Diversity is definitely a good thing, and when a multitude of cultures put their gifts and ideas into the melting pot, the most beneficial creations are fabricated.  Every nationality is equivalent, and has a unique and equally delicious ingredient to add to the recipe of success.  However, this is not the case everywhere, and we must remember that when we travel to the multicultural land of the supermarket, some ethnicities are superior to others.  This destination is a world of its own, and you must enter this unfamiliar territory with a map and guidebook to lead you away from danger and into a paradise for your health.  Luckily for us tourists, David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding created a travel manual called Eat This Not That; Supermarket Survival Guide.  They explored this complex and confusing world and kept a diary of their findings.  Below is a summary of their journey:

Learn the layout of the land

David and Matt discovered that it is best to stay on the outskirts of the city center.  Here you will find the healthiest and freshest foods like produce, dairy, meat, and seafood, and this air has not been polluted with processed chemicals and packaging.  Of course, we’ll all need to go into town sometimes, but we should only do so for special occasions and keep the partying to a minimum.  Also, as sight seers we should remember to look both high and low, as treasures can be found at these altitudes.  Many of the big name brands that dominate the natural land get eye level spots on the shelves, but sometimes you can discover uncorrupted and pure beauty on the top and bottom levels.  Also, learn the language of the locals, and be able to differentiate between words like multigrain, which simply means more than one grain was used, and whole grain, which translates to the entire grain kernel and a whole lot more of nutrition.  The language of the grocery store has a limited vocabulary, so therefore when picking a packaged food, go for the one with the fewest ingredients.  If you can’t decide between two boxes, turn toward the less is more theory.  And view this vocabulary list as a totem pole, as the words at the top are more prevalent and spoken the most inside the box.

Conquer the produce area

While exploring the territory of nature’s sustenance, the colorful scenery should captivate our sense of touch, not sight, in order to arouse our sense of taste.  While waxy, shiny, and perfectly shaped produce might serve as eye candy, it’s not guaranteed to be sweet to our taste buds.  When it comes to grown foods, outer beauty is not representative of inner splendor, and some visually challenged fruits and vegetables offer the strength of flavor.  The job to judge freshness should be entitled to our hands, and if sturdiness and a rigid exterior can’t be felt, the produce should not enter the interior of our cart.  Also, make sure you research the climate and vegetation schedule of this land to ensure you’re shopping in season.  If you pick the harvest that’s currently in style, you’ll get showered with better prices and more nutrition. 

While roaming these vitamin paved streets, be open to meeting new crops and introduce yourself to the biracial group.  Some new crossbreeds to befriend are:

-          Broccolini (hybrid of broccoli and Chinese kale)

-          Rainbow Carrots (kaleidoscopic carrots from heirloom yellow, purple, and red seeds)

-          Pluots (hybrid of plums and apricots)

-          Orange Cauliflower (hybrid of white cauliflower and an orange one from Canada)

-          Rosso Bruno Tomatoes (brown hybrid from a mix of wild varieties)

While you communicate with the produce race, keep in mind that the color of their skin will reveal cultural strengths and beneficial qualities.  The blue and purple skinned produce can reduce the risk of cancer and keep the memory alive, the green group protects our bones, teeth, and eyesight, the white ones can reduce the risk of heart disease and lower LDL cholesterol, the red clan can enhance blood flow to the heart and fight Alzheimer’s disease, and those with a yellow or orange exterior can lower the risk of eye disease and lift the immune system.  And the question still remains; do the organic tribes deserve a higher social status and live up to their elevated price?  There’s no simple answer to this universal question, and instead of viewing organics as a group, look to the individual.  Pesticide-ridden fruits like peaches, apples, strawberries, pears, and grapes are superior in organic form, however the personal hygiene habits of fruits like blueberries, bananas, and pineapples are cleaner, and therefore don’t require the organic stamp of approval.

Understand the seafood and meat counters

We all know that creatures who swim and walk can provide us with vital nutrition, but David and Matt interacted with these edible animals to see which ones are the friendliest and the most interested in benefiting our health.  When they entered the waters of the supermarket and came in contact with a variety of fish, they became fond of the low-mercury schools like shrimp, wild salmon, pollock, and catfish, and they tried to avoid the contaminated gliders like swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish.  They enjoyed swimming with the fish that shined with omega 3’s, had low levels of mercury, PCBs, and dioxins, and were ecologically sustainable.  When ranking their new friends based on this criterion, they decided their favorites were wild Alaskan salmon, farmed rainbow trout, and pacific halibut.  They made their way to the land to visit the chicken and cows and witnessed how their upbringing affects their nutrient content.  They saw that even though a chicken can be labeled “free range,” it doesn’t necessarily mean they have open access to the grassy hills, and they could have been raised in a pen.  Chickens that are air chilled and immerged in a frigid bath are stripped of bacteria, however if they are dipped in water, their flavor can be diluted and replaced with sodium.  Fowl that contains the Secretary of Agriculture seal and the USDA Organic seal (and were raised without antibiotics) had a proper upbringing and were well fed.  When choosing beef, look to see if the cow was  raised on corn or grass, because the ones who chewed on the greenery will provide you with less fat and more omega 3’s.  Keep in mind the USDA grades beef based on marble (fat that adds tenderness, flavor, and calories) and age, and Prime is the highest grade followed by Choice then Select. (Select being the leanest of the three)  Also, since they do not closely monitor the term “all natural,” these words vaguely describe the cow’s background.  We must keep an open mind while roaming the meat counters, as David and Matt met and came to like alternative animals like ostrich, venison, bison, and elk, whose personas are wholesome and low fat.

