Charger Blogger, Nutrition Sciences Major Talks Strategy Behind Grocery Shopping

Good morning, everyone, and welcome back to the Charger Blog! As we ease further into Autumn, I am finding joys in all things cozy. This often takes the form of my favorite hot drinks, freshly made dishes, dressing in overly big sweaters, and enjoying time with friends because they deserve all the love and hugs in the world. Speaking of baked goods, actually —

Author, opening the fridge: [......]
Author: “....that’s not good.”

Aside from my carton of almond milk spilling onto the shelf, the fridge was filled with a weird combination of stuff. Does anyone else have that happen? You know, plenty of butter, no bread. Spring onion. A half-eaten jar of kimchi in the corner. Random thing of tomato sauce (why is it always tomato sauce??). Hm. Are those my hopes and dreams over there?

Author squints. “Yeah, no, that’s a moldy bag of carrots. Absolutely not.”

After tossing the carrots and staring into the Mordor my fridge had become, I decided that there was only one thing left to do:

Grocery shopping.

In all realness, I really do enjoy grocery shopping. It’s a good way to get subtly social and to understand oneself, and it is an opportunity to give some gratitude. We live in a country that has unrestrained access to food, which wasn’t always the case in our history. It’s a privilege to have so many options available to us, and I’m happy that I’m able to support myself monetarily to purchase the nutrition that I want. Grocery shopping is also just a good way to get out of your head, I think. At least, it works for me.

Anyhow, after choosing nutrition as my major, the method of how I went about my grocery shopping changed. Of course, I was always decently good at it, but having a bunch of items scattered all over a piece of paper wasn’t the most optimal; needing to go to sections repetitively wasn’t efficient, and often proved to be a headache. So, to make my life a bit simpler, I now organize my lists how we categorize our foods:

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Using any of these as a header, I’ll put the corresponding foods that I need under them (i.e., if I need to grab some whole grains, I’ll put it under carbohydrates, eggs will go under protein, guacamole under fats, etc.). Not to toot my own horn, but this is such a great way to organize as it mimics how grocery stores are organized, too. Anything bread or carb-y is typically in the same area. Fish and meat counters are oftentimes near each other, too. When it comes to miscellaneous items (i.e. sprinkles), I don’t mind getting my steps in and wandering. Sometimes the wandering part of grocery-storing is fun. Learning how your grocery stores are organized can truly help improve navigating them in a time-efficient manner, especially when you’re in college or have a busy schedule.

So: you’re at the grocery store, now what?

Author, standing outside of Trader Joe’s with a bag of Whole Foods produce in her trunk “I’m getting a divorce.”

Okay, okay, I’m kidding. I still love Trader Joe’s, the secret cousin of TJ Maxx. Not only does TJ’s offer a great selection of ethical, plant-based foods for their consumers, but their staff is always so friendly and willing to help, even though I’ve been there thousands of times. Additionally, even though their servings are smaller, Trader Joe’s has pretty good prices for their consumers, making everything far more agreeable than other companies.

Then there is Whole Foods.

To describe how much I love Whole Foods, I have enlisted my boyfriend’s amazing vocabulary:

“Uh... Organic love/hate relationship.”

Yeah. That sums it up. Thanks, bro.

Whole Foods has been something special to me since Day 1 of ever going there. My mom and I would venture there often when I was younger, occasionally grabbing a bite of the oven-fresh pizza or oodles of cheesy mac n’ cheese. I used to play with all the stuffed animals in the vitamin section, and I would openly complain about the existence of spinach.

Mom: “Spinach makes you strong!”

Me, an intellectual: “Then why do you ask Dad to fix stuff?”

Beatrice Glaviano: professional parent roaster since 2004.

Even though I have an innate love for Whole Foods, I cannot deny that they are more expensive than most other places. A bag of nuts for ~$6 is a little... rough. That being said, there is a good chance that these prices can be justified through shipping, care, staff, quantity, and availability. However, the biggest thing that I’ve come to appreciate about Whole Foods is the quality of their items. I could go to a range of different stores to get my produce and fresh meats, but they’re never quite up to par.

Example: salmon. It’s supposed to be a deep orange-red, not a faded pink or sad orange. Color in nutrition is often associated with vitamins and minerals, and the potency of that color is an indication of the concentration of those values in a given food. With this logic, you could say that a deeper-color salmon represents the amount of carotene present in that fish based on their diet.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

At the end of the day, evaluate what works best for you. If you can, I’d recommend getting quality foods over quantity. Yes, snacks are great, but meals are the true backbone of one’s diet and should be centered around getting a diverse amount of macro and micronutrients in. If you’re unable to get your groceries, or simply don’t enjoy cooking, that’s okay too! There are several on-campus options that offer a good balance of items as well.

Personally, I enjoy the salads at WOW or the sweet potatoes they make at the Marketplace. I have no idea what they put into them, but oh my god they’re fantastic. 10/10 potato. Speaking of, maybe I’ll post my recipes in the future? That could be a fun thing to do.

Anyways, I hope that everyone is having an absolutely fantastic weekend and that this article has offered some insight on grocery-ing. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite task, but it’s one that should be learned how to do well. Food is fuel, guys.

Take care everyone and bundle up! Fall is here.
With peace, love, and the kimchi that was in my fridge,
Beatrice