(Dec. 1, 2018)
For the past week I decided to stray away from all processed foods. I wanted to see how this could help environmentally (or not), how my body would feel, and how difficult this challenge would be. Needless to say, literally everything these days is processed or has preservatives, which was so shocking and eye opening. Grocery shopping was way cheaper as I only bought veggies, salmon, and rice/quinoa. I realized how much money I spend on extra things that my body doesn’t really need. Buying stuff like beans from the bulk section was fun and I also saw how lazy we as humans have become, we buy so many things like beans or rice frozen or canned for convenience. The preservatives in them as well are not beneficial to us at all, and going back to making it all from scratch was fun and interesting. Taking the time out of my day to plan what to eat and having to cook every meal was very time consuming but felt satisfactory to know every thing I was putting in my body. Environmentally, I felt less impactful because of the lack of plastic and containers I bought for unnecessary snacks, canned things, etc. Also, the amount of beans I made from scratch for the same price I could have gotten for one can of them fed me for the whole week. In terms of my body I felt really good and less bloated, however I also felt really hungry a lot of the time. Through this whole week, I learnt that we have become much lazier and have given in to eating for convenience. It’s hard to go back to taking the time out of your day to cook, but you feel really accomplished and happy with knowing it’s all natural. It’s also fulfilling to buy locally and use less plastic. But, although this was a fun assignment, I learnt also that I enjoy so many foods that have been processed and have preservatives, and not being able to eat out with my friends or enjoy the little things felt really restrictive and pretty pointless to me. Life’s too short and foods way too good to cut out ALL processed foods, but it’s important to keep it in mind and limit it.
