Welcome To Supermarket Makeover!

So, I took the girls to the grocery store today, (Yes, I take them both grocery shopping. It always takes two hours, everybody poops, and it seems I always spend $125, regardless of what I buy.) and as I was standing in the checkout line, I started to read the Enquirer eat my daughter’s goldfish crackers take inventory of the groceries that the man in front of me was buying. He didn’t have a lot on the belt, but it was all pretty disappointing.

I started to mentally audit his purchases, and for each over-packaged, under-performing food he had chosen, I came up with a more nutritious, less processed option that would probably have netted out evenly in terms of cost with the items he was taking home. I absolutely loved the little game I was playing, as well as the opportunity to put my best skills – knowing better, feeling superior and understanding the healthy food/healthy body connection – to good use...

Hey, I thought to myself, This should be a game show! A surprise makeover show! Like Take Home Chef, only less annoying, or, What Not to Wear, only, you know, less annoying. Seriously, I think I’m onto something! Can I be the host? I’m short, I have a big nose and a horrible voice, plus, I’m not an expert in anything, but I think I’d be really, really good at it. Plus, it was totally my idea, so when should we start shooting?

No? Fine, whatever. I’ll stick to playing it in line at the grocery store. But here’s what the first episode would have been like, based on the guy in front of me today. Price comparisons were done at grocerygateway.com.

Let's Play!

Instead of…
Lucky Charms – 13g sugar per serving; $1.25/100g
Try…
Organic Koala Crunch – 10g sugar per serving; $1.38/100g
Even Better…
Cheerios – 1g sugar/serving; $0.87/100g

Instead of…
Sunny Delight Citrus Punch –15 ingredients besides fruit!; $0.13/100ml
Try…
Five Alive Tropical Citrus Real Fruit Beverage – 5 ingredients besides fruit; $0.13/100ml
Even Better…
Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice – 0 ingredients besides fruit; $0.35/100ml

Instead of…
Pillsbury Raspberry Toaster Strudel – lists transfat, artificial colour & flavour; $0.92/100g
Try…
Eggo Original Waffles – lists artificial colour; $0.82/100g
Even Better…
Eggo NutriFibre Waffles – lists no transfat, artifical colour or flavour; $0.89/100g

Instead of…
Italpasta Rotini – 3g fibre/serving; $0.25/100g
Try…
Misura Whole Wheat Penne – 5g fibre/serving; $0.46/100g
Even Better…
Catteli Healthy Harvest Multigrain Fusili – 9g fibre/serving; $0.61/100g

Instead of…
Del Monte Individual Fruit Cups in Light Syrup – 21g sugar/serving; $0.49/100g
Try…
Dole Individual Tropical Fruit Bowls in Juice – 14g sugar/serving; $0.77/100g
Even Better…
Del Monte Fruit Cocktail in Juice – 12g sugar/serving; $0.41/100g

Instead of…
Green Giant Frozen Cut Broccoli in Cheese Sauce  – 5g fat/serving; $0.88/100g
Try…
Green Giant Frozen Cut Broccoli – 0g fat/serving; $0.74/100g
Even Better…
Fresh Broccoli – 0g fat/serving; $0.40/100g

Instead of…
Colgate Total Toothpaste – contains 14 ingredients suspected or known to be carcinogens; $0.29/10ml
Try…
Crest Whitening with Scope Toothpaste - contains 8 ingredients suspected or known to be carcinogens; $0.23/10ml
Even Better…
Tom’s of Maine Anti-Plaque Whitening Toothpaste - contains 4 ingredients suspected or known to be carcinogens; $0.49/10ml

And the winner is... You! Thank you for playing, and enjoy your prize - a healthy body, a happy wallet and a teeny, tiny bit less burdened planet.

*SoundBITE*
There are many different ways to spell 'Sugar.' Learn how to read labels and spot sugar and sugar-related ingredients where you may not have noticed them before: sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, isomalt, sorbitol, lactose and glucose are just a drop in the bucket. Is your 'healthy' cereal still looking healthy?

Comments

[Helen]

That sounds like a great game!! I'll have to try it.
Funny, I just worked it out in the last week and found that when I shop by myself I spend approximately $25 less.

[daysgoby]

This is awesome! Will you come and hang over my shoulder and do the sound-bites?

I'll push the portable mic!

[kittenpie]

I like it! Not least because it lets me feel superior, too, even though I don't generally think I'm all that hot at this stuff - there were only two things I might have bought out of that lot, the toothpaste and the plain pasta. Especially now that I can't eat anything any more.

[nomotherearth]

I'd totally watch that show! Even better..I'd want to be a part of it.

I confess to loving Colgate Total. I tried Tom's of Maine, and didn't like the taste. I might try the Crest, though. Pretty much everything else, I probably would have gone with your "even better" choices, although I am having a really hard time convincing the boys that they like whole wheat pasta..

[Cara]

I am on my way to the grocery store, can you come with me.
I think this would be a great game, it would be great on the Food Network!