How to eat when you have to: food shopping
Today we are going to talk about grocery shopping, and the best way to start it is with the condom commercial from the 90-s: The boy wants the sweets, the father wants to check items off his shopping list and get out of the supermarket, the son throws a tantrum, the father regrets not using a condom 7 years ago.
Why do I bring this up? Because I hate food shopping. Every time I enter the supermarket I feel like the combination of the son and the father. The son wants to buy EVERYTHING, and the father wants to save money. The son wants sweets, and the father wants nutrition. The son is tempted by new products and exciting flavors, and the father realizes that whatever you buy you would have store, cook, eat, digest and pay for it again in the gym.
We will try to analyze what kinds of problems are faced with in the supermarket and will learn how to deal with some of them.
The first and evident problem is the problem of EVERYTHING. I am surprised that Mark Bittman did not write a prequel to his best selling book "How to Cook Everything", called "How to Buy Everything". We all understand we can't buy everything, because it will not fit into a shopping cart, and if you take more then one cart it will not fit into the car trunk, and if you take a few trips with your car it will not fit into the fridge, and if it fits into the fridge it DEFINITELY will not fit into you. It will, however, fit into the garbage after it expires. And you'll be in a good company: 40% of food in US goes to waste. Well, as long as you can afford it.
Seemingly, that's the argument the father and the son are having: they can't agree which food to buy and how much. Why?
That brings us to a second, much deeper problem. And it's a problem of communication. It's hard to accept the fact that people have different opinions. It's hard to risk being wrong. It's hard to stand in front of an audience and give a speech. Communication is hard. Explaining to your son why his diet can't consist entirely of candy, chocolate and sugar cubes is hard. Explaining is hard, but reminding is even harder. We all know in theory what's good for us. But in practice ... the father in us goes to sleep and the son buys very healthy, local and organic Nutritious Triple chocolate chip granola bars. It's equally hard to explain to your father how a pack of marshmallows is going to make your day and how much you need it right now. Explaining is hard, but reminding is even harder. Reminding your father that you are a good kid even when you misbehave. Reminding that you are more important than all the food in all the supermarkets combined. Because the supermarket is designed to underline an importance of the supermarket.
And that's the third problem, the a problem of the environment. By definition, a supermarket is a place that looks friendly and safe, like the treasure cave in an old Persian tale of "Ali-Baba and the 40 thieves" the doors slide open as if you've said "Open Sesame", and the space looks like the treasury full of riches. Even better, the thieves are nowhere to be found. You can load up, swipe your plastic and come back for more. But the problem of course is that the thieves are there , they just can't be seen. And if you are not careful, they can rob you of your money, your time and your health. And most importantly they can rob you of your understanding of what is food.
What is food? What makes something a food? Does it have to be local, organic, exotic, exciting , expensive?
Does it have to be yummy? Does it have to be fresh? Depends who you ask. If you are hungry, there's just one quality of a food that's important: it should be edible for you. The Jewish term for it is Kosher, which means fit. If it's fit to eat for me, it's food. If it's not fit to eat for me - it's not a food. Everything else is nice-to-have. But if you keep wandering the supermarket isles and keep looking at infinite options available to you, you forget what food is. You start wandering: Maybe food should be much more then edible? May be it should be gourmet? Organic? Exotic? And the 40 thousand thieves are going to whisper in your ear: "Yes, the food should be all that, and it should also have some acai berry in it.
So how do you go food shopping?
First, you recognize the three main problems: The EVERYTHING problem , the Communication problem and the Open Sesame problem..
And then you don't solve them. You can't. They are problems by design. So what do you do? You live with them. You dance with them. You play with them. Making a choice is always hard. Picking a something out of Everything is hard. Communicating with your child or with your inner child is hard. Living in the environment full of temptations and hidden costs is hard. But we have to live somewhere.
I will leave you with one thought, that might make choices in general and food choices in particular a little less painful. It's not about one particular choice, it's about series of choices, planning, consistency. When you are already in the supermarket, it's too late to discipline your child, it's too late to go on a diet, it's too late to wander what food is. Just grub something to the best of your understanding, pay for it and get out.