Differentiate between the safe and dangerous zones      

It is important to walk around the supermarket with our guards up and to know what areas will enrich our journey and which ones are hazardous to our wellbeing.  I mentioned that not all existence in the grocery world was created equal, and some foods want to hunt us tourists down, while others want to help us find the way to a healthful oasis.  These are some pleasant entities we want to befriend and take home as souvenirs to brighten our refrigerators, freezers, and pantries:

-          Fage 0% Plain Yogurt (1 cup – 120 calories, 0 g fat, 9 g sugars)

-          Eggland’s Best Eggs (1 egg – 70 calories, 4 g fat, 6 g protein)

-          Muir Glen Organic Garlic Cilantro Salsa (2 tablespoons – 10 calories, 0g fat)

-          Organic Valley Chocolate Lowfat Milk (1 cup – 160 calories, 2.5 g fat, 9 g protein)

-          Red Delicious Apples (1 medium apple – 95 calories, 4 g fiber – more antioxidants than any other apple race)

-          Food For Life 100% Whole Grain Ezekiel 4:9 Bread (1 slice – 80 calories, 0.5 g fat, 4 g protein, 3 g fiber)

-          Organic Apple Butter (1 tablespoon – 20 calories, 0 g fat, 4 g sugars)

-          Quinoa (1 cooked cup – 222 calories, 4 g fat, 8 g protein – one of the healthiest foods on the land with its genetic make-up of fiber, healthy fat, and protein)

-          King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour (1/4 cup – 100 calories, 0.5 g fat, 4 g protein, 3 g fiber – texture of white flour with the health benefits of wheat)

-          Mother’s Instant Oatmeal (1/2 cup – 150 calories, 3 g fat, 5 g protein, 4 g fiber)

-          Larabar Pecan Pie (1 bar – 200 calories, 14 g fat, 16 g sugar, 4 g fiber – composed of only dates, pecans, and almonds)

-          Canned chickpeas (1 cup – 286 calories, 3 g fat, 12 g protein, 11 g fiber)

-          Cento Marinated Artichoke Hearts (3 pieces – 25 calories)

-          Sunsweet Dried Plums (1/2 cup – 209 calories, 0 g fat, 2 g protein, 6 g fiber)

-          Pumpkin seeds (1 ounce – 148 calories, 12 g fat, 9 g protein – great source of magnesium)

-          Dagoba Xoxolatl Dark Chocolate with chilies and nibs (1/2 bar – 158 calories, 11 g fat, 4 g fiber)

-          Kashi Southwest Style Chicken Frozen Dinner (240 calories, 5 g fat, 16 g protein, 6 g fiber)

-          Nature’s Path Hemp Plus Waffles (2 waffles – 210 calories, 9 g fat, 6 g protein, 5 g fiber, 28 g carbs)

-          Edy’s Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup (1/2 cup – 140 calories, 6 g fat, 12 g sugar – made from skim milk and holds half the calories of other breeds)

Now onto the treacherous grounds that should be avoided during our market adventure.  The following fares are the meanest creatures on the premises, and they want nothing more than to bring us down with them.  Run and hide if you see:

-          Worst Cereal: Quaker 100% Natural Granola (caloric equivalent to 8 chicken wings)

-          Worst Snack: Garnetto’s Special Request Garlic Rye Chips (fat equivalent to 3 strips of bacon)

-          Worst Cookie: Pillsbury Big Deluxe Classics White Chunk Macadamia Nut (fat equivalent to 5 fun size 3 Musketeers bars)

-          Worst Yogurt: Stonyfield Farm Whole Milk Chocolate Underground (sugar equivalent to 4 cherry popsicles)

-          Worst Candy: Twix (saturated fat equivalent to 11 strips of bacon)

-          Worst Condiment: Eggo Original Syrup (sugar equivalent to two Haagen-Dazs Vanilla & Almond ice cream bars)

-          Worst Ice Cream: Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter (fat equivalent to McDonald’s double cheeseburger)

-          Worst Drink: AriZona Kiwi Strawberry (sugar equivalent to 4 original fudgsicle bars)

-          Worst Packaged Food in America: Marie Callendars Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie – A whopping 1,060 calories in one meal!   

Have an affordable and enjoyable trip

These days people don’t have a lot of extra money to travel, and a trip to the grocery store does not have to be expensive.  Make sure to carefully plan this retreat, and arrive to the terrain with a schedule in hand.  The voyagers who rush through the excursion will purchase more than intended or needed.  Buy mementos from the expedition in bulk, but make sure you’ll utilize them frequently and that they won’t easily spoil.  Thrifty travelers don’t automatically buy the cheapest box, but look at the net weight to ensure they’re getting the most bang for their buck.  Some other travel tips are to keep your journeys local for easy access to freshness, eat before you trek to avoid impulse buys, and venture out late at night to avoid the tourist crowds.

We hope this article has helped answer your questions as far as organic foods, best and worst foods, healthy food shopping, and braving the grocery aisle.  Let’s take a minute to thank our amazing tour guides David and Matt, and for more information purchase the entire guidebook.  No one wants a bad trip, especially when it’s to the world of endless food.  Brave the land of the supermarket with confidence and allow yourself to benefit from the diversity.  And always be certain that your purchases will bring you to a healthy final destination!

Train Well, Eat Well and Live Well with www.TrainEatLive.com