When Healthy Foods are Hard to Find

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- Are healthy food options limited where you shop, or are you not able to get to the grocery store easily?

Do you lack transportation to get to a grocery store regularly?

Do you have to walk and carry your groceries home, take the bus, or bring kids with you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, know that you aren't alone.

According to the Economic Research Service, at least 53.6 million Americans live in a low-food-access area, otherwise known as a food desert.

A food desert is an area where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food.

This can result in relying on restaurant takeout, prepackaged, or highly processed foods.

These foods can lead to an increased risk of chronic diseases like cancer, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

So how can we integrate more healthy food into our diet?

Let's start by exploring what shopping options you may have available in your community.

How far are the major supermarkets located?

Do you have any local corner stores or Dollar Stores that you could pick up? Some of your most used foods, such as bread, milk, and eggs, are grocery delivery services available in your area?

Do you have family members, friends, or neighbors that would be willing to do a grocery run swap?

If you go at the beginning of the month and buy a few things for them, then they go in the middle of the month and pick up a few things for you.

This would ease the burden of frequently traveling to more distant grocery stores.

Look within your community to see if farmers' markets, food pantries, or delivery drop-offs are available.

Planning your favorite meals can help shape your shopping list.

If it seems overwhelming to meal plan for a few weeks, think about having a theme for certain days.

For example, Slow Cooker Sunday, Meat-Free Monday, Taco Tuesday, Leftover Wednesday, Pasta Thursday, or Fish Friday.

The meals can change on those days, but this gives you an easy template to follow.

For example, one Meat-Free Monday could be breakfast for dinner while another week it could be lentil soup.

This helps to offer guidance, but you can provide the variety and work your favorite meals into your plan.

Think about what recipes you'll have the time and energy to prepare.

Another tip for planning your meals is to see what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer to build your meals around.

This will help to make sure you are using anything perishable or nearing its expiration before it becomes food waste.

There are many recipe websites where you can put an ingredient you already have to supply you with meal ideas, and remember, you can make recipes your own by adding or changing some ingredients.

Try to create a healthy meal plan for the length of time until you'll be able to grocery shop again.

Eating a balanced diet, including fruits and vegetables, protects you and your family from certain diseases such as cancer.

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Since only one out of 10 people in Pennsylvania eat five or more fruits and vegetables per day, think of ways to add them into your meals, including frozen or no salt added canned versions.

Let's take a look in the pantry and see what we have.

I see a can of beans, canned tomatoes, green chilies, and a chili seasoning packet.

That will make a great taco soup.

This could be a great meal to plan for Meat-Free Monday or Taco Tuesday.

I would only need to add corn and shredded cheese to my shopping list for this meal.

It is helpful to keep a running shopping list, so as you realize you may need something, you can add it to one main list.

If everyone in your house knows where this list is, they can add to it too.

This will make sure that you are prepared when you are able to go to the grocery store.

This list can be as simple as a magnetic notepad on the side of your fridge or even a note you create on your phone.

If you have a grocery delivery service available, you can go online and add things there as you need them too.

Keep a tally of your favorite items for each place you shop, and make sure to include your basic essentials, such as household items, medicine, and toiletries.

Think about what system would work best for your home.

Think about your space.

Do you have more room in your pantry?

Do you have an extra freezer?

This will help to shape your shopping list and how much to buy.

Now, let's go shopping.

What food should you buy?

It's important to choose a mix of dry, shelf-stable, frozen, and fresh foods.

Shelf-stable foods include dry pasta, rice, beans, lentils, nut butter, and canned fruits and vegetables.

Frozen options to think about might be meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, and even bread.

The good news about cooking with canned and frozen foods is they can be just as nutritious as fresh varieties and sometimes even more.

Some ideas for excellent canned pantry staples for powerful protein sources include beans, tuna, salmon, or chicken.

Think of beans for dips, soups, salads, and even pasta dishes.

Tomatoes make an excellent base for many sauces, soups, chilies, and stews.

When looking for canned items, try to look for the no salt added options if available.

If you cannot find these options, you can drain and rinse most canned foods, helping to reduce the sodium content.

Whole grain dry pantry items that can help you make a quick meal are noodles, pasta, oats, brown rice, or quinoa.

Look for products with the whole grain stamp to help avoid foods high and less healthy refined grains.

Think about adding canned tuna or white beans with some vegetables for a quick, inexpensive, and nutritious meal.

Nuts and seeds can be added to oatmeal with some frozen berries for a great way to start your day.

Dried herbs and spices are useful for flavoring meats, grains, and vegetables.

While staples like oil and vinegar can help invigorate salads.

When shopping for fresh produce, note that some options last longer, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, garlic, and onions.

Apples, oranges, lemons, and limes are some fresh ideas for fruit that will last longer than a week.

When looking for fruit options that last beyond the first week, consider applesauce, canned fruit in 100% juice, frozen or even dried fruit.

For vegetables, look to canned or frozen vegetables to add to your meals for an easy nutritious addition.

Once you have finished shopping, use fresh foods first before turning to your reserves of frozen and shelf-stable foods, think about your meal plan and make the meals that use the time-sensitive ingredients first.

If you have bought too much produce, remember that you can freeze almost any fruit or vegetable except a few items like celery, lettuce, and cucumbers.

You can even freeze milk and bananas.

Check out the resources at the end of this video for tips and suggestions on freezing food.

With these tips, you can successfully get the most out of minimal trips to the store and feed your family healthy and affordable homemade meals.

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