I have decided most of the food in the grocery store is not food.

So now that I'm a total label whore, always reading allllll the ingredients and nutritional information, I'm starting to realize just how much of the products in the aisles of Safeway just aren't really food - and it's most.  Aisle after aisle of artificial coloring, flavoring, preservatives, chock full of saturated fat, unnecessary calories, nutritionally sketchy (or downright devoid of nutrition), loaded with salt and sugar, and tastin' like crap compared to food that's better for you.

I'm starting to really hate big name food companies like Kraft, etc., and am always shocked when they have a product I actually enjoy and want to incorporate into my diet.

Even "decadent" foods just aren't decadent to me anymore if they've got "Keebler" or "Peppridge Farms" or something at the top.  If I'm gonna waste those calories, I'll hit the bakery aisle and get something just made in the bakery that day or bake it myself - using truly decadent and delicious ingredients... actual butter, pure cane sugar, pure dark chocolate, etc.  And thinking about it (or baking it) actually satisfies those cravings almost as much (or sometimes just as much) as eating it, so I pretty much just say no and it's a win.

Hell, fresh fruit is more delicious than a box of chemicals, anyway.  Anybody else have thoughts on this?

They recently changed the floor plan of my grocery store.  There are now three whole aisles devoted to junk.  If they weren't the cheapest store in town, I would shop somewhere else.

Generally, grocery stores are set up in a similar way.  If you stay on the outside aisle, you'll find the healthiest stuff - fruits/vegetables/meat/dairy. 

Once you wander into the center of the store, the processed foods await. 

I'd also read about shopping the peripheries of a supermarket.... fresh produce, dairy, the bakery, fish counter, meat counter, deli etc.... and leave the centre aisles alone.   Can't say I follow it to the letter.  

It's clear, because shelf-space is allotted according to profit generated, that someone's making a lot of money from terrible breakfast cereals, potato crisps, microwave meals, margarine etc.   Any product that's generating enough spare money to warrant a big TV ad campaign is overpriced by definition.  And any product making health-claims has to be instantly suspect!   Whereas the real good guys of the food world..... fruit & veg etc., get relatively small shelf-space, never appear on TV and can't make any health claims.  So they get my vote. 

I'm a bit old-fashioned so I prefer to make food rather than get it out of a packet anyway.

I'm with you. I can't wait until spring hits so the Farmers Market comes back. There's not an all-year-round one here.

In the meantime, I do the best I can with what's available at Kroger. I was even thinking of making my own pasta because of all those extra ingredients. blech!!!

Will you be growing a garden? I had a pretty skimpy one last year and hopefully this year, will be better. I just wish I could grow Cheez-its! My absolute favorite processed food that I'm trying to quit.

Within a diet, overall, those things are fine if you moderate them. But I have to admit I, too, get pretty shocked when you see how many things get added in certain individual products.

One thing that REALLY irks me is salt where there needn't be any. Why does raisin bran have salt in it!?

Original Post by lalabanana:

Within a diet, overall, those things are fine if you moderate them. But I have to admit I, too, get pretty shocked when you see how many things get added in certain individual products.

One thing that REALLY irks me is salt where there needn't be any. Why does raisin bran have salt in it!?

 I think salt is used like a preservative to help food last longer on the shelf.   and yeah it totally does suck.

Original Post by lalabanana:

 Why does raisin bran have salt in it!?

 Flavour.  Bran is pretty flavourless, especially after it has been mashed up, extruded and toasted to make it into a cereal.  Adding salt adds flavour.  I make bread at home and the recipe always calls for 'a teaspoon of salt'.  On the few occasions I've forgotten to add the salt the resulting bread is completely tasteless. 

Tell me about it. I avoid entire aisles in the grocery store. I spend most of my time in the produce section and only venture in the middle for canned beans, tomatoes, tuna, coffee, tea, spices or baking supplies or non-edibles like toilet paper, paper towels, Ziploc bags, tin foil or plastic wrap. 

The worst is the store brand baked goods. You should SEE the ingredients in those things. Why should BREAD have hydrogenated oils?

Original Post by cellophane_star:

 Why should BREAD have hydrogenated oils?

 There's another one.... Bread with fat in it lasts longer than bread without.  French bread, for example, is made without fat and it's stale by the end of the day... Quality bread would use butter, lard or olive oil as the fat content.  Hydrogenated fats on the other hand do the same job but they are dirt cheap!!! 

Original Post by gi-jane:

Original Post by cellophane_star:

 Why should BREAD have hydrogenated oils?

 There's another one.... Bread with fat in it lasts longer than bread without.  French bread, for example, is made without fat and it's stale by the end of the day... Quality bread would use butter, lard or olive oil as the fat content.  Hydrogenated fats on the other hand do the same job but they are dirt cheap!!! 

It was a rhetorical question :)

My boyfriend buys white bread and it's amazing how long it lasts.

Okay, I can understand that somewhat in that bran lacks flavour. But the amount of salt they put in is still absurd. Most things don't need half as much salt as is put into them, really. Take tinned tomatoes; I can't taste a difference between varieties with a little salt in and a lot in, though I can when you have varieties without salt and varieties that do.

I agree. I admit, I buy some processed foods for my husband and kiddos when they're at home, but not too much. I do my best to avoid the junk food aisles, but I will get some baked lays or sunchips for a snack sometimes. I can't drastically change my diet or it screws my digestive system up and it's rather painful. I also like to get the boca burgers and things like that in the frozen section for convenience. Most of the time, though, I will check the nutrition grade on cc before I go buy something processed.

My question is, if they complain about the United States bieng the most unhealthy country, why are the healthy foods so much more expensive?

