The Journey to Healthy Eating

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Monday, January 15, 2007

Last week I posted on HFCS and had some interesting responses. Apparently you guys don't mind me going a bit off topic now and then, though I guess ultimately what we eat affects our children just as much as how we birth and whether we breastfeed, so it IS on topic. (So there!)

Anyway, while I've dabbled in organics and whole foods in the past (I did a pretty good job of feeding Elnora mostly organics between 6 months and a year as I made all her baby food and we grew much of it.) Now that she's a bit older and it's an absolute struggle to get her to eat ANYTHING (let alone what I deem healthy) I'm starting to look into it again in terms of the whole family.

I've finally switched Greg and I to organic skim milk and have cut us back from nearly 3 gallons a week (I know, can you imagine?) down to about 1. I also discovered a great little organic foods pocket guide that you can print out and take to the store with you. It's a reminder of which twelve foods are most important to buy organic and which 12 are least important. If you're shopping on a budget and can't afford all (or even lots) of organic, it's a great way to prioritize.

That said, I'm also seeing the value of larger whole foods retailers. While I'm generally a big fan of locally owned businesses, there are times when I just can't pull it off.

Case in point? Two weeks ago I made the 35 minute trek to the Whole Foods Market. I bought about three large paper bags full of groceries including produce, cereal, dairy, boxed goods, etc... I spent about $40. Things were more expensive than say...non-organics at Meijer, but it wasn't painful. (Though the drive was...)

This week I visited The Raisin Rack, an Ohio-based natural foods store. They just moved from a teeny-tiny strip mall location into an old Big Bear store. The new store is beautiful and has tons of products, but OUCH. The prices were horrendous. There were multiple things (especially boxed goods) that were AT LEAST twice as much as what I would have paid at Whole Foods.

I let with a gallon of organic skim, a half gallon of organic whole milk, 6 organic bananas, a box of Kashi a small bag of granola and a pound of organic whole wheat flour (so that I can try Lindsey's "borrowed from Amanda" granola. The price? $22.75

Also trying to work out options to come up with cheaper organic meats. We eat meat about 4 nights a week and obviously organic meat is MUCH more expensive. Now I did find a farm near us that will sell a quarter of organic angus for $2.25/lb cut and wrapped (amazing!) but a quarter is 300 pounds. We don't even eat 100 pounds of beef in a year, so I'd have to go hunting for folks to split it with.

We tend to eat more chicken, ground turkey and lean pork. No idea where to find that cheaply.

To revisit the HFCS...I think I'm going to have to compromise. I've found that I can cut it out of 90% of what we eat by making different choices or by making things myself. There are some areas though that just seem impossible. BBQ sauce...haven't found one yet without it, though I haven't been back to Whole Foods. Syrup...that's a biggie. I HATE real maple syrup and I can't find "fake" syrup in health food stores.

I keep telling myself that if I cut it out most places that a little bit won't hurt us. I am NOT giving up my fake syrup.

Labels: Healthy Eating

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