how to find real food at the supermarket

Love this! 

Here's the site credit, pic below that. (Wish I had time to respond to all the other awesome posts here...)

http://summertomato.com/how-to-find-real-food-at-the-supermarket-flowchart/

Michael Pollan shares an interesting strategy

too funny Jocelyn!----My husband and I do try to stay on the perimeterof the grocery store...that is some wise advise!

that is cute but funny thing is now that a lot of produce has labels..all of mine that I have bought from a store lately have even had tiny little rounded labels with barcodes on them. Some stores are putting nutrition labels on everything including meat and produce ahead of laws requiring them to.

Now if you are shopping at a farmers market or garden stand that won't be an issue but if you are as the thread suggests going into a grocery store..likely things will eventually all have labels..and in my store all products have some label attached to nearly everything including individual peaches, apples, plums and pears.

You're right, Brenda - most all individual produce items now have little stickers on them. I can't remember who said that they thought those labels and the residue they leave behind should not be on organic produce - only on conventional. Maybe that was Paul.

I imagine that the stickers help the store checkers ring things up more quickly. I was incredibly surprised that my local grocery checker did not know some veggies that seem common in my book: chard, bok choy--can't recall what else. She actually had no clue what these things were. Kinda sad if you ask me.

Yeah. I remember getting some ingredients to make stew one day.
When the checker got to the rutabagas ("Sweeds"), she paused and stared at them.
Finally asked "What are those?"

Nice chart! I try to keep the "3 ingredients or less" guideline that works amazingly well! The pnly things I missed on recently was finding a taco sauce without preservatives...

Organic produce labels are supposed to start with the number 9.

I continue to be amazed at the stores that have a big sign up saying 'organic' and then fill that area up with produce that has a label starting with the number 4.

Another reason for me to grow as much of my own as possible.

Eric Thompson wrote:Nice chart! I try to keep the "3 ingredients or less" guideline that works amazingly well! The pnly things I missed on recently was finding a taco sauce without preservatives...

Yeah, I gave up on finding taco sauce without preservatives and without grain. Oh, wait, I'm thinking of taco seasoning, not taco sauce. So now I simply create my own taco seasoning: lots of cumin, a bit of tomato paste, garlic, minced fresh onion, salt, pepper, and however much oregano, thyme, chili powder, cayenne and/or jalapeno (fresh minced, too) suits my fancy at the moment. Not exactly three ingredients, but at home, I know where all the ingredients come from. Hm, maybe this should be in the cooking forum...

even the stuff that the chart reads as "real" food i would probably have to question, everything, down to the way the thing was raised or produced affects whether or not it should be consumed, so produce from the store may NOT be real food anyway

that being said, i currently live life from food that is bought at the local king soopers, sams club, walmart or the commisary at the local air force base
and am only able to supplement a small amount ofmy diet from my own ground