Last week it was wonderful to connect a fact our 6th grade social studies teacher shared with the 6th grade students to my 6th grade lesson on carbohydrates. Ms. Fisher shared that the average American consumes 600 pounds of sugar a year. My 6th grade students were surprised to see a visual of 10 pounds of sugar and did not feel they consume this amount each week. We then transitioned into looking of the sugar content of common snack foods using sugar cubes as a visual. Students still did not believe their diet could possibly contain this much sugar. I reminded them many processed foods have hidden sugar.
This weekend while doing errands we stopped by the local supermarket because tuna fish was on sale as a loss leader. I have to be honest I shop two or three times a week for school at the Co-op Food Stores. Each morning I have a specific list of items that I need for the recipe of the day and I’m pretty efficient at moving to the store. This weekend’s foray into the supermarket left me feeling overwhelmed.
For my family I shop in a pretty simple fashion. We raise all the meat we eat. I have a vegetable garden in season and stop by the local produce market once a week when local vegetables are not available. My husband is the one who stops to pick up items like milk. Once in a while I will venture into the supermarket going through the aisles picking out items on sale like pasta, canned tomatoes, and the tuna fish we sought out this weekend. But we don’t make a weekly trip to the supermarket with its many options of highly processed foods.
When I reflect upon the American diet my trip to the local supermarket really shows the big challenge. As Americans we rarely buy and prepare whole foods to make a meal instead it’s pulling something out of the freezer, opening a can or a box and putting those items together to make a meal.
If you want to reduce the amount of added sugar in your diet simply take the challenge to shop the outside edges of the supermarket. In almost all supermarkets you will find the ingredients to prepare more healthful meals around the outside walls.
This weekend while doing errands we stopped by the local supermarket because tuna fish was on sale as a loss leader. I have to be honest I shop two or three times a week for school at the Co-op Food Stores. Each morning I have a specific list of items that I need for the recipe of the day and I’m pretty efficient at moving to the store. This weekend’s foray into the supermarket left me feeling overwhelmed.
For my family I shop in a pretty simple fashion. We raise all the meat we eat. I have a vegetable garden in season and stop by the local produce market once a week when local vegetables are not available. My husband is the one who stops to pick up items like milk. Once in a while I will venture into the supermarket going through the aisles picking out items on sale like pasta, canned tomatoes, and the tuna fish we sought out this weekend. But we don’t make a weekly trip to the supermarket with its many options of highly processed foods.
When I reflect upon the American diet my trip to the local supermarket really shows the big challenge. As Americans we rarely buy and prepare whole foods to make a meal instead it’s pulling something out of the freezer, opening a can or a box and putting those items together to make a meal.
If you want to reduce the amount of added sugar in your diet simply take the challenge to shop the outside edges of the supermarket. In almost all supermarkets you will find the ingredients to prepare more healthful meals around the outside walls.
RSS Feed