And use the rest of the week to eat, to be hungry, to go to the gym, to throw spoiled food to the garbage, but also - to prepare for the next time you go food shopping.
Why do I bring this up? Because I hate food shopping. Every time I enter the supermarket I feel like the combination of the son and the father. The son wants to buy EVERYTHING, and the father wants to save money. The son wants sweets, and the father wants nutrition. The son is tempted by new products and exciting flavors, and the father realizes that whatever you buy you would have store, cook, eat, digest and pay for it again in the gym.
We will try to analyze what kinds of problems are faced with in the supermarket and will learn how to deal with some of them.
The first and evident problem is the problem of EVERYTHING. I am surprised that Mark Bittman did not write a prequel to his best selling book "How to Cook Everything", called "How to Buy Everything". We all understand we can't buy everything, because it will not fit into a shopping cart, and if you take more then one cart it will not fit into the car trunk, and if you take a few trips with your car it will not fit into the fridge, and if it fits into the fridge it DEFINITELY will not fit into you. It will, however, fit into the garbage after it expires. And you'll be in a good company: 40% of food in US goes to waste. Well, as long as you can afford it.
Seemingly, that's the argument the father and the son are having: they can't agree which food to buy and how much. Why?
That brings us to a second, much deeper problem. And it's a problem of communication. It's hard to accept the fact that people have different opinions. It's hard to risk being wrong. It's hard to stand in front of an audience and give a speech. Communication is hard. Explaining to your son why his diet can't consist entirely of candy, chocolate and sugar cubes is hard. Explaining is hard, but reminding is even harder. We all know in theory what's good for us. But in practice ... the father in us goes to sleep and the son buys very healthy, local and organic Nutritious Triple chocolate chip granola bars. It's equally hard to explain to your father how a pack of marshmallows is going to make your day and how much you need it right now. Explaining is hard, but reminding is even harder. Reminding your father that you are a good kid even when you misbehave. Reminding that you are more important than all the food in all the supermarkets combined. Because the supermarket is designed to underline an importance of the supermarket.
And that's the third problem, the a problem of the environment. By definition, a supermarket is a place that looks friendly and safe, like the treasure cave in an old Persian tale of "Ali-Baba and the 40 thieves" the doors slide open as if you've said "Open Sesame", and the space looks like the treasury full of riches. Even better, the thieves are nowhere to be found. You can load up, swipe your plastic and come back for more. But the problem of course is that the thieves are there , they just can't be seen. And if you are not careful, they can rob you of your money, your time and your health. And most importantly they can rob you of your understanding of what is food.
What is food? What makes something a food? Does it have to be local, organic, exotic, exciting , expensive?
Does it have to be yummy? Does it have to be fresh? Depends who you ask. If you are hungry, there's just one quality of a food that's important: it should be edible for you. The Jewish term for it is Kosher, which means fit. If it's fit to eat for me, it's food. If it's not fit to eat for me - it's not a food. Everything else is nice-to-have. But if you keep wandering the supermarket isles and keep looking at infinite options available to you, you forget what food is. You start wandering: Maybe food should be much more then edible? May be it should be gourmet? Organic? Exotic? And the 40 thousand thieves are going to whisper in your ear: "Yes, the food should be all that, and it should also have some acai berry in it.
So how do you go food shopping?
First, you recognize the three main problems: The EVERYTHING problem , the Communication problem and the Open Sesame problem..
And then you don't solve them. You can't. They are problems by design. So what do you do? You live with them. You dance with them. You play with them. Making a choice is always hard. Picking a something out of Everything is hard. Communicating with your child or with your inner child is hard. Living in the environment full of temptations and hidden costs is hard. But we have to live somewhere.
I will leave you with one thought, that might make choices in general and food choices in particular a little less painful. It's not about one particular choice, it's about series of choices, planning, consistency. When you are already in the supermarket, it's too late to discipline your child, it's too late to go on a diet, it's too late to wander what food is. Just grub something to the best of your understanding, pay for it and get out.
And use the rest of the week to eat, to be hungry, to go to the gym, to throw spoiled food to the garbage, but also - to prepare for the next time you go food shopping.