ASK MIKE
June 30, 2015
My lifelong friend, Marc, submitted this question for consideration. It is a question we are all concerned with. I can't begin to tell you how many people have said to me "I would love to eat the way you do, but it is too expensive".
Q. Mike, Do you believe that the extra money stores like Whole Foods charge for their products are really worth it in health benefits, since a lot of those labels seem to be meaningless?
A. Great question Marc, there are a lot of moving parts here and I hope to get to all of them for you.
I would like to start by saying that my wife Mary and I are fully committed to eating vegan and much of it in its natural uncooked state. We are on this path for many reasons which we can discuss at different time. We share a lot of the duties regarding this lifestyle and more specifically the food we eat. We believe that eating food that is organic, local, in season, whole, pure and in its natural state brings great health benefits at many levels. That is our commitment, so with that as a back drop, let's continue.
Executing this lifestyle is of course where the tires hit the road. We have set up informal rules for ourselves that serve as a blueprint for how we do this. Here they are for the first time ever in written form.
1. We acquire and prepare most of our food ourselves in a conscious manner
2. In carrying this out we try to buy all of our food from conscious growers and vendors. I personally vet almost everyone we buy from and actually have called their suppliers to see if it is all up to speed. I have a list of questions I ask each one of them. Sounds like a lot of work but it really is fun. I learn a lot, and it gives me great confidence in what I am eating, as well as who I am buying from. Once you have vetted your main products and suppliers you only have to do that once in awhile. Just yesterday I vetted stevia products and vendors. (See yesterday's blog for results.)
3. When we eat out we will always try to eat at some type of conscious restaurant, typically not chains, steakhouses, etc. But on the road in a pinch who knows, but it will always be plant based foods.
4. We always try to carry our own food with us wherever we go so we have more control over the quality. Coolers are great and our little RV has a fridge.
5. We try to keep our packaged or processed foods to a minimum. It doesn't always work out that way so we are diligent label readers. We watch for additives, sugars, preservatives, unknown chemicals, etc, and try to avoid them.
6. If an item is on "the dirty dozen list "(Google it) we will ONLY buy it organic, otherwise, we will do without. If it is on the "Clean 15" (Google again, we might buy it if organic is not available or too expensive.
With all of this said we discover fun things and have great adventures together, even when we travel, which is a lot..Let's move forward with the cost of living this way that is mostly organic and live foods. Although we do much of this together, Mary is a very careful shopper both in selection, quality and pricing. She knows how much things should cost and which stores have the best products at the right price, which includes farmers markets. Since we want things as fresh as possible we shop or "pick a few things up" quite regularly. The days of giant shopping and stocking up (my bad habit) for us are history.Once again short frequent stops are just built into our daily lifestyle. I am going to tell you we do have a Whole Foods within walking distance of our condo in Phoenix, but for the reasons stated above it is not our primary shopping spot. We don't actually have a single shopping spot but rather several, and based on what Mary observes it is a fluid process. The following are several places we shop in Phoenix area. Sprouts Market mostly for our staples and quick pick ups. Whole Foods for whatever Mary says we need there She also added that WF has great sales items so we can try new things at a great price. Costco has become the largest organic retailer in America. I have vetted their suppliers and am happy with the info I have gotten for organic non-GMO products that we use regularly. Plus they come in great sizes. Local farmers markets for produce in season So this is where we buy more than 90% of our food. We also belong to a great community garden in Bozeman, so we get some of our food from there as it is ready to harvest.
So keeping your food budget down while keeping the quality and health benefits up can be built into your lifestyle. Of course, eating right and preventing disease is ALWAYS going to be less expensive than paying the doctors to fix what is broken or not working right. Prevention will always be the best cure.
Here are 8 Tips:
1. Shop in several stores for specific products, be aware of pricing for your key items. Spread the wealth.
2. Shop at local farmers markets.
3. Prepare most of your own foods and keep them with you..
4. Be select on the restaurants you choose.
5. Read labels, Non-GMO Certified Project and FDA Certified Organic are the ones we trust as of today.
6. The words natural, genuine, healthy are all meaningless.
7. Be an informed consumer, vet your suppliers, read blogs like this.
8. Feel free to contact me to check out a product for you. I love it.
wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com
Being a Whole Health Warrior is being your own advocate. As we say,
"your body should last a lifetime". Enjoy the journey.
.
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