I have a confession … going to the supermarket freaks me out. And it’s not the queues, (though those are annoying), or the people, or the (inevitable) fact that I will have forgotten my list.
What freaks me out is the choices. There are so many choices these days with food and all of them are important. They all hold a weight in terms of my individual impact on the planet or someone’s life (including mine). Do I buy fair-trade, free range, organic? Do I worry about locality, air miles, genetic modification? What about additives, preservatives and fat content? And all this without even factoring in cost and taste.
It got to a stage where the abundance of choice was overwhelming me so much I couldn’t go shopping … great for the waistline and the food budget, not so great when I have a house full of hungry kids!
So I had to draw the line, and as someone who loves to cook, the decision has been about taste and freshness. So the line for me is free-range as much as possible, and local produce as much as possible. The rest is hit and miss, and I have had to consciously let go of that to be able to stock my pantry and feed my family. Oh, and shopping online, which reduces the queue time considerably!