Last night, the Cedar Cottage Food Network and Vancouver Public Library – Kensington hosted our first Guided Grocery Store Tