GMO Free Grocery Shopping

Our family has committed to purchasing GMO free foods only.  As I talked about in my post Genetic Roulette, we were ALMOST there, but after I attended a March Against Monsanto meeting, the resolve was made.

There was a little bit of sticker shock to our grocery budget initially.  However, we were also really surprised at how many convenient options we had available.

While organics are a pretty safe choice since they cannot be knowingly made with any GMO ingredients, products that have the Non-GMO label are excellent since they've been verified by a third party to be GMO free.  The kids and I get really excited to see that awesome stamp on products we love.

Here in Alaska, groceries are already expensive, but the local options for veggies are improving all of the time, as is the access to a lot of quality products.

Here are some of the ways that I keep my family's food intake as GMO-free as possible...

I order through an Azure Standard drop each month for bulk groceries and lots of unique natural household items.  

We also have a new place named the Co-op Market that opened this year and they offer natural and organic items only and have tons of local produce, which is so exciting for me.  

The local Farmers Market is also an excellent choice wherever you live.

My favorite grocery store is Fred Meyer (it almost rivals Target for me, and you know how I adore Target!).  I can get nearly everything I need there, and their organic/natural section is excellently stocked.  

I did a shopping trip to Fred Meyer and then took some photos when we got back home.

Most of these products were delicious, though the cultured cottage cheese was too sour for my preference.  

To see the agonizing process that sometimes takes place when purchasing a product, check out what Kristin at LiveSimply posted about Kerrygold 

We don't always buy this many convenience products, but for the sake of this post, I wanted to see how many things I could get GMO free to replace those quick snacks and meals.

   

These are delicious replacements for Reese's Peanut Butter cups

The kids are thrilled to have an M&M replacement.  The colors are made with vegetable dyes.

 

These aren't good for teeth, but as a treat, it's nice to have an alternative to Smuckers.

This particular load of groceries cost me $303. Yikes!  In the lower 48, it would likely be around $200-$225, depending on your location.

There is no meat in there as we buy that in large quantities at Homegrown Market.  I am able to occasionally purchase a 1/2 beef, lamb or pig from local farms.

 Dave has also started fishing for salmon and trout and will hopefully bag us a Moose or Caribou this season.  

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My next goal is checking our wine, beer and spirits to make sure they're GMO free.  Also, deciding what to eat when out and about.
 

 Thanks so much for reading about my journey to get my family healthier and I hope it might inspire you to start looking for GMO free ingredients for your own family.