european shopping and diet.

Yes, I think I might do this too. I usually go to the grocery store once early in the week, then again mid week, and then to the farmer's market closer to the end of the week. I hardly ever plan meals, but buy small quantities of what I'd like to eat that day and the next and lots of produce. I also should note that I only buy for myself and occasionally my fiance, so anything that I buy in bulk will most likely spoil and I hate throwing food out. I only buy what I know I will eat.

Not sure if it's the most economical thing to do, but that's how it works for me.

I love Europe. I hear what you are saying.

As an American, I try to buy groceries every 2 weeks because it is easier for me to eat healthy. My cart is filled to the brim. It contains both healthy & unhealthy foods (for me and husband, respectively). I used to go every couple of days, but I stopped when I started school. Although I would rather eat fresh veggies, I end up buying frozen because it lasts longer. I also buy big portions of meat and separate it into smaller packages. It's just a matter of convenience.

My father was from Switzerland and this is exactly the way that I shop. I also don't shop at just one store. I might hit 3-4 stores because each one has specific items that I like and are of better quality than another place.

Oh, and I HATE leftovers so I cook a lot. I am a whiz at cooking for one.

i'm not european but i lived in france for awhile. this is the way the older people in my family shopped. when i was younger my great grandparents would baby sit me and they'd go to the market 2-3 times a week to get fresh stuff.

i think with the rise of processed food people needed to shop less often.

i personally grocery shop once a week. my produce isnt as fresh by the end of the week but i have a pretty good fridge that keep things fresh. the main reason i dont go more often is because i dont drive and it's inconvenient for me to go to the grocery store on a work night

I live in the USA (outside of Chicago) and shop for myself mostly. I go every Sunday and get things that don't go bad right away, like apples, zucchini, potatoes, what have you. If I know I'm making a meal later in the week that requires somethign that on;y keeps for a day or two, I'll go again later.
My mom prefers to bulk shop because my teenage brother eats like 4000 calories a day and is a rail. The rest of the house is filled with dried, canned, and frozen goods, which is nice if I have a lazy day and didn't prepare something the night before.

I was about to comment about why I don't do smaller trips more often when I realised I shop twice a week, which works out to every couple days (did I mention I was a math major). I do more trips because I love fresh bakery bread and that doesn't last more than a day or two. I also like having fresh veggies. But the biggest reason is because we only have one fridge but we have six kids. Milk alone for a week would fill the whole fridge! So I guess that is kind of like the no car excuse for more frequent trips.

I buy fresh for the week and just freeze whatever I won't be able to use by the expiry date.

For you, livin in US, it is strange to go to market each day - for me, European it's strange to go food shopping once a week or two (two actually is hard for me even to imagine).

1. We never know what we gonna cook for dinner on the next day. We go to the market in the morning or after work (depends on the family etc.) and eventually we're getting the idea for meal while shopping.

2. Each morning there is a fresh bread straight from the bakery and honestly I don't imagine myself eating packed bread with long term usage. The bread we have is not really good after 3 days, but we know how much to buy and the taste of fresh bread - priceless (besides I heard few times already we have one of the most delicious types of bread here in Poland). Besides the dry bread left-overs we mince (?) and make bread-crumbs out of it.

3. If we would shop once a week I think we would buy more than we actually need and either eat more or have to throw out the overdated food.

4. The only products we buy in bigger amounts and less often are those with longer expity date like flour, sugar, pasta, mineral water, yoghurts.

5. It is very rare that we buy food in bigger amount and froze it. It happens mostly before bigger holidays like easter, xmass to avoid long queues. Besides frozen food (except meat I guess) will never taste as good as fresh (especially fruit).

6. Instant food maybe is easy and fast to prepare, but not matter how popular and reputable the brand is it will NEVER taste half as good as a "home made" meal.


If you have any questions to european style of food shopping, feel free to ask
Cheers,
Beata

I shop every week or 2. I buy mainly fresh foods/nonprocessed, but I honestly cannot imagine having to go to the store every single day. 1 I don't have time and 2 have you ever taken a 2 year out out in public? So much easier to plan then buy what we need for the week.

I used to shop every 2 weeks for my family of three. My husband is a Marine and eats and eats. So it didn't work out well because I plan my meals for the weeks.

We now shop once a week... I have stores all around me but I work 40 hours at the office with a 30 min commute. And have a duty phone on me 24/7. My husband also works weird and long hours and of course we have a 4 year old...life is busy. There is no way I can go to the store more than once a week. We buy what we need for that week (usually more)..veggies r usually frozen because I dont know when we will be eating them since days/meals change on what I cook the night before or whats fast.