By Sara Mensink
Over the last two years, my husband and I have slowly been making small changes to live a more sustainable life. This new way of thinking started while I was pregnant with our son.
Having a child made us stop and ask ourselves what changes we could make to create a healthier, more intentional life for our family.
There’s so many ways to go about this and it can feel quite overwhelming. This is why we have made it a gradual process, replacing just one product or habit at a time. The hardest part is starting, but once you start it’s actually hard to stop.
So where to begin? Maybe you want to start your own garden or learn to make homemade products. Perhaps you want to get into canning and learn how to preserve your own food.
Our first step was becoming more aware of what’s in the food we are eating everyday. Actually taking the time to read labels and compare products before throwing it in our shopping cart. It’s amazing how many products claim to be healthy but are actually full of preservatives, additives and fillers. This is a simple step that only takes an extra few seconds, and the best part is that you can start implementing this into your very next grocery run.
Here’s what I look for when scanning the ingredient list:
1. Less is more. If a product has a long list along with a ton of words I can’t pronounce, it’s typically a pass for me. I always look for real, simple ingredients.
2. The order in which they are listed. Did you know that for all food products, ingredients are listed in order by their weight, from most to least? The first three to five will tell you what you’re actually consuming.
3. Fruit oils or animal fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, butter and beef tallow.
Here’s what I try to avoid:
4. Added sugars. A lot of manufacturers want to avoid listing “sugar” as one of the first ingredients. Often it’s disguised as some sort of syrup or anything ending in -ose or -ol.
5. Preservatives and additives.
6. Seed oils like soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and safflower oil.
7. Natural or artificial flavors.
If you’re trying to take steps towards a more sustainable life, looking at the food you’re consuming is a great place to start. Don’t feel like you need to go through your kitchen and start throwing things away. Start small and you’ll be amazed how quickly this can become a habit.
We used to buy groceries and never once looked at the label, and now we hardly put anything in our cart without reading the ingredient list.
On your next grocery run I challenge you to look at least three labels before putting them in your cart. Compare two different brands of the same product, and you may just be surprised on which is the better option.
Of course we still go out to eat and order some fried food or a sweet treat from time to time. You have to indulge in your guilty pleasures once in a while; I mean, we’re only human! And that is perfectly okay. Perfection is not what I’m after, just progress.
Granola bars are one snack my husband and I have been missing. I’ve found that most store-bought options have a long list of ingredients and are highly processed. We’ve tried the healthier ones with fewer ingredients, but they just didn’t have the flavor or texture we were looking for. So instead of settling, I decided to make my own homemade version. Here’s a simple, no-bake six ingredient granola bar recipe your family will love!
Meet the author – Sara Mensink. She believes that small changes can make a big difference.
Through gardening, mindful consumption, homemade solutions, and everyday habits that benefit both people and the planet, she is embracing a more sustainable way of life. Sara shares her family’s journey towards a more intentional lifestyle, offering practical tips and simple strategies to help readers make meaningful changes in their own lives.
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