Grocery Delimma

I LOVE grocery stores and grocery shopping. When I travel I check out local grocery stores to see what they have on their shelves and what I might be able to try that I have never tried before. But lately, when it comes to my personal family grocery shopping I get so bunched up in moral knots some days I can't even think! Organic vs local; purchase at the Kroger and get gas points or at the small meat market; frozen or fresh; wild fish or farmed; blah, blah... Sometimes I miss the days of being blissfully unaware that my grocery store decisions impacted the world (or at least my corner of it).

To help reduce this grocery chitter chatter I came up with a list of things I would TRY to do at the store to keep my family and my conscience happy and healthy. (I also decided that if I strayed from the list once in a while it would be okay and my family and the world would survive.)

• Purchase Organic when possible unless the item is on the Top 10 list of dirtiest fruits and veggies from EWG.org in which case I only purchase organic or locally grown
• Purchase animal protein that has been grass feed and loved (preferably someone named the cow or chicken something sweet and hugged it once a day before slaughtering it in the most humanly way possible, maybe with a little prayer of gratitude before or after)
• Purchase locally when available. I love the farmer's markets! I will forgo the organic requirement for local produce and meats

In addition to my grocery morality list, here are my other favorite grocery shopping tips:

• Always shop with a list, it keeps you from veering off track and spending money on things you do not need and may even end up throwing away 
• Decide what is most important to you, local or organic, if you can't find both (this happens to me a lot with kale, strawberries and apples). 
• Shop frequently, I grocery shop every couple of days
• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store as that tends to be where healthy food lives (avoid the middle where boxed food and chemicals abound)

I don't know if you suffer from grocery anxiety but if you do I hope these suggestions help, And if you, like me, are already cooking most of your meals from scratch you are making progress towards a better world and a healthier life.

Linda