One day a week, I pick the kids up from school to bring them home while their mom pulls a double shift. It’s so universally great – I get time with the kids, mom gets to put in extra hours at work, and the kids join me at a fresh, local grocer in the area.
When I was a kid, I never felt like I had a relationship to my food, where it came from, or what it meant/cost. It just appeared, as if by magic, in the cupboards and it was mostly preserved non-perishable food items. The grandkids, and their mom, are committed to healthy and responsible eating – in order to help the kids understand why that’s important, I Take them with on the weekly grocery run. My daughter works really hard and maintains a beautiful home and is raising two really smart, kind children. The least I can do is their grocery runs!
So we split the list into three sections: fresh produce, dried materials, and dairy. We alternate who gets what each week and we compete to get the lowest price. We spend about $150 each week, it lasts them until the next week, and the kids help with the weeks worth of meal planning – for themselves and their mother.
Now when they grab a piece of fruit or a snack, they are more connected to where it came from and what it cost, and they get to feel proud of their participation in the procuring of the home’s foods.