A conversation at the grocery check-out

LisaLN

It really makes me very sad to see what the majority of people are purchasing, and they have 3, 4, 5 kids with them. I work in the schools these kids attend, and it really breaks my heart to see how many of them are so overweight. I'm very frustrated with what so many parents are teaching their young children about food. (or not teaching them.)

I have to agree. I have two daughters and I thank God they love healthy food. Yes, they eat a doughnut or brownie here and there. But my girls are happy to have a banana, pineapple or string cheese, etc., in place of a cookie. I've always tried to enforce a "One sugary item a day" rule. They get a treat, but then they need to make healthier choices the rest of the day. It breaks my heart to see how many kids are overweight nowadays. Some of it's genetic, I'll give you that. But most of it is simply laziness when it comes to making a family dinner, sitting down to eat, slowing down to eat, and not just eating on the run all the time. Plus a lot of kids simply don't go out and play anymore. I have very busy kids and we're on the go a lot (as I work full-time, also) but I always try to have something going in the crockpot or some sort of dinner as a family. God bless the inventor of Crock Pots! LOL!

Starlage

These are the exact reasons why I go to the grocery stores with self-check out! (plus fewer hands touching my produce is always a good thing)

kevanos

bit by bit the grocery culture will change!

Syreeta6

Its the same thing with me!! They always say, "Wow. You must like fruits and vegetables. It's weird to see a college kid eat so healthy; no wonder you're skinny!"

And I'm always flummoxed. Never, EVER, would you say to someone who's a bit overweight, "Wow, 3 boxes of Ho-Hos? No wonder you're overweight!"

I hate that there is a double standard, and that it's now the "norm" to be unhealthy and eat crap.

lmbo

brityn

I got tired of the comments and the "eye rolling" when I started unloading my cart, so, now I do the self checkout. The only problem is they freeze sometimes and I think that might annoy the checkers even more when they have to come put their code in. Oh well. I'm making healthy choices for me and my family and I'm proud of that.

What do they roll their eyes for? You buying healthy food?

Yeah they look me up and down, look at the cart full of fruits, veggies and whole grain everything. I'm sure having to weigh and enter a number for most of the things I buy is a lot less convenient then scanning the bar code on the bottom of the boxes for other people.

Barelmy

I don't understand how when you know that something is extremely bad for you... and you have the means to afford differently... why would you buy your children that kind of stuff?

Growing up, we had a crisp (chips) cupboard, and a chocolate drawer in the fridge (instead of a vegetable drawer).

My mother has struggled with her weight my entire life (literally; she was very slim before she had a baby). Once, as a teenager, I asked her to please stop stocking up the chocolate and crisps so much, because if they were around, I'd eat them out of boredom; I wouldn't go out and buy them for myself or ask for them. She told me she couldn't, because my sister and stepdad wanted them.

I suspect that there was more to it than that. At the very least, we could have come up with a compromise, for instance, to buy less at a time.

I didn't start eating well until I moved out, tbh.

reallivefitness

Being a college kid, I've gotten some comments about how much healthy stuff I buy. Especially because I have to flash my ID to get a discount, so then they know I'm younger than I look... It's especially funny when another college kid gets in line behind me and only has beer and frozen pizza. But, sometimes I do feel a little bad, because I tend to buy weird produce that not many other people do, and so the cashiers don't know the code for it. I try to do self checkouts when I can, but at the store where I go to school they don't have any, so it takes forever to get through my stuff.

omgitsgarry

The girls at 7/11 always comment on my V8 Juice hording and how healthy I have been eating lately. These are the girls who saw me buying stacks of bags of junk food, pizza rolls, and sandwiches for all the two and a half years I have worked at the shop two blocks up from there store.

aflane

I now get greeted by one of the produce managers when I go into my local Safeway. He immediately tells me what the fresh or new produce of the day is. Especially if they got in a new exotic fruit. He'll even cut something new so that I can try it. I'm such a veggie-holic.

Levedi

My mom goes to the store for the rest of the family... and I can't even tell you how frustrated i can get. She comes home with stuff from sams.... which is a bulk store.. and she has 2 trays of JUMBO muffins that were so bad for you I couldn't believe it! (they had a label surprisingly) Frozen Spanikopita, french toast sticks, rice krispies bars... I'm like..... why would you do that? My sister goes and buys pints of ben and jerrys at a time. I give my mom the benefit of the doubt for buying some chicken and frozen veggies... but ugh.
I don't understand how when you know that something is extremely bad for you... and you have the means to afford differently... why would you buy your children that kind of stuff?

Oh my gosh, that's just like my dad. He buys so much stuff that my parents have two fridges and a freezer to hold it all. Last time I was home there were three wheels of gouda in the downstairs fridge. Who needs three wheels of gouda cheese?! When my aunt visits she brings her own veggies, yogurt, and Kashi so she can stay on track with her WW points and my parents get offended. AND my Dad had the temerity to lecture me on my eating habits because I was getting unattractive. He's massively overweight himself and diabetic, but that doesn't stop him from lecturing people on nutrition. Between the unhealthy stuff in the house and my tendency to stress binge around my parents, going home for the holidays is massively unhealthy.

trixiefly

The only comments I get are, "what is that"? or "How do you cook that". Especially if I am buying tofu or something like Bok Choy. People around here don't seem to eat that many veggies, half the time they don't know the name.

seemae

For those of you who have trouble with your parents buying groceries - try suggesting you go grocery shopping instead. I was fortunate because my mother doesn't really like buying groceries and I started slowly but surely adding more healthy things to our list of regular groceries. If you can't get them to agree to that, then try talking to them about you composing a short list of things you'd like them to buy for you to eat.

Being the one who cooks meals helps, too, which I also took over along with grocery shopping. I don't think I know a single parent who would say "no" to someone else cooking, which puts you in a better position to prepare healthier meals. It also lets you avoid the frozen microwavable garbage that most households are so prone to buying.

kettlewitch

I don't have time to look at other peoples trolleys. That's because it takes me so long to shop now! Looking at all the labels, checking every single brand to find the best one, looking for new ideas and inspiration and doing calorie sums in my head. It's a workout in itself these days