Today one group took an afternoon trip to Giant Food store in Phoenixville. Many of us shop regularly at Giant stores. Today we did a specific exercise, looking at food placement in the store, which produce is local, reading labels for healthy ingredients, and looking for different forms of sugar in breakfast cereals.
Some of our findings:
· Many of the ‘whole foods’ are around the outside of the store. Produce (fruits and vegetables), deli (meats and cheeses), seafood, the meat department, dairy products, and the bakery were what we found as we walked the periphery. The outer ring seems like a good place to start shopping for healthy, whole foods. Some are healthier that others, of course.
· It is hard to tell where most of the produce comes from. A lot is labeled, ‘Product of the USA,’ but is that PA, or CA? Many other products came from Mexico, Chile, Equador, etc. Some even came from New Zealand.
· Most of these products (carrots, lettuce, apples, peaches) also grow locally in PA, but
a California company (Cal-Organic) and a distributor in MD seem to provide many items. Mushrooms were certified by the PA Organic Association—most of those might be local.
· In the Natural Foods section, which is large, we found canned and packaged foods which contained only natural foods, water, salt, etc—but it wasn’t that easy. Sugar in canned corn and beets? Sugar and corn syrup in fig newtons? The things we cook ourselves taste fine without added sugars.
· In the cereals, we really had to look to find those that did not have sugar in the top 3 ingredients.
and Honey Smacks) Why is a mixture of sugar, wheat flour, and corn syrup called ‘cereal’?? There are some excellent ones, healthy and with whole grains—but you’ve got to read the label.
We all have to make choices in life; in shopping too. There are foods that are healthier than others in every category. Learning how to identify them and choose them is an important skill.
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