My Food Philosophy
Some beautiful heirloom spray-free tomatoes from my local farmers market
When it comes to the types of food to consume, I certainly believe that good quality food matters.
What does good quality food mean though?
To me good quality food is generally:
Minimally processed
Made the traditional way (i.e., butter over margarine)
Contains minimal or no food additives
Contains nutritious ingredients and ingredients that you know
Organic, grass fed, wild caught
GMO free
Freshly picked
Pretty darn tasty
These foods are better for our bodies and are also nutritionally superior. For example, eggs that have come from pasture raised chickens have been shown to have twice as much omega-3 fatty acids, twice as much vitamin E, lower amounts of omega-6 fatty acids and more vitamin A compared to eggs from caged chickens.
On the other hand, I totally get and also relate to the fact that good quality food often costs that little bit more out of our wallets plus it can also take up a lot of precious time to source.
This is why I also don’t believe it’s worth the energy to be feeling guilty if you can’t afford to pay $10 for that organic kale or drive 3876587 kms to buy those special pasture raised eggs. The main point I am trying to stress is that you just do what you can do, start small and don’t fret it if you can’t.
I do have some tips though on saving time and money when it comes to buying good quality foods
Shop at your local farmers market, often the organic fruit and vegetable prices are much cheaper here plus you’re eating seasonal produce and you get to know the farmer who grows your food
Another option is to buy seasonal organic fruit and vegetable boxes, these are also much more reasonable in price, and they conveniently get delivered to your door
Follow the EWG’s dirty dozen and clean fifteen list when buying fruit and vegetables. Aim to stick to buying organic foods that are on the dirty list and buy non-organic foods on the clean list
Buy foods that are in season, these are always cheaper in price and taste better too
Buy in bulk when foods are on special and then freeze or store in the pantry
Stock up on ingredients that you know you’ll use if you’re visiting a shop that you don’t regularly travel to
Try making more of your own foods. For example, some homemade bliss balls will save you some pennies over store-bought ones. Snacks like these are also great to freeze so you always have some on hand. If you’re after a recipe check out my nut free bliss balls
Try growing some of your own foods, herbs are a great edible to start with and are generally pretty easy to maintain, I’ve just started growing some of my own
I do hope these tips are of help to you and that you have been gently reminded that you’re doing your best and to not be so hard on yourself when it comes to food shopping.