I've never given up desserts even as I lost weight, and always bought something from the in-store bakery.  I've recently taken up baking and find that the taste, texture and quality of home baked cakes, cookies and muffins is so much better it's astounding.  I'm thinking of baking bread now too.  Oh, and I eat less sweets than I did before. Quality wins over quantity. 

The salt in baked products is not always for preservation, but part of the chemistry of creating the desired flavour and texture, as is the fat and the flour.  There is no excuse for hydrogenated products however.  Like GI jane said, they're used because they're cheap and increase shelf life.  They taste like crap too when compared to food made with unaltered ingredients.

It doesn't have to be more expensive to eat real food. In fact, the prepared stuff is pretty pricey when you think of the amount of nutrition you get for your money.  Plus you're paying for packaging, preparation time, etc.

I pretty much stick to produce and the butcher counter.

i was just thinking about this! A friend of mine has moved in with her friend, and has adopted a lot of new eating habits from her roommate, including eating a lot of those 100 calorie packs of snacks, including for breakfast. She's lost a ton of weight and looks fantastic. I thought i'd try out some of those snacks, but when i was at the store i couldn't really bring myself to buy all that processed food. I have tried some, and many tasted pretty good, but all in all were unsatisfying.

I've found that if i purposefully devote some days to eating 'real' food, the first few days are really really really hard, but after a few days i start to actually feel like eating fruit for a snack. Then it becomes much easier, almost like i've detoxed the cravings for processed foods out of my system.

Original Post by opeacho:

i was just thinking about this! A friend of mine has moved in with her friend, and has adopted a lot of new eating habits from her roommate, including eating a lot of those 100 calorie packs of snacks, including for breakfast. She's lost a ton of weight and looks fantastic. I thought i'd try out some of those snacks, but when i was at the store i couldn't really bring myself to buy all that processed food. I have tried some, and many tasted pretty good, but all in all were unsatisfying.

I've found that if i purposefully devote some days to eating 'real' food, the first few days are really really really hard, but after a few days i start to actually feel like eating fruit for a snack. Then it becomes much easier, almost like i've detoxed the cravings for processed foods out of my system.

 i grabbed, and put back 100 calorie packs last week.  i did that about 3 times.  when i read ingredients listings, i like to know what is in the food i'm buying.  i like to understand what the ingredients actually are.   plus, i'd rather eat a huge apple or pear for 100 calories anyways... :)

i wander all the aisles at the grocery store, but rarely leave with anything terribly processed. 

does anyone else LOVE being the person at the checkout with the really healthy basket/cart?

Original Post by gi-jane:

Any product that's generating enough spare money to warrant a big TV ad campaign is overpriced by definition.  And any product making health-claims has to be instantly suspect!   Whereas the real good guys of the food world..... fruit & veg etc., get relatively small shelf-space, never appear on TV and can't make any health claims.  So they get my vote.  

The exception that proves the rule: tons and tons of egg advertising on TV lately (that stupid "bouncing egg gives people energy" ad).  Some of the other farmers' associations seem to  have bought advertising time too - pork's been on TV a lot lately, and every so often milk advertises.  You're right that you don't see a lot of fruit/veg ads - though occasionally there's a BC fruit one.

I do enjoy the "health" ads the Alberta government's been putting out lately. As long as they don't overkill them, they're mildly amusing.

I completely agree! All those chemicals are ridiculous!! Good for you for becoming a label reading whore!!! 

I know exactly how you feel Modified.  As soon as I started reading labels, I stopped buying stuff in boxes and bags and cans and started eating whole foods more and more, to the point now where you'd almost have to break my arm to get me to buy anything else other than whole foods.  Processed food is horrible and it makes me cringe to see people all around me eating it...lol.  

Farmer's Markets are great!!  I go to a huge one near a Mennonite community in Southern Ontario and the food is great.  In season, it's incredibly cheap and if you know how to can stuff you can save lots of money and have healthy food on hand when you want it, just like you would buying it out of the grocery store.  If I want good, healthy soup, I just go into the cold room and pull out stuff I made in October and November.  10 minutes later, it's ready.  Can't get more convenient than that!!

Original Post by starlitocean:

Original Post by opeacho:

i was just thinking about this! A friend of mine has moved in with her friend, and has adopted a lot of new eating habits from her roommate, including eating a lot of those 100 calorie packs of snacks, including for breakfast. She's lost a ton of weight and looks fantastic. I thought i'd try out some of those snacks, but when i was at the store i couldn't really bring myself to buy all that processed food. I have tried some, and many tasted pretty good, but all in all were unsatisfying.

I've found that if i purposefully devote some days to eating 'real' food, the first few days are really really really hard, but after a few days i start to actually feel like eating fruit for a snack. Then it becomes much easier, almost like i've detoxed the cravings for processed foods out of my system.

 i grabbed, and put back 100 calorie packs last week.  i did that about 3 times.  when i read ingredients listings, i like to know what is in the food i'm buying.  i like to understand what the ingredients actually are.   plus, i'd rather eat a huge apple or pear for 100 calories anyways... :)

i wander all the aisles at the grocery store, but rarely leave with anything terribly processed. 

does anyone else LOVE being the person at the checkout with the really healthy basket/cart?

 Ooh I so LOVE having the healthy basket of food. Laden with fruits and veggies that I simply adore! Especially being a student, while all the other's around me are buying their pizzas, ready meals and pot noodles...eeew.

Yesterday was a bit of an exception for me tho, since I decided to do some baking for my flatmates and ended up with a basked full of sugar, butter and eggs...but hey! I love baking and my flatmates love chocolate cake lol! At least I made all the stuff from scratch rather than just buying a load of premade, artificially sweetened/flavoured/preserved cakes and sweets.

I also love being one of the only students that uses the health food shop and local grocery stores rather than the main chain supermarket.