The Grocery Post

Our grocery bill has been inching up, but only partially because of the general increase in prices.  As we've gotten greener, we've been opting for foods that seem to be healthier, more organic, less processed.  Here's what's in our cabinets nowadays:

• Kashi cereals - Franklin and I are both fans, and Freddie doesn't even know what a Cheerio is - he calls them "Heart to Heart" after the similar Kashi product
• Barbara's Bakery cereals - Freddie loves their Wild Puffs, and I find they offer a reasonable compromise between Fruit Loops and oatmeal
• Fantastic World Foods vegan chili mix - Nope, we haven't gone vegan.  Heck, we haven't gone vegetarian.  But it turns out that in some foods, we don't know the difference and finding a slightly healthier version means we can eat it more often.
• Morningstar Farms vegetarian sausage patties - This is a new one.  Franklin is a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches, even though he knows they're Not a Good Idea.  And so he invented his own savvy substitute, switching out the meat for the meatless.  He tells me it's a bit like eating a falafel breakfast sandwich, but not in a bad way.

Add in lots of fresh produce and most weeks, I'm still stunned at the check-out.

Our grocery bill has dipped, however, thanks to the fact that we're eating less meat and much less red meat.  We're also buying far less junk food.  So the total impact is less than it could be.

And yet, I'm wondering how green many of these foods truly are.  While I'm fairly confident that Kashi and Barbara's are good corporate citizens, I was surprised to realize that Morningstar Farms is owned by Kellogg.  Why am I surprised that big food has a big reach?