Food For Thought: Shopping The Outside Of The Grocery Store
After spending nearly a week in Washington D.C. with some of my favorite farmer friends I have walked away with insight to so many topics from kids to raising cattle to spraying pesticides to GMO’s. And you can’t help but want to expand your mind to simply understand.
Am I a biased person for being raised in a certain environment? Do I only see things from an upper middle class point of view? Can I really relate to poverty, or being hungry?
Can you?
I can’t ever remember a time where I have gone hungry. But globally within our population there are people every day wondering how they are going to get just a little milk for their next baby’s meal.
Have you ever heard the line “shop around the outside of the grocery store”. This essentially means that everything you are feeding your family is fresh. From fresh fruits to fresh breads to fresh dairy and meats. But, what about the families that can’t?
I often times hear from consumers about how they think that all the food in the middle, or all the preserved food, is not good for you. But, here is something to think about…what about the people who can only afford the cheaper canned goods instead of the fresh fruits along the outside?
Every year as the hot topic of food gets bigger and bigger I can’t help but think of how the poverty level seems to be getting bigger and bigger too.
We are farming more on less land and we are doing our part to make food as affordable as possible, but it’s still not a good feeling when you hear a story from a school board member about how some children’s families simply sends them to the local gas station for a $1 slice of pizza, because they can’t afford the drive to the grocery store or the product within that store.
The point I am trying to make here is to simply think about how lucky you are if you are that mom that can afford to shop the “outside of the grocery store”, but when you are knocking on all the “middle food” try to think of that mom that can only afford to feed her child canned vegetables.
It’s just something to think about this Friday, a little food for thought. And especially as we enter the holidays a nice reminder to say a little prayer for how lucky we are!
Thanks for reminding me that I am here today because my parents could only afford the middle of the store even 50 years ago. I am so blessed to be able to shop the outside and will be thinking of ways to help other be able to afford to shop the outside.
Thanks for reminding me that I am here today because my parents could only afford the middle of the store even 50 years ago. I am so blessed to be able to shop the outside and will be thinking of ways to help other be able to afford to shop the outside.