My trusted adult selects food at several different grocery stores primarily based on price, quality and freshness of products, geographic location, and nutritional value. For example, in the summer, my mom likes to purchase fruits and vegetables locally grown in the valley. There is a great place at the corner of 8 mile and Davis Road where my mom gets fresh strawberries, cucumbers and lettuce. She does this because it is healthy, natural, and nutritional. She likes to get her meat from a variety of places such as Podesto’s, Trader Joe’s, Costco and Safeway because of quality such as grass fed beef and organic chicken. Finally, she buys snacks from Walmart, Costco or Food for Less because of cost.
Some of the biggest obstacles to eating healthy, ethically sourced, and environmentally sustainable food are time and money. My trusted adult said that we are an active family of five, it is difficult to always make the time during the week to prepare healthy meals. It is very easy and convenient to choose In-and-Out rather than preparing a meal. When my mom does make the time to focus on healthy eating, planning is the key. Shopping for groceries ahead of time and meal planning on the weekend before the week is critical to eating healthy. My trusted adult discussed that both she and my dad could probably do a better job having a healthy diet. My trusted adults weakness are carbohydrates and sweets. They are both a little overweight and could be a bit more physically active, but time is huge factor because of their schedules. Their doctors have not said it is a major issue currently, however, because of heart issues on both sides of the family it is a concern.
My trusted adults favorite meal is filet mignon, wedge salad with blue cheese, roasted potatoes or broccoli, and cheesecake or tiramisu for dessert. To make it more healthy, I would eliminate the dessert or change it to fresh fruit, and change the salad dressing to a balsamic vinegar. My trusted adult said the we commit to making it together the next holiday – Veteran’s Day. My reaction was that some of the food my trusted adult was talking about in the dream meal, I haven’t heard or didn’t know of. Also, I didn’t realize my mom went to so many places to grocery shop. Now, I understand now why she goes to so many stores and is picky about where our food comes from.
Some of the factors that I consider when choosing food is how it tastes and the nutritional value. I think I just started caring more about nutritional value a few years ago since I participated on 2 traveling, competitive sports teams. I was burning so many calories exercising that I became more aware of what I was putting into my body. Right now, I am not interested and prefer not to cook, because I don’t have the time. When my mom asks me to help by cutting vegetables for fajitas or salad, I do enjoy doing that. I think an obstacle is that my parents haven’t taken the time to show me how to prepare meals because we are so busy. Possibly, in the summer I might have more time learn how to cook some meals independently with my mom and dad. Also, we are thinking of trying a meal service which I think would be interesting since you get all of the ingredients, portions and recipes.
Some of my struggles with eating healthy, ethically sourced, and environmentally sustainable food is that I am not control of what my parents cook for me. I can suggest and ask my mom to think about these concepts, but ultimately I’m going to eat what is made for me. Another example is lunch here at school from the lunch truck, I order burritos and tacos because they taste good. I don’t ask the food truck cooks if their ingredients are ethically sourced or environmentally sustainable, but may be I will now. My one nutritional goal is to cut down on my sugars and sweets, because I tend to eat candy a lot when available. This will help me in my overall health. For example, it will help not only with my energy level but with my teeth and skin. It will be very challenging because of all of the upcoming holidays, but I will think about my goal each time I am tempted with the opportunity to eat sweets. Also, I will write this goal on my whiteboard to remind daily.
