I remember growing up, the sentiment shared by many nutritionists and healthy eating experts in regards to grocery shopping was “only buy from the edges of the supermarket” when you do your grocery shopping.
This is where the ‘fresh’ food is stored, and if you’re only buying from the outside it’s going to be healthier for you.
And that was the sentiment I carried with me as I started grocery shopping on my own; if I only shopped from the edges it was better for me.
I was trying to buy the freshest food possible so that I could be the healthiest I could be, but I was also trying to spend as little as possible.
In the process I learnt about how food fuels our body, and how it makes us feel. I learnt about colours, vitamins and minerals, and whole foods.
There were buzz words like Lite, low fat, organic and natural. I read labels, looking for sugar and those pesky colour and flavour ‘numbers’.
I wasn’t perfect. I still bought some things from the inside isles, like tinned vegetables, herbs and crackers.
But it was simple living.
When my husband and I first got married, we ate many of the same foods every day; a lot of dinners consisted of chicken breasts topped with tinned tomatoes and a salad, lunches would be a pita bread filled with ham, lettuce, tomato and avocado, crackers with cottage cheese and fruit.
But I was always interested in how I could put food together that’s good for me in different ways. And then, I discovered the Foodtown Magazine. Glossy pictures of fresh food, full of colour and made with ingredients that were local and easy to access. It was captivating.
That began my meal planning journey, and a slight change in my underlying philosophy on grocery shopping.
I started thinking more about cooking from scratch, rather than simply just buying from the edges, although that was still my main priority.
I relished the nights when we would have visitors for dinner so I could try something new, and I got to organise my kitchen with new tools and systems, and buy new stationery to store my recipes and make shopping lists.
I really spun my wheels.
I grew from meal planning each week and grocery shopping along with it, to planning for 3 months and shopping for a whole month at a time.
But I think I’m one of many in this generation that grew up going to the supermarket by default. It had everything we needed and we needed everything it had. It was easy.
However, recently I started looking at how much we are paying for our food and the monopoly that the supermarkets hold here in New Zealand.
It made me seriously question what I was buying and from where.
So I took my buying from the edges philosophy and I looked at how I could use that elsewhere. Here are some of the places I use now:
– Butcher (A real one though, with aprons and knives and paper wrapping!)
– Fruit and vege shop (for everything I can’t or haven’t grown myself)
– Avo Orchard (I buy orchard seconds, but I can’t tell the difference)
– Dreamview Creamery (they only deliver locally at the moment, but there are other places similar)
– Local Farmers Market (for real homegrown produce)
– My local Bin Inn for pantry staples
I love that I am supporting local business, and enjoying good food in the process. And you know what? It even tastes better!
Now I’m looking forward to having visitors for dinner so I can share my discoveries and we can all eat good local food together.
I’m CREATING a life I love, not just consuming it, and I love it.
If being the CREATOR or your life sounds like something you want to do more of, make sure to grab my Guide to a Homemade Life and get started today.