The basics of food shopping.
Four videos worth watching before your next trip to the supermarket — with Blueprint’s take on what each one gets right and what to actually do with it.
How to use this page
The grocery store is where most nutrition battles are won or lost. Watch any one of these before your next shop and the next trip gets easier — better food in the cart, less money spent, less time wasted on the wrong aisle.
01
Michael Pollan · New York Times
Navigating the supermarket.
Michael Pollan — author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma — walks you through how to actually move through a grocery store. His framework cuts through marketing noise and gets you to real food.
Blueprint takeaway
- Shop the perimeter first — produce, fish, meat, dairy
- If your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, skip it
- Health claims on the box usually mean the opposite is true
02
Food label literacy
Healthy or junk food?
A practical walk-through of what the front of the package is selling you versus what the nutrition facts panel and ingredient list actually say. The gap between marketing and reality is wider than most people think.
Blueprint takeaway
- Read the ingredient list before the nutrition facts
- Five ingredients or fewer is a useful rule of thumb
- Check serving size first — everything else compounds from there
03
Consumer Reports
The right breakfast cereal.
Research shows eating breakfast can help with weight loss — but the cereal aisle is one of the trickiest sections of the store. Consumer Reports taste-testers walk through what to look for: high fiber, low sugar, real ingredients.
Blueprint takeaway
- Look for 5g+ fiber and under 6g sugar per serving
- “Whole grain” on the front means little — check ingredient #1
- Add protein (Greek yogurt, nuts) to flatten the blood-sugar curve
04
Food safety basics
The home kitchen is the danger zone.
Poultry is the most common cause of serious food poisoning, followed by fish then beef. The surprise: most outbreaks happen at home, not in restaurants. People order their burgers rarer than their chicken sandwiches — but the chicken sandwich is more often the problem.
Blueprint takeaway
- Cook poultry to 165°F, ground meats to 160°F
- Use separate cutting boards for raw meat and produce
- Wash hands & surfaces; refrigerate leftovers within two hours
Want help putting this into practice?
Walk the store with us.
Blueprint offers in-person grocery visits as part of ongoing counseling. We’ll teach you to read labels, stock the right pantry, and make the next 100 shopping trips easier — not just the next one.
Book a consultation →