30-Day No Buy Challenge Week 2: Food and Groceries

This weeks challenge: Make your grocery list (based on your meal prep) and only buy what you wrote down! Don't let grocery store psychology get the best of you!

Food Advertising 

One category that I assumed didn't really need to advertise to us consumers is food. I always just thought "well, we need food, the industry knows this, so marketing food to us is just useless". False. 
The reality is that food manufacturers, grocery stores, and restaurants are constantly marketing to us. They know we need to buy food, but they want us to be buying their food! 

The food industry is constantly selling us shit. Like not just shit as in stuff, but also literal shit... like as in the food and the quality of the food they want us to stuff our mouths with it just shit! Your diet and what you choose to eat is your choice at the end of the day, but places such as grocery stores are knee deep in persuading you of certain things as well.

The Psychology of Grocery Stores 

The experience of going into a grocery store is a completely orchestrated process. According to Martin Lindstrom, brand expert and author of Buyology, high shelves in grocery stores and confusing isles only lead you deeper into the labyrinth and increase the amount of products you could add to your cart. The longer you stay in the store, the more you will end up putting in your cart. They will place tomato sauce next to the pasta to remind you that you should probably get some extra tomato sauce with that pasta you're buying - you know, just in case. The bakery and produce section is usually near the entrance to flood our sensory neurons with yummy smells and fresh colors. Additionally, the right lighting will be set to increase the appeal. And the milk and eggs you just quickly needed to pick up - well, they're at the very back of the store! And there's a pretty high likelihood that something else with catch your eye on your treck back there.

So basically, there are all kinds of behind the scenes psychology happening, trying to convince you to buy more than you actually need!

I could go even deeper into this topic in terms of other products and food groups and industries that have been promoted by doctors and scientists ... but that's for another day. If you are interested, check out the documentary Food Choices and What the Health on Netflix!

This Weeks Challenge 

Based on all the psychology, it can be difficult to go to the grocery store and really only buy the necessities.  

One way to become more conscious of this is to not only write out a grocery list but to also meal prep and to construct your grocery list around your meal prep for the upcoming week(s). A lot of times we buy what we consider to be necessities; some fruits and vegetables, some meat, some dairy products, etc. But do you know when or for what you will be using that food? When you know exactly what meals you want to be making in the next few weeks, then you can buy based on those meals. Your grocery list will be the ingredients needed to make those specific meals and you know the food you're buying will be used and not wasted. 

Additionally, you can add some snacks or treats to your grocery list but then try to only buy what is on your list. It's easy to walk past and see something like tea or chocolate or popcorn and think, I could use more of that. Do you really though? I mean, it took you coming to the grocery store and walking down that aisle to remember you "needed" it ... that doesn't sound like you really needed it. Try to stick with buying only what's on your list. If you see something in the store that you suddenly think you need, write it on your next grocery list and get it next time if you still really need it.

Make your grocery list (based on your meal prep) and only buy what you wrote down! Don't let grocery store psychology get the best of you!