You’ve mastered a healthy, well balanced diet, but now it’s time to get conscientious about what it is that you’re filling your basket with at the supermarket. Eating conscientiously as well as healthily isn’t as difficult as it sounds! Here are five ways to help you!
Free Range Chicken and Eggs
Free-range eggs and chicken are considered more ethical due to the fact that the chickens are freed to roam, as opposed to being cooped up in small confined spaces and cages as battery hens are. The poor conditions of battery hens are enough to make anyone switch to Free Range- and they’re a lot healthier too! Free-range eggs have been proven to have less fat and cholesterol, as well as being enriched in Vitamin A and E. So for a guilt-free boiled egg make sure you go for the free-range option!
Organic Produce
Go organic! Most supermarkets stock a wide range of organically farmed products, from milk to pasta and from sausages to pears. With organic food you’re guaranteed more care and often more nutritional foods, as opposed to industrial agriculture where quantity is held in higher esteem than quality. Not only that but organic foods have never been treated with pesticides or other chemicals which is good for you and the environment. So if you care about the environment and your health then going organic is definitely the right move for you! Although they are often the more expensive option you
Responsibly Sourced Fish
A lot of the fish sold in supermarkets will be the result of industrial fishing trawlers which also catch and injure dolphins and other fish in their nets. This process of fishing also contributes to the depleted fish stocks in our seas, so always check the label. The fish that is most effected by the huge commercial fishing fleets are Tuna, which is caught in huge numbers in order to feed the interntioanl appetite for this large fish. When buying Tuna look to ensure that it was caught using a sustainable methods such as pole and line fishing.
Fairtrade Fruit and Veg
In recent years there has been a lot of heated discussion and debate surrounding the plight of workers in the fruit and veg prodcution industry; with big supermarkets exposed as exploiting workers by paying them disgracefully low wages. One way to avoid filling large corporate companies’ pockets, which have no scruples with where the produce comes from, is to look out for Fairtrade products to put your mind at rest. These are generally very recognisable due to the fairtrade standards icon on them. Your shopping basket won’t suffer much either if you choose to turn to a fair-trade only diet because most supermarkets are now trying to make amends, and stock fairtrade products for most things.
Josh Hansen writes for XXPress PCR an innovative biotechnology company based in the UK. They specialise in advanced PCR machine technology.