When you gain knowledge about healthy eating or ways to be more green, your buying habits tend to change. Since most of us buy food more than anything else, those choices are most evident in the refrigerator and cabinets.
I just recently noticed that food in my fridge has changed dramatically over the past decade:
My fridge used to be filled with store-brand connivence containers full of artificial sweeteners. I was trying to cut out sugar but didn’t realize (or perhaps didn’t want to realize) the fake stuff might not be so great to consume. I was also a savvy shopper who could find the best deal per ounce which was almost always an off brand.
Then I learned to coupon. All of a sudden our fridge was full of name-brand items. That was radical to me!
I then started to cut out artificial sweeteners which was much tougher than I anticipated. It seems that almost anything low-fat contains fake sugar. That meant I had to start buying FULL FAT foods. Let me tell you, I was conflicted to the core because I had always bought low-fat foods.
Then the big shift. I started making food from scratch. I started grinding grain to make homemade bread, pancakes, muffins, and more. Tried my hand at homemade yogurt. Made tomato paste from scratch. Actually touched a whole chicken (eek!) to cook and make homemade chicken stock. Who had I become?!
Now we buy our beef, chicken, fruits, vegetables and eggs from a farmer and we cut out most grain and dairy. Although we cheat sometimes, these changes have caused us to eat a mostly Paleo diet.
Our food choices have evolved radically! And I’m sure it will only continue.
I was asked recently to go on a Fridge Hunt and take note of foods in paper packaging, paper cartons, plastic packaging, plastic cartoons, and determine what’s recyclable. Since our food choices have shifted from everything being in a connivence sized container to buying mostly from a farmer, it appeared at first glance that we don’t have any packaging in our fridge.
But I looked further and this is what I found:
- Eggs in a paper carton.
- Coconut milk in a paper carton.
- A few condiments in plastic and glass containers.
- Cheese (for the toddler) in a plastic bag.
- Veggies from the farmer in a plastic bag (he has to put them in something, right?)
- make transportation efficient because cartons take up less space in shipping to the processor and to grocery stores,
- block UV light that can reduce nutritional value of foods like milk,
- communicate information about shoppers’ favorite brands and promotions,
- reduce food and packaging waste with a great product- to-package ratio, an average of 94% product to only 6% package. So more of what you buy is product.
Our eggs and milk come in cartons but we definitely still have room to improve. And we (gasp!) don’t recycle yet. I know. I know. When it comes to healthy eating, being green, or just about any other self-improvement goal, it’s all about baby steps right?
Feel free to go on your own Fridge Hunt to see if there are any baby steps you could make in the food packaging department. Learn more on the Choose Cartons Facebook and Twitter page. Then check out RecycleCartons.com to see if there’s a recycling facility near you.
So tell me, do you have a recycling plant near you? I just checked and I don’t. Now I don’t feel guilty about not recycling!
Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Evergreen and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
iDreamOfClean
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Yeah, I checked into recycling, too. I hate that we don’t have it in the county. When I do have time, I have to haul my stuff over to the bins across town. I’m pretty bad about buying pre-packaged stuff, but time is key for me right now. :) I just look for healthier options, use my cloth grocery bags, and try to buy in bulk as much as possible.
FYI, I recently saw this article I had never made a connection between the low-fat craze and mental decline, but this totally makes sense. Basically, healthy fats (both saturated and unsaturated) should make up about 20 – 35% (!!!) of your daily caloric intake. Americans have virtually cut that down to next to nothing. I don’t by any “low fat” processed foods anymore, both because of the artificial sweetener (which will kill you) and this article. I just buy “real” food and eat less. :)