Healthy Obsessions

Red daikon radish from my CSA box

I am obsessed with food. Not in an unhealthy way (at least I don’t think so). I am obsessed with where my food is grown. How it’s grown. What is in it. What is not in it. How fresh it is. How much it costs. Lately, that last detail has been driving me absolutely crazy.

I returned home today, having gone to two grocery stores to scout out deals. One, a local food cooperative. The other, a chain. I tried to get everything on my list at the highest quality and for the lowest price. Going to the chain store first, I gambled that it would have the lowest prices on most of my items. Not the case, as I found out moments later while scooping up the rest of my items at the co-op. Indeed, with the exception of a rotisserie chicken, EVERYTHING was either the same price or cheaper at the co-op.

I was surprised. I usually shop almost exclusively at the co-op (supplemented also by staples from Costco) because it has the largest variety of locally grown, organic and specialty food in my community. But lately I have left the store staring aghast at my receipt. I thought it must be because of where I was choosing to shop. Hence, my experiment today, which proved the grass is not always greener on the other side.