I went grocery shopping at 4 PM this past Saturday. It felt like I had entered a war zone.
People were pushing and grabbing things off the shelves hastily, bumping one another with their carts, forgetting to say excuse me, or even smile at one another as we passed in the aisles. Many of the refrigerator cases and the shelves we are used to seeing fully stocked were empty. It’s clear that a panic has set in. I recognize it may in fact get worse before it gets better, but I found myself asking – what’s the best way to navigate our emotions surrounding this supermarket insanity?
Be open to diversifying your diet; it may be an eye-opening experience for you.
Okay — so they were out of chicken (all types – both fresh and frozen), and out of about 98% of the different cuts of beef. But they had fresh salmon, and even though salmon wasn’t at the top of the list of things my husband wanted to eat last night (or ever), I am grateful that we were able to afford a nice piece of fish I could prepare for my family.
It made me realize that we take the luxury of choice for granted every day. Should we buy fish or chicken? Organic or conventional? Farm-raised, vegetarian-fed? How about beef? Is it grass-fed? Was it humanely slaughtered? It even extends to our produce selection. There’s always the question of organic or conventional here, too, and furthermore, how about the luxury of being able to choose to purchase something that was grown 3000 (or more) miles away? If you walk around any grocery store in the winter time, you would never have any idea what season it was, or which fruits and vegetables were in season for that matter. Tomatoes in February – why not?! Peaches and plums year-round? Does anyone even think twice?
Yes, we are used to having an abundance of choices every day, and right now there are very few. In the interest of making the best of this situation, consider trying some foods that may be outside your regular routine or comfort zone. Are you used to having strawberries with your yogurt every morning? Try some citrus or pineapple instead. If your store is out of broccoli, try cauliflower. That gone, too? How about some stir fried asparagus and mushrooms? I’m pretty sure there is no panic for asparagus right now, and best of all ITS IN SEASON! Opt for frozen. Opt for canned. Opt for brands you’d normally reject. Our food supply in this country is safe. Ditch your diet culture voice that says “omg BPA in cans” or “this isn’t organic” or “that’s so many carbs in that canned soup.”
Express gratitude for everything we have.
Express gratitude for the food on our table and for those who labored to grow and/or raise it. Express gratitude for the sheer fact that we can afford to put food on the table. Millions of Americans experience food insecurity every day (which is heightened dramatically right now), and yet millions of other Americans buy and throw away food like it’s nothing. As I walked down each aisle, I realized we typically throw bag after bag, box after box into our carts, mindlessly. Buying more than we need has almost become, sadly, a way of life – and it doesn’t necessarily need to remain that way.
Perhaps when the shelves fill up again, we can remind ourselves that we don’t need to over-purchase, and we can be mindful of eating more seasonally and locally. We can cook at home more often. We can even build meals from pantry staples once in a while. We can waste less. Walking through a near-empty grocery store is a sobering reminder that we cannot take choices for granted. We can choose foods that nourish us — regardless of the pressure and spectre of healthism: making every single decision in your life based on a holier than thou attitude/falsely pious way of eating or moving with great rigidity. Let’s take a deep breath, remain calm, put back the excess items we don’t need, and be grateful for that we live a country in a period in history that gives us the luxury of choice – even if it’s not at our fingertips at this very moment.