumer wants is why we go into the store in the first place after all.
Wait, hold the phone, they are stocking what we want? That means we have the power (queue music). In fact, every time we go through the grocery store check out, we vote. Every time an item is scanned, we are voting for what we want to see more of.
If you build it, they will come... In 2014, Walmart, America's largest grocer began stocking organic milk... why? The PEOPLE wanted it!
Walmart's own research showed that 91 percent of its shoppers would purchase affordable organic products if they were offered, Sinclair added.
Lets take a walk down memory lane (close of this post includes some images from my journey)... I've always been health conscious. If I look at what I've eaten over the years though, despite my best attempts, I was doing it all wrong, mainly because I was told to do it wrong!
I used to eat lots of low fat dairy, I thought that is what I should eat to keep thin - WRONG!
I also used to watch calories, eating things that were low in calorie but also fairly empty, store bought granola bars, low calorie cereals.
I also used to eat a lot of processed meats for convenience - FULL of SALT!
And then there is the corker, fast food.. man did I love my fast food.
But, I exercised too... and look, most of the time I did the "right" thing as a result I was fairly trim.
But over the years I entered what I call procreation zone... at the time my ex husband and I both had good desk jobs, but we were leveraged to the ears in debt and trying our best to get on top of it. We were also trying to have kids which was an emotionally taxing process to say the least, never mind the onslaught of emotion that comes once you finally have kids. We finally made it through trying to have kids and then we were single income, financially we were under pressure... what gave, healthy eating.
It's only in the last few years that I have started to really focus on what I am putting into my shopping trolly. There are so many benefits to filling up your trolly with the right food to begin with;
- If you have the healthy stuff, you will eat it. It is very unlikely that as a grown adult you will die of starvation if you have perfectly healthy food in your house.
- If you don't have the unhealthy stuff, you can't eat it. What a relief it is to walk into the kitchen and know that there aren't going to be any unhealthy treats that I have to say no to!
- Spending money on preventative health becomes habit. I walk around the outside of the grocery store first, starting with fresh produce, then meat, then dairy, then cleaning product, then the middle isles. Why - well as I go through the shops and fill up my trolly with the things that I know are good for me, quite frankly I can see the dollars adding up. Therefore, by the time I get to the middle of the grocery store, I know I've spent close to or over my $250 per week, so do we really need that box of cereal? Or could we have eggs and veggies instead?
- Meat. You should always have enough veggies in you house to do a meatless day. Breaking down meat is hard for your body, and trust me, it will appreciate the opportunity to have a rest from meat and carbs. Challenge yourself to a couple of meatless days. Look for one of my meatless posts for some complete dinner meal ideas if you're stumped.
- If you are buying the right things, lots of fruit and veg, organic grass fed meats, organic free range eggs, minimal dairy and very little processed foods, you are telling the grocery store this is what you want. Have you ever been to a grocery store in a lower socioeconomic area? Next time you are, check to see if they have an organic isle. Then when you are in a more affluent suburb, check to see if they have one, and check out the size of it. When people buy it, they stock it and I am telling you that there is a world of benefits to buying organic, free range and grass fed.
Man, I really didn't want to bombard you with information and I had not planned on writing about free range, organic and grass fed. But I can't leave you hanging. If I had to give you five reasons why you should buy free range, organic and grass fed, here they are;
1. TO KEEP THE CHEMICALS OUT: OF THE AIR, WATER, SOIL AND OUR BODIES
The average conventionally grown apple has 20-30 artificial poisons on its skin, even after rinsing. Cotton is the most heavily sprayed crop in the world. Using 25% of the world’s total insecticides – they end up in the clothes we wear, the products we use, the soil and our waterways.
2. TO PROTECT FUTURE GENERATIONS
The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. Choosing organic ensures we are protecting the health of our children and the health of the planet we are leaving behind.
3. TO ENCOURAGE INNOVATION
Organic producers are leaders in innovative research, they are leading the way, largely out of their own pockets, with innovative on-farm research aimed at reducing pesticide use and minimising agriculture’s impact on the environment.
4. TO SUPPORT A TRUE ECONOMY
On the surface organic foods might seem more expensive but conventional food prices don’t reflect hidden costs (paid through our taxes). These ‘hidden’ costs include pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and cleanup, and environmental damage. For example the un-factored environmental and social costs of irrigating a head of lettuce is $2 to $3 more than what you pay!
5. TO PROMOTE BIODIVERSITY
Mono-cropping is the practice of planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year. This lack of natural diversity of plant life leaves the soil deficient in natural minerals and nutrients – chemical fertilizers need to be used to replace them. Visit an organic farm and you’ll notice something different: a buzz of animal, bird and insect activity.
- See more at: http://www.tomorganic.com.au/top-5-reasons-choose-organic/#sthash.EID9tBMX.dpuf