I look at the flyers because the safeway flyer regularly does a $10 off $50 coupon and that is the only coupon or special I go for. Because it is the rare coupon that can be used on foods I actually buy. I tend to stock up on frozen shrimp and other long life staples when I have the coupon.
I have started noticing this about ads AND coupons too. Why are there no coupons for HEALTHY stuff? I rarely even go down the middle of the grocery store anymore, just usually to pick up some olives and canned tomatos. But it does make me sad that so many people love and eat that processed crap...and I was one of them for SO long...now I look at myself and see even just how different my eyes and skin are and I wonder why I did it to myself for so long....its sad...
Is this facebook and can I click the "like" button for your post, Saef?
Seriously, I really am trying hard not to be the food police since I have stopped eating processed food, but I can't help but to look at the sales papers and wonder how did we get here, as a country. I remember growing up and being 17, and my dad going on a rant about processed food and how we should stop eating it. I didn't understand what he was getting at then, but I get it now! I do think that we as Americans are starting to wake up, slowly but surely. And there will always be those who want to live off of processed junk until something happens.
I am one of those people who grew up eating processed junk food and had to teach myself to eat/cook in a healthy way. I, too, notice how different my shopping cart looks at the checkout! I also have to go more often because I am buying fresh fruit and veggies.
I'm living in a new area about 2500 miles from my old home. We had lots of farmers markets back there and a huge warehouse type of grocery store (not a chain, locally owned) and a co op. Now, I'm surrounded by very expensive grocery stores! I try to go to Costco for bulk freeze items (chicken breasts, etc). and thank the Lord for Trader Joe's!
So, I save money either buying bulk & freezing, canning or cooking a dish we like as leftovers. For at least a couple years, I can't say I have found a coupon for something I'd actually buy!! (Not food, anyways. Maybe shampoo).
Pinkhoodie - You mentioned why aren't there any coupons for healthy food? The movie "Super Size Me" has a wonderful insight into the big food corporations and how they take cheap, unhealthful ingredients to make expenisve, unhealthy foods that our kids are bombarded with ads for! It's also about Mickey D's but I just loved that movie.
Often I will have people remark on all the fresh meat and produce in my cart. It makes me feel really good, especially when their cart is full of junk. But, I've also had an old lady come up and very confrontationally tell me, "Honey you're kidding yourself with all that diet soda, you're going to be fat forever!" She acted all angry and had her finger in my face! Geeze, it was one of those sales where you had to buy 4 to get the special price and a lot of other people were doing the same as me. I suppose she just really wanted to put someone down and I was the easiest target that day.
Often I will have people remark on all the fresh meat and produce in my cart. It makes me feel really good, especially when their cart is full of junk. But, I've also had an old lady come up and very confrontationally tell me, "Honey you're kidding yourself with all that diet soda, you're going to be fat forever!" She acted all angry and had her finger in my face! Geeze, it was one of those sales where you had to buy 4 to get the special price and a lot of other people were doing the same as me. I suppose she just really wanted to put someone down and I was the easiest target that day.
Originally Posted by Cherry in STL
Often I will have people remark on all the fresh meat and produce in my cart. It makes me feel really good, especially when their cart is full of junk. But, I've also had an old lady come up and very confrontationally tell me, "Honey you're kidding yourself with all that diet soda, you're going to be fat forever!" She acted all angry and had her finger in my face! Geeze, it was one of those sales where you had to buy 4 to get the special price and a lot of other people were doing the same as me. I suppose she just really wanted to put someone down and I was the easiest target that day.
I'm appalled.
Also, I didn't know my late grandmother -- God rest her -- had somehow managed to get up out of the cemetery & go grocery shopping somewhere out there & hurt someone else's feelings.
People like that have no inner censor & all their neighbors & family members know it & they are acknowledged to be crazy. I am so sorry you encountered one of them. Her problems are much bigger than yours.
Your story is also reminding me of someone who posted in a thread a few weeks ago & told us that when she was out grocery shopping, someone actually held up their child over her shopping cart as a sort of cautionary tale, to show them what the lady was buying & eating that had made her so very fat.
Why in the world do people think behavior like this is acceptable? And that they're "helping"? Did that woman really think you were going to thank her profusely, having seen the error of your ways, return the soda to the shelves, and sign a Temperance Pledge against artificially sweetened carbonated beverages?
I went to vons (safeway of california), and I bought some soymilk, bananas, and an avocado. The people behind me threw down 3 cakes and 2 boxes of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. I wouldn't judge normally, but they were saying how they were going to eat them all in one sitting. They were not fat though, which I think reinforces my idea that many overweight people can be healthy, and many skinny/ seemingly skinny people don't have their act straight. We need to stop worrying about the size and overall picture and bring it down to what is on our plate and what is at the grocery store
I buy a very small percentage of our groceries at a "regular" store, but even those few things annoy me to no end. I shouldn't have to go to a teeny tiny, special section of one aisle to find the healthy stuff I want. I shouldn't have to reach up to the back of the top shelf to reach one of the three bottles of agave nectar in the whole store, meanwhile stretching over top of thousands of pounds of refined white sugar below. It's not so much an annoyance at the mainstream not reflecting me or my life, as by this point I'm well aware of and comfortable with that fact in all facets. Rather it's an annoyance that this is the way millions of Americans live, and somehow they think it's okay. It's okay to eat JUNK. To feed their kids JUNK. My kids don't ask much anymore, they're getting to the point where they understand, but most kids don't have parents who will tell them that processed foods are unhealthy and why and that really bothers me. They will grow up not knowing what lurks in those packages and thinking it's okay to eat that food and that food only.
For me, I think this is highlighting yet another cultural divide in the U.S. (And we really don't need more.) What you eat & feed your kids is becoming another indicator of social class -- by that I mean income only partly, as what I really think it speaks of is one's level of education, level of awareness of health & public policy issues.
When I look at the flyer, I think: "I am not buying what sells well around here, what most people want to buy."
It's funny to me: I worked at losing weight initially to be more like other people, to fit in & be less of an anomaly; then in the process of losing weight, became interested in exercise & healthy cooking & eating, and found that I had turned into just as much of an anomaly as I always was, only now in a different way.
For me, I think this is highlighting yet another cultural divide in the U.S. (And we really don't need more.) What you eat & feed your kids is becoming another indicator of social class -- by that I mean income only partly, as what I really think it speaks of is one's level of education, level of awareness of health & public policy issues.
This is a very good, very valid point.
My kids go to public school and it can be seen very clearly there. So far I don't see a lot of dividing happening among the kids because of it. But I can see where it may cause issues. My oldest is only in 3rd grade and already she notices others' lunches, their snacks, their habits. She is a good kid and never says anything to them, but she will come home and tell me about it. I hope I've raised her well enough to be kind to those people, but at the same time I won't pretend I'm not proud of her for taking notice and understanding what are good choices and what are bad choices when it comes to health and wellness, especially with the diet.
The people behind me threw down 3 cakes and 2 boxes of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. I wouldn't judge normally, but they were saying how they were going to eat them all in one sitting.
