Throughout this blog, I’ll be using real food and whole food interchangeably. It is my opinion that most of the food found in the average grocery store isn’t real. It’s got more chemicals, preservatives and additives than real food.

Let’s take Cool Whip for example. Wired magazine did an article about its ingredients. No sense in reinventing the wheel here, just check out their article. What the article doesn’t mention is that the high-fructose corn syrup and the hydrogenated vegetable oils are most probably derived from genetically altered produce.

Do you know how easy it is to make whipped cream? Take heavy cream and sugar (or stevia or agave or any sweetener you’d like to use) and whip it. It takes two ingredients to make whipped cream. Why does Kraft use so many? Uh oh, I feel a tangent coming on. I’ll stop myself here.

Back to Real Food

Let me say this before the naysayers do, there are no guarantees. Even if you purchase your produce at a farmers market or locally, you can’t guarantee 100% that it’s all organic. However, the likelihood of finding real food gets better the further away from a grocery store you go.

I’m fortunate in that I live in an area where there are several farms nearby. What about folks who aren’t so fortunate? Well, here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Find one closest to you that participates in CSA’s. CSA stands for Community Sponsored Agriculture. There might be one closer to you than you think. Through CSA’s you can get fresh produce on a weekly basis.

2. Grow your own. There are many folks who live in apartments who grow their own food. City Farmer News is one such website promoting apartment gardening.

3. Shop smart at the grocery store. Okay, I know I’ve been pretty hard on the grocery stores, but some of them do purchase produce from local farmers. Additionally, with the growing demand for organic foods, most grocery stores now have an organic produce section. Be wary, however, of processed/packaged foods with the “Organic” label on them. Sometimes they’re just as bad as the non-organic products. Too much “pure” cane sugar is just as bad as “non-pure” cane sugar.

Bottom line, you’re going to have to go a little out of your way if you want the real stuff. Anyone can pull into a Mickie D’s, but only those of us who want to make a difference will go the extra mile for something healthy.