Hey guys!

I know I am always talking about taking initiatives for your health, eating well, and talking to others about why healthy food is important to you.  But the truth is I don’t always walk the walk.  Sometimes I get too busy to eat well, much less talk to others why they should help provide healthy options to students like you.  And though I have been lecturing my parents on fruits and vegetables and organic food for years, not much usually happens.  That's human, which makes what happened the other day so much cooler.  Success!   I finally went to the grocery store with my mother! 

We have always been a relatively healthy family, but due to all of the information out there about the way we should be eating, including some of mine, my mother has decided to make health a major initiative in our household, not just something we think a little bit about.  She let me help pick out the things I knew I wanted to eat and the things I knew were healthy for everyone.  (It isn't hard to make these the same thing!)

The shopping trip took a long time because after we filled our cart with salad, clementines, apples, organic bananas, and potatoes, we headed into the “dangerous isles” and read the label of every item before we put it in our cart. 

Check the pics of our many, many apples and clementines-

We learned our low-fat yogurt has a lot of random chemical-y ingredients.  So we chose Old Home All Natural Vanilla Yogurt, which has only three ingredients, none of them mysterious.  This yogurt still has sugar and a lot of calories, so when we’re ready, we’ll transition to plain yogurt and maybe stir in some fruit.

We bought considerably less processed food than usual, and picked cereals with whole grains and lots of fiber. 

I want to challenge all of you to head to the grocery store with your parents, or even on your own, and apply what you know about healthy eating! If you go, not only can you encourage healthy options for your family, but you can also make sure your parents buy food you actually LIKE, which is super cool.  

If you already go to the grocery store frequently, that's GREAT!  Encourage your family to spice up their diets by trying a new fruit or vegetable, or read the labels of your standbys to make sure you can't pick something that might be better for you.

Whether you are a grocery store veteran or newbie, go out and have an adventure.   

Check out the basic nutrition guidelines Catalyst has provided here for a guide- http://bethecatalyst.org/nutrition/issues#issues-3.  Then hit the store!

Things we kept in mind as we shopped-

-Fruits and vegetables are key!

-Stay on the outside areas of the store, where fresh milk, eggs, meat, and fruits and veggies hang out.  When you are in the middle areas of the store, where foods are more often processed, read those ingredient lists.

-Mysterious ingredients are inferior to a short list of ingredients that you recognize.

-Keep in mind that there are lots of other names for sugar in your food.  Look out for sugar that just doesn’t belong, like high fructose corn syrup in your favorite crackers. 

-Have fun!

Quotation of the week- We trust something in a grocery store and assume it's good. We don't learn about the most precious thing in life-the food we put in our body. Educate yourself!

-Paul Prudhomme

Good luck with the shopping!

Love and Smiles,
Mariah Kate

 

• Mariah Geiger