Shopping for groceries is one of your most occurring activities in life. Some go every day, while others go once a week. Here are my 5 tips to keep in mind next time you go shopping in a supermarket, so you know what is going on, and how you can make healthier purchase choices and maybe even save some money! This way you only bring good food choices to your home.

1. Never go shopping when you are hungry

You will buy much more, and probably more bad things too!

2. Usually not the best food choices are stored on eye level in the grocery store

The products that are on eye level, and on the corners of aisles, are usually the ones the company pay the most to be put there, as they generally generate more sales when the products are in sight. It doesn’t always mean it is the best, or the cheapest. No, usually they are the junk food. search the whole aisle for better choices. Keep this in mind when you go shopping and search the whole aisle for the better (organic) option.

3. The store floor plan is so planned out for you to have to walk past many aisles

Milk is always put in the back of the store, this because most people need milk, yoghurt butter or eggs. So you have to walk through all the long aisles, and hopefully you get persuaded to put some more products in your basket along the way. The same counts for the area around the cashier. A supermarket puts products there that they know can also get you to buy it. Think sale items, and lots of candy. Usually those are things you don’t need but since you are waiting there to pay for your groceries, you might get tricked into adding some to your purchases. Because you think to yourself:” hey, they are cheap” or “I might need them at some point”. Be strong and don’t do it! If you really need those products, you can always return later to the store.

4. Read food labels

When you can’t pronounce what is in it, It is probably not so good for you. You can go online and search what the ingredient is, or buy a book which explains what all the ingredients in the products you buy are. Any ingredient that  includes “genetically “, “modified”, “High Fructose syrup” is likely to be not good for you and usually the same counts for ingredients with names that sound like they could be components to make a bomb. (you never know!)

5. Buy mostly fresh produce

Don’t buy too much canned or prepackaged. Frozen is ok. Don’t buy for a whole week. come back a few times in a week, and just buy what you need for those 2 or 3 days. Otherwise by the end of the week you have to throw away a lot of things that have gone bad, and this way you save money!

Book tips:

(click on the pictures for more information or to purchase)

1. What to Eat by Marion Nestle:


2. What’s really in your basket? By Bill Statham:


3. Wat zit er in uw eten? By Courinne Gouget (in dutch)

Love Lonneke

First published in 2013, updated in 2019