Founder update: How intentional grocery shopping can amplify your values and improve your health

Hi PB community,

I received some nice feedback from my last newsletter, so I wanted to share a few more thoughts on grocery shopping with your values. For many of us, shopping for food is something we do on autopilot – we can practically make our lists in our sleep. But when we take the time to take a closer look, we can move from a mindset of “if it ain’t broke” to “how can my everyday actions amplify my values and improve my health?”

We all shop with certain principles in mind: nutrition, seasonal & local, animal welfare, and care for the environment, to name a few. The options are dizzying, especially at large format stores, so it can feel easiest to default to what we’re comfortable with. But sometimes that comes at the expense of other things you care about!

I’ve found that my best chance at bringing something home that upholds all the values I hold dear is to shop as local as possible (I truly love my farmers' markets and independent shops!). But often a grocery haul at a large format store is needed to round out my supplies.

Given my background in agriculture and supply chains, I approach my own shopping decisions in a large store with a highly analytical lens. My internal dialogue often goes something like this:

Why is almond butter so expensive right now? Probably water issues in California. Maybe I should reconsider my family's consumption of it.

Are these blueberries from Chile tasty? They might have started that way, but a long journey via air freight takes its toll, and fresh berries are everything. Plus, supporting an industry that relies on air travel feels wrong.

Is this olive oil old? Unless the brand clearly states the harvest date, it’s likely not so fresh. I’ll order mine online because fresh olive oil from a transparent source is so much better.

Why am I only seeing four varieties of dried beans displayed when there are so many more varieties available for farms to grow?

If you’ve been following along you know the answer to this last question. And now you probably never want to take a trip with me to the grocery store :)

Historically, societal values shaped grocery stores, prioritizing cost and convenience. Unfortunately though, we’re changing at a pace that’s too quick to keep up with. Many offerings reflect a set of values that we’ve left way in the past, and some values that are no longer reflected in stores today are things we’re sorely missing out on.

I'll delve deeper into this topic later this week. In the meantime, I encourage you to let your curiosity guide you in your daily food shopping – you never know what new and delicious food discoveries lie ahead, and what will be gone before you know it.

Warmly,

Lesley

PS – The bean I can't stop cooking this summer is Flageolet. From gratins, to marinated salads, to sheet-pan dinners, to simple brothy beans, this creamy mint-hued bean has it all. What bean have you been loving lately?