Grocery stores can be overwhelming, especially when you are working on your relationship with food. It does not help that grocery stores bombard you with messages about what foods are “good for you” and which foods are “guilt-free.”
By: Elizabeth Low
Even hearing people talk about foods in moralizing ways can be disturbing. However, there are some strategies you can try to adopt the next time you go grocery shopping to make it a more enjoyable and less stressful experience:
Recognize Marketing For What It Is
Companies know that most people may not have extensive nutrition knowledge and want to make quick decisions when choosing what food to purchase. If you are trying to select a cheese to buy, and there is one with the phrase “low fat,” “dairy-free,” or “lactose-free” splashed across it, perhaps you would be more inclined to choose this product. Please remind yourself that eating any food in moderation is not anything you should feel guilty for, and you should not feel guilty for choosing a different cheese. Instead, acknowledge that this is a marketing tactic intended to sell more products.
Take Note Of Moralizing/Loaded Language And Ask Yourself About Your Intentions
Some grocery stores have sections labeled “better for you,” “good for you,” and some products are labeled “reduced guilt,” and so on. In these cases, if you genuinely enjoy the food in these sections, that is wonderful. If you choose it because the store has attached some arbitrary moral value to the food, then you should select an item that you would genuinely be excited about. Food is worth so much more than the sum of its nutritional parts. We are not better people if we eat what society views as “healthy,” and we are not bad people if we eat what we are socialized to believe is “unhealthy.”
Be Aware Of How Diet/Wellness Culture Presents Itself At The Grocery Store
This could be other customers discussing foods and choosing a food item they believe is better for them. For example, they might decide that a “gluten-free” and “organic” loaf of bread is healthier than a regular loaf of bread. This is an example of the Health Halo Effect, which is the belief that a particular food is nutritious or “good for you” when there is minimal supporting evidence. The evidence shows that conventional foods are not worse for you, and there is no reason to avoid gluten if you are not celiac or gluten intolerant.
It can be challenging to feel comfortable going to the grocery store. However, with these reframing strategies, what you encounter there could be less stressful. Please be gentle with yourself, and eventually, grocery store messaging might not impact you any more. We can be empowered to enjoy and choose the food we want, not because of marketing, loaded language, and diet/wellness culture.
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This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Elizabeth Low (she/her).
Elizabeth is currently finishing her sociology degree with a concentration in social interaction and a minor in psychology at San Jose State University. During her undergraduate studies she has volunteered and worked in childcare, and in the food industry. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in Clinical Nutrition or Counseling. She hopes to actively counteract social messaging that is linked to disordered eating, overexercise, and body dissatisfaction. Her interests include cooking, childcare, education, research, and writing. She plans to help individuals have a healthy relationship with food and their body image through counseling in the future.
References
Goldman, Sharon M. “Marketing to Healthy Food Shoppers.” Consumer Goods Technology, 22 Aug. 2016, https://consumergoods.com/marketing-healthy-food-shoppers.
Magee, Hannah. “The Health Halo Effect: What is it?” Hannah Magee RD, 6 Aug. 2020, https://hannahmageerd.com/the-health-halo-effect-what-is-it/.
Stanley, Nikita. “Food for Thought with Abbey Sharp.” The Rebel Mama, 30 Mar. 2019, https://therebelmama.com/2019/03/30/food-for-thought-with-abbey-sharp/.
