How to Source and Buy Clean Food?

Clean Eating, lifestyle, shopping

How to Source and Buy Clean Food?

Patrick
November 10, 2014
No Comments

Where to Buy Clean Food

Wherever you live, there probably are several farmers’ markets out there that sell some very high-quality clean food. These are usually the best places to buy your food as you will be bypassing the middle man, and contact local producers directly; there are several advantages to this approach including: knowing the producer, being able to trace your food, understand how the food was bred/produced and assess to what extent it is clean. This being said, if you don’t have this opportunity, it is also possible to find clean organic food in supermarkets and health shops.

A Simple List of Easy-to-cook Clean Food that You Can Store

Depending on your tastes and your budget, there is a wide range of food that you can buy and keep in your presses/fridge. I have included a list of the food that we usually store in our press/fridge; these can be found relatively easily to find in both supermarkets and farmer’s markets; they are also very easy to cook. As for all food that you buy, organic is best. It is usually good to clean and cook them with 48 hours to keep their freshness. If you don’t have much time to cook during teh week, you can bulk cook/blanch them, and freeze them.

  • Vegetables:
    • Carrots
    • Potatoes
    • Sweet potatoes (good option for low GI food)
    • Brussels sprouts
    • Broccoli
    • Courgettes
    • Celeriac
    • Butternut squash
  • Fruits
    • Apples
    • Pears
    • Berries
    • Avoid bananas (rich in sugar)
  • Nuts
    • Almonds (skinned)
    • Cashew nuts
  • Add-on to your cooking
    • Coconut oil (excellent for pan frying food)
    • Extra virgin oil (great for salads)
    • Onions
    • Apple Cider Vinegar
    • Garlic
    • Cinnamon (Ceylon)
    • Honey (produced locally and with no additives)
    • Cocoa
  • Beans/Pulses
    • Lentils
    • Red beans
    • Split-peas
    • Chick peas
  • Grains
    • Porridge (Oat porridge might be best for those with gluten intolerance)
    • Brown Rice
    • Spelt Flour
    • Coconut flour
  • Red Meat:
    • Organic Mince
    • Liver
  • Fish
    • Cod
    • Hake
    • Salmon (canned salmon is also fine)
    • Trout
    • While these are great, it is best to avoid big fish (e.g., tuna or shark) to minimize your intake of mercury.
  • Cheese
    • Cheap cheese
    • Goat cheese
    • These two types of cheese are great for those who may have an intolerance to dairy products (they are absorbed more easily than cow milk).

There are, of course many more food that you could include in your diet; however these can be found easily and are relatively easy to cook.

Things to Look-out For

When shopping for your food, there are a few things you need to look out for so that you obtain the cleanest and most nutritious foods available:

  • Avoid packaged food, especially plastic wrappings: limiting the amount of packaging has also a positive impact on your health; while the food that you buy may be clean, the packaging, especially if it includes plastic, may include toxic substances that could leach into your food. You may instead choose glass packaging (when possible) or no packaging at all.
  • Meat: look for organic or grass-fed meat. While labels and requirements vary amongst countries, organic meat usually is issued from cattle fed  organic grain or grass, that have unrestricted outdoor access, that raised on organic pastures, and that have not receive antibiotics. For this reason, it may be easier to source grass-fed rather than organic meat.

Buying Organic

While organic fruits and vegetables are usually cleaner, it is not always easy (affordable) to have all of your food bought organic. You don’t have to buy all your products organic, but some, because they tend to absorb pesticides more than others, should definitely be avoided or bought organic, often due to their very soft (and permeable) skin. These may include: nectarines, celery, pears, peaches, apples, cherries, grapes, and potatoes. Some other food seem to be less likely to include high levels of pesticides on average, in many cases due to their thick skin; these include: asparagus, avocados, broccoli, kiwis, mangoes, onions, and sweet peas.

Buying Potatoes

When buying potatoes, make sure that none of the potatoes include green spots. If you have bought a bag that includes potatoes with green spots, you may throw these potatoes away, as they could be highly toxic. The green patches correspond to chlorophyll, a sign that the potato has been exposed to sunlight. This could mean that the potato could include high level of solanine, a toxic substance produced by the potato as a defense mechanism against fungus and pest. As a result, after buying your potatoes, make sure that you store them in a dark and cool place. The same applies to bruised potatoes that may also include high levels of solanine.

Going From Processed Food to Clean Food: a Road Map

Changing your dietary habits can take time. I found it challenging to change my diet, and at the start, although I was determined to eat clean and healthy food, it took time to change the content of the fridge and presses, and ensure that most of my food was clean.

The following is a suggestion to go from processed to clean food

  • Meat
  1. Processed (package) in supermarket
  2. Organic Meat in supermarket
  3. Organic Meat from farmers’ markets

 

  • Fish
  1. Processed from supermarkets
  2. Farmed fish at the fish monger
  3. Wild fish

 

  • Rice
  1. White or brown (non-organic)
  2. White or brown organic rice
  3. Brown organic rice

 

  • Beans
  1. Canned beans
  2. Non-canned beans
  3. Organic non-canned beans

 

  • Vegetables
  1. Non-organic canned or frozen vegetables
  2. Non-organic vegetables (non-canned)
  3. Organic vegetables

Buy after a healthy meal

It is always better to go shopping after a good meal, as you will be more likely to make good decision (rather than buying some “quick fix” food). Another trick is to have a shopping list ready, so that you know in advance what you are supposed to buy.

Further Reading/Resources:

[Some of the links below are marked as affiliate links, which means that I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. However, clicking on these links is at no additional cost to you (unless you decide to buy the product). These products and articles are recommended because they could be helpful to you by providing additional necessary knowledge or resource to eat clean food, improve your health and achieve your goals]

Have you already started to eat clean? Would you like to share your experience of eating clean?

Please, leave your  comments and suggestions…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *