One Woman's Year Without a Grocery Store

Food has become an increasingly complicated and political issue, as readers of this blog know all too well. It can be hard just to sort through all the different issues. In the face of factory farms, Big Ag, mono-cropping, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and all the rest that comes along with our modern food system, trying to affect any change as an individual can feel daunting. But it doesn't have to.

Take, for example, Carla Crownover from Austin, T.X. A year ago, Crownover decided she'd had enough of our industrial food system and decided to quit shopping at grocery stores altogether for an entire year. That year has just come to a close, and Crownover says she's learned a lot about her food and doesn't have plans to go back to the grocery store .

Instead pushing her cart up and down supermarket aisles, Crownover gardened, shopped at farmers' markets, and went to local farms to get her food. She had already been a pretty conscientious shopper, avoiding highly processed and packaged "food," but after watching the documentary Food, Inc., she swore off industrially farmed food entirely. "Everything about factory farming [in the film] disgusted me," Crownover said, reports Take Part. "I like to eat beef, but I don't want the animal to have to live a horrible and unhealthy life so that I can have a steak."

The result of her year without a grocery store? She says it took a little getting used to, but once she figured out how to plan meals in advance and preserve local, seasonal foods, she's been tremendously happy. Not only is her food fresher, ethically raised, and more sustainable, giving up grocery store goods also cut down on her garbage. "Nothing I get from a farm or farmers' market has a box or other packaging," Crownover said. "The produce goes directly in my cloth bag."

Forgoing the traditional grocery store is an impressive feat and definitely an effective way to confront our corporate food system. If you want to do something to fix our food, you could certainly follow Crownover's lead. Even replacing some of your food with sustainable alternatives would be a step in the right direction. Consider shopping at a farmers' market when they are in season or buying in to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. If you are really dedicated, plant a garden of your own.

Photo Credit: The Consumerist via Flickr