What is in your shopping basket?

EvgeniZyntx
EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
edited November 10 in Food and Nutrition
Try the this little test the next time you go shopping - write down the weight of each item on your receipt and then calculate what percent of the food you buy is meat/fish, vegetables/fruit/nuts, dairy/eggs, alcohol and other. It's an interesting little evaluation to let you know how you might be doing overall in variety and the focus on vegetable and greens.

It's not very accurate as it isn't exactly what you actually eat nor is it an evaluation of the calories or nutrients consumed but it should give you an idea of the basket of goods that you get.

Tonight's shopping here was 15% Meat/Fish, 47% Fruits/Veg, 25% Dairy, 5% Breads/Crackers, 1% Other (spices), 8% Alcohol.

What is in your basket?

You could also break this down into processed versus fresh, etc...

A figure that gets thrown around a lot by certain nay-sayers of "documentaries" is that the Standard American Diet is 5% fruits and vegs. Personally that has always been false, I eat way more produce than that.

And yourself?

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Replies

  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Wait. You can actually but fruits and veggies in a grocery store???

    I'll have to look into this the next time I'm there buying pop tarts, twinkies, and ice cream for my typical MFP IIFYM diet.
  • La5Vega5Girl
    La5Vega5Girl Posts: 709 Member
    i just went...
    dark red kidney beans
    sausage (uncured with no additives)
    sourdough bread
    raspberries
    blueberries
    strawberries
    Nada-Moo "ice cream"
    beef jerky
    mixed nuts
    cheese sticks (both cheddar & mozzarella)
    bananas
    avacado
    can tomatoes (like Ro-Tel)
    sweetened almond/coconut milk
    breyer's vanilla bean ice cream
    van's blueberry walnut granola cereal
    rice
    dried bananas
    craisins

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    So did you do this just for items you personally would consume or for your whole household?
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Whole basket, while I might not eat everything, everything I buy I might eat.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    La5Vega5Girl wrote: »
    i just went...
    dark red kidney beans
    sausage (uncured with no additives)
    sourdough bread
    raspberries
    blueberries
    strawberries
    Nada-Moo "ice cream"
    beef jerky
    mixed nuts
    cheese sticks (both cheddar & mozzarella)
    bananas
    avacado
    can tomatoes (like Ro-Tel)
    sweetened almond/coconut milk
    breyer's vanilla bean ice cream
    van's blueberry walnut granola cereal
    rice
    dried bananas
    craisins

    write down the weight of each item on your receipt and then calculate what percent of the food you buy...
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    jofjltncb6 wrote: »
    Wait. You can actually but fruits and veggies in a grocery store???

    I'll have to look into this the next time I'm there buying pop tarts, twinkies, and ice cream for my typical MFP IIFYM diet.

    Yeah, I'm sorry I must apologize for doing IIFYM without Twinkies. I just can't get them here. So I substituted red wine. I think that's ok. The fruits and vegetables are for the cat.
  • natashajf
    natashajf Posts: 35 Member
    I'm just impressed by how much of my shopping bill now gets spent at the fruit and veg market. I barely buy anything at the grocery store, and no longer frequent the 7-eleven for junk food.
  • kimw91
    kimw91 Posts: 355 Member
    Most of my money definitely goes to fruit and veg, followed by meat/poultry/fish and quark/milk. Then once every 2 weeks or so I'll restock my pantry (canned tuna, canned tomatoes, beans, corn etc.) and get a small loaf of bread. Things like rice and pasta I buy maybe once every two months. Nuts and muesli once a month. One bottle of diet coke a week. I think that's it for the most part!
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    Each shopping trip I always buy 10 greek yogurts (Raspberry for me, Strawberry for the BF), 8-10 bottles of Powerade Zero, and 2 Almond Milks (30 calorie Vanilla for me, 60 Calorie Original for him). That's EVERY week. Then I'd say 50% of my cart is veggies and meat. Then the rest is random stuff I've run out of. I do 2 shops a week - the second, mid-week is produce again.
  • La5Vega5Girl
    La5Vega5Girl Posts: 709 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    So did you do this just for items you personally would consume or for your whole household?

    this is for my household. the only difference is that my husband drinks a diet Mtn. Dew every morning and i didn't have to buy those on that particular day. and my son loves hot pockets so i will be buying those this week. but those are really the only two items i buy for them that i don't consume. everything i buy, everyone eats. if they dont' like it, they can go buy their own food. LOL (my sons are 18 & 20 so they can...)

