I buy most of my groceries from DeKalb Farmer’s Market. I also like to shop at local, smaller farmer’s markets as well, but their hours tend to be limited and difficult for me to shop there. Living in the city of Atlanta provides a lot of good choices for fresh and organic produce.
But there are no farmer’s markets close to where I live. There are a few supermarkets within walking distance. Whole Foods, Kroger, and Publix are the three close to me. Every now and then (like this morning) I get hungry before Whole Foods opens. I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning famished after a day of extremely intense physical activity and I wanted breakfast. In fact, I think, after only 4 hours of sleep hunger is what woke me up. I felt like my stomach was about to start eating itself. So I went to Kroger because they are open 24 hours a day.
When I go grocery shopping for the week my diet mainly consists of salads (to see an example of the kind of salads I eat once or twice a day, check out the 80% raw article). I only had a few dollars to spend so I went straight for the produce. I bought three oranges and two apples, a red bell pepper, and a kiwi. This was my breakfast. They were all organic.
It was not pleasant eating this food. Don’t get me wrong, yesterday I bought two apples, two oranges, and an heirloom tomato at Whole Foods and loved them. I ate them in one sitting right before my martial arts class. I absolutely love fruits and vegetables. But every single time I buy any produce at any of the conventional grocery stores the food tastes empty. It’s a chore to eat this produce.
I understand why so many people don’t like fruits and vegetables. I understand why getting a child to eat their vegetables’ is futile power struggle. It’s because most of the produce we purchase in this country looks good on the shelves, but is void of nutrition and consequently, void of taste!
The produce I bought at Kroger was organic. But it was organic produce that was produced by a huge farm that probably produces organic food almost exactly like they produce conventional food. And the produce was probably weeks old. It was bland and hard to eat. I could have as easily swallowed cardboard or Styrofoam. My mouth was getting tired from chewing, but I could barely produce enough saliva to swallow this food that my body didn’t seem to want any more than my taste buds did.
If you are looking to start eating healthy and are looking to incorporate more raw fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet, you must find a farmer’s market or a grocery store that prides itself in quality produce. If you need help locating a farmer’s market, check out Local Harvest.
And grow as much of your own food as you can! If you’re just getting started with growing your own food, Mike Liebermam’s Urban Organic Gardener is a blog you must follow, especially if you have limited space and/or a limited budget.
I feel sorry for anyone who does not have access to good produce. I can’t imagine living the way I do and eating the way I do with the kind of crap I bought this morning.