Love it or hate it shopping for food is a task that most families engage in on a weekly basis.
While our nutritional intake may start with what goes into the supermarket trolley, as the increasing cost of living bites, tougher decisions are having to be made about what stays on the shelf or comes home with us.
Not only is there lack of time to cook and shop and budgeting pressures on food choice today, but also many parents have individuals likes/dislikes, allergies, health issues and the availability of cooking facilities to factor in.
Stories abound in the media about NZ supermarket conglomerates and their sale of discretionary unhealthy, ultra-processed, convenience and snack foods. Fair enough. However, sadly less is said about all the healthy food available thanks to the considerable efforts of supermarket staff, management, growers and food producers who work hard to ensure the availability of our food supply.
Children of all ages can learn a lot about good nutrition and budgeting if you can take them shopping, talk about what they are seeing and show them how to cook foods well before they leave home to maybe go flatting.
Supermarket tours and group cooking efforts are fun activities to undertake during the school holidays and something that clubs and sports teams can do to teach children practical life skills and team building. Visits to farms, stalls and growers markets can also be hugely educational.
Here are some shopping tips from my latest book How to Grow an Athlete: From Playground to Podium which offers practical team building exercises for coaches, parents and teachers to undertake with young people.
The information on how to make sense of food labels, front of packet designations, food claims and use of shopping apps might also help you.
Shopping tips
- Eat before leaving home to reduce distraction by the impulse buys of confectionary items, which are strategically placed by the checkout to tempt shoppers as they leave.
- Make a list and try to stick to it
- Avoid shopping at peak times when there are more people and distractions, which can make it easier to buy more or buy less healthy grocery items.
If this is difficult because of work commitments, then consider online shopping, in which it is possible to be more specific about the quantities of foods needed.
- Only buy specials that are needed and can be consumed at a normal rate. For example, buying a two-week supply of oranges because they are on special will not save you money if they are consumed in a week.
- Be aware that food producers pay more for eye-level shelving in supermarkets. This cost is added to the price of any food or drink product
- If concerned about Covid-19 remember to wear a mask when shopping, especially in areas where social distancing may be difficult, use hand sanitizer and wash you hands thoroughly after handling grocery items.
Things you can point out to children
Encourage your child to be more aware of the supermarket environment. Here are a few things you could notice together.
The Supermarket Layout:
- Notice how the staple food items such as fruit & vegetables, meat, dairy and bread are usually found on the outside of the supermarket closer to delivery bays.
- See how the more highly processed foods such as biscuits, crisps, snack foods and confectionary are found in the middle aisles with promotions and signage at the ends
- Note how the frozen foods are clustered together as they are in need of power points to keep freezers running.
Food promotions:
Point out at least 5 ways in which the supermarket promotes food products in order to sell more. E.g.
- Signage
- Specials & give aways
- Discounting & competitions
- Food demonstrations & sampling
- Coupons & vouchers
Chat about the pros and cons of them doing this and the affect it could have on your budget for food items. Eg it can be tempting to spend more than you have.
Food contamination:
Notice some of the ways that the supermarket tries to reduce food contamination e.g:
- Hand sanitizer dispensers by the entrance and exit doors.
- Sneeze guards around the deli, the fresh meat & fish sections
- Wrapping, especially around fresh chicken to stop dripping juices onto other fresh food items
- The use of gloves by staff when handling raw meat or fish
- Keeping cooked and raw meats separate in the deli
- Using different slicing machines when slicing cooked and raw meat
- Wiping down conveyor belts in between customers especially if there have been spills
- Offering tongs in the bread and bakery section etc..
How do you think the supermarket reduces food waste?
- Sprinkling green vegetables with water to stop them drying out. Note while this is costing more, (as the vegetable then weighs heavier), it will help the food to stay fresher.
- Keep rotating old stock to the front of the shelf and new to the back (point out you can do this too in the pantry at home)
- Note how some older produce can sometimes be bundled up and packaged more cheaply for a quicker sale
- See how baked goods unsold one day are marked down the next and displayed on a separate sales table
- Note how grated cheese, fruit and vegetables can be recycled into ready meals, salads and deli food items
Talk about what we all can do when shopping to help save the planet?
- Plan meals for the week ahead and make lists of what you need so you shop less often each week, thereby saving time and petrol.
- If buying large items like whole pumpkin or cabbage plan to use these in more than one dish for the week
- Remember to take your own shopping bags
- Avoid plastic trays and plastic bags, take paper or string bags where possible for fruit and vegetables
- Recycle soft plastic at the checkout or where the store has a collection point.
- Buy what you need and plan to use up or freeze leftovers rather than wasting.
- Buy fresh, healthy foods as much as possible rather than ultra-processed or takeaways.
Some nutritional tips to feed your children
Help children to learn about what food groups help them to grow and have energy to build muscles and bones to support sporting and learning activities. While most of this is taught at school, you quizzing them at times can really help to consolidate their knowledge.
Fruit & Vegetables
These provide carbohydrate for energy, vitamins and minerals for growth and repair. They come in loads of different colours. The brighter they are the more antioxidants they contain which helps to boost our immune system so we can better fight bugs, coughs and colds.
Raw fruit & vegetables are an important source of Vitamin C for healthy gums and tissue building. Encourage children to learn about and be able to name these foods, to grow and try new varieties.
Breads & cereals
Any food growing from the ground contains carbohydrate important for energy and B group vitamins that help our growth, brain and nerve tissue. Wholegrain cereals & breads are best because they contain more dietary fibre important to feed the healthy bacteria in our gut that aid bowel health.
Meat, fish, eggs, fish, poultry, falafel, tofu, lentils, legumes
These foods are important sources of protein and iron to help us to grow and to enable our blood to carry oxygen and energy, which helps us to think and remember things.
Dairy & alternatives
Whether these are based on cow’s milk protein (or plant based foods such as oats, soy, rice or almond), milk products, cheese and yoghurt contains calcium and protein important for bone and muscle growth.
Polyunsaturated margarine, oils, nuts and seeds
These things are a source of healthy fats important for our nerves and brain tissue so aim to include some each day.
Wrap up
While most of us rush through our weekly grocery shop at a 100km/hr taking time to notice all the work going on around you and thinking about why some of those discretionary foods slipped into our trolleys unnoticed can also be a revelation.
(PS..yes a comparative list of what constitutes a discretionary food and how to measure them is also in my book
How to Grow an Athlete: From Playground to Podium is available from bookstores nationwide (NZ$45) or directly from me (with free postage around NZ). Orders for the Audible and eBook versions are now being taken, email lea@leastening.com. A new book website HowToGrowAnAthlete.com is coming soon, so keep an eye on LeaStening.com for details.
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