shopping and nutrition

So we went shopping today for food that wouldn't fuck with our diet. Mostly we don't eat too terribly, but a lot of what we eat involves soy or noodles or added sugar, and all that is out.

I'll post the list of stuff at the end of it (it's long), but the short story is we went to two markets (trader joe's and whole foods) and we spent about $400 in two hours. I would estimate that we have a week's worth of food. That makes $1600 per month, or $200 per person per week.

The thing that struck me the most is this is a horribly inefficient way to shop/eat/consume. We bought local and organic. "In-season" is impossible; it's snowing. So everything we bought came in smaller quantities because it's more expensive and I assume people buy less of it. It came from smaller farms, and had no preservatives (none of it). This means that there is a lot more vehicular traffic associated with it. There's more refrigeration associated with it. There's more overhead in farming with it (again, all of it). So it would seem to me that the people who think this is a more responsible way to eat, environmentally, are just plain wrong. Or they live in the sticks where they can buy this shit from the farm itself. Not so when you live in the city.

It may be healthier – I will tell you my thoughts in six weeks – but it's also something that not everyone can do due to the hideous cost of eating this way. Even eating out, you're deeply fucked. All kinds of things that are nominally healthy (edamame, oat bran cereal, curried chickpeas, the list just goes on and on) are off-limits. I can't go out for Mexican or Indian or Sushi (sashimi, I suppose, is okay). Chinese and Korean are big struggles too. That's the other thing that hit me – this diet is almost explicitly American Cuisine. Many of the basic staples of non-American cuisine are verboten.

So, you've got an environmentally unsound, expensive, ethnocentric diet that may be healthier for you. I am not sure I see an up side here.

Oh, and liquor is out. Which isn't such a bad thing, I guess. All liquor, not just beer (gluten) or spirits (insulin spikes).

Caffeine, interestingly (or perhaps not so interestingly, given nobody'd do it if it was off-limits) is "open."

The list (remember, we are shopping for both of us):

salsa fresh	12floz
pineapple spears fresh	16oz
blackberries fresh	12oz
jalapenos fresh	8oz
blueberries fresh	24oz
cantaloupe fresh spears	32oz
raspberries fresh	12oz
tomatoes pearl fresh	14oz
baby bok choi fresh	6ct
brussels sprouts fresh	20oz
chicken stock organic	2qt
canola oil	1L
tuna in penang curry	28oz
chicken whole organic	62.4oz
eggs jumbo organic	48ct
cranberries fresh	1 dry qt
unsweetened assam tea	64floz
mixed fruit fresh	27.36oz
guacamole	13.76oz
ghee	7.5oz
oranges clementine sectioned peeled	25.6oz
sugar snap peas	19.52oz
organic cilantro	1ct
organic spring onions	1ct
broccoli crowns	3ct
apples fresh	3ct
grapefruit large	2ct
mustard dry	1ct
hearts of romaine organic	3ct
mushrooms button white	10oz
arugula/spinach/lettuce salad blend	5oz
trail mix	12oz
bell pepper colored	3ct
onion yellow	1ct
onion red	1ct
roma tomatoes	18oz
lara bars	2ct
chicken breasts	58oz
bacon uncured	12.48oz
salmon fillets	24oz
shrimp peeled deveined uncooked	16oz
steak strip organic local	32oz
pork loin chops	54.4oz
lemons meyer	4ct
limes, 5ct	5ct
macadamia nuts	10oz
oranges navel	6ct
celery hearts	2ct
ginger fresh	4oz
turkey breast applegate sliced	14oz
cashews raw	8oz
almond butter	16oz
vinegar white balsamic	17floz
olive oil extra virgin	500ml
olive oil	1L
garlic crushed	9oz
mustard deli brown	12oz
peaches halved in grape juice	14oz
mustard dijon	14oz
vinegar red wine	8floz
chai rooibos	1.5oz

We shall see how long this actually lasts. For a visualization of how much food this is, it entirely filled the trunk of a 2011 Chevy Malibu.