  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    If the "Standard American" only consumes/purchases 5% fruit/veg, then I'm definitely not "standard." I've always filled half my grocery list with mostly vegetables (a little fruit, I'm not a fan, but it's mostly for the kids and hubby). It's my frugal ways I learned how to get the biggest nutrition "bang for my buck" (grew up very poor, but we always ate nutritiously this way).

    Just guessing on the ratio, but it's roughly as follows (by volume, I'm not weighing this all, lol):

    40% vegetables
    10% fruit
    15% meat/protein (including eggs & legumes)
    15% dairy
    10% grains (rice, cereal, bread, tortillas)
    10% Other (snacks, treats, coffee & tea, condiments, PB, etc.)
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited January 2015
    Looking into the food items in my cart at the store its usually thus-

    30% fresh/frozen veggies and some fruit/OJ
    20% vegetarian proteins (beans, tofu, mock meats..etc)
    15% grains/cereal/bread
    15% random stock-up stuff (spaghetti sauce, frozen pizza, coffee, diet pop)
    15% yogurt/eggs/milk and plant milk

    (non food- diapers, TP, trash bags, dog food/catfood)

    Hubby buys beer/wine by himself on a separate trip.

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    From my grocery list the other day:
    28 % vegetables and fruits
    16 % meat
    16 % dairy
    12 % grains
    28 % other
    Items are bought for the whole household. I will not personally consume everything nor will it all be used up in a week. It doesn't tell you if someone in my household throws away partially eaten food or a piece of fruit that has gone bad.
    If I tallied up stuff from my food diary for a week and got percentages that might be more revealing but I guess this is interesting trivia on shopping habits.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    From my grocery list the other day:
    28 % vegetables and fruits
    16 % meat
    16 % dairy
    12 % grains
    28 % other
    Items are bought for the whole household. I will not personally consume everything nor will it all be used up in a week. It doesn't tell you if someone in my household throws away partially eaten food or a piece of fruit that has gone bad.
    If I tallied up stuff from my food diary for a week and got percentages that might be more revealing but I guess this is interesting trivia on shopping habits.

    30-50% vegetables so far, that quite far from the critics 5%. Of course, the crowd here isn't average but it's interesting to see.
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
    I think that thing about 5% fruit and veggies has got to be nonsense. I have never, not during my worst attention to nutrition, spurred on by living with people that never ate fresh fruit (we did eat cooked veggies) EVER eaten that little in my diet.
  • angiecassimatis
    angiecassimatis Posts: 91
    edited January 2015
    95% fruit and vegies

    The rest is some lentils and or rice, some herbs, maybe some plant milk and non dairy yoghurt, and spices.

    Dont shoot! Im vegan!

    I spend about $85 on groceries here in Australia. Cost of living is high.

  • mzbarkeep
    mzbarkeep Posts: 1 Member
    When I shop, I try and stay around the perimiter. That is where all the fresh bread, meat, fish, fruit and veggies. :-) I go in the isles for cereal, coffee, and supplies
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    NoelFigart1 wrote: »
    I think that thing about 5% fruit and veggies has got to be nonsense. I have never, not during my worst attention to nutrition, spurred on by living with people that never ate fresh fruit (we did eat cooked veggies) EVER eaten that little in my diet.

    I can see how this might be true for some people but as a national average it seems like a figure pulled out of air by these "nutritional gurus".
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Yuck fruits and veggies. Bleh :p
  • kayeiam
    kayeiam Posts: 215 Member
    I just went shopping the other day too. Mostly fruits and veggies. so so meats, no breads (diabetic)

    Jicama (yam bean)
    califlower (raw)
    broccoli (raw)
    grape tomato's
    Head iceberg lettuce
    Sweet baby peppers
    spaghetti squash
    Avocado's
    Grapefruit
    Gala apples
    Fuji apples
    blueberries
    strawberries
    blue diamond almond milk unsweetened
    V8 low sodium veggie juice
    Ground turkey
    Ground seasoned turkey patties
    Cod fish
    Pepperoni slices
    Swiss cheese (chunk)
    Monterey jack cheese (chunk)
    sharp cheddar cheese shredded
    cottage cheese
    Carb master yogurt (one a day to eat... Kroger)
    Thats it (was looking at my receipts) other than paper products, toilet paper, sandwich bags. cat food etc.

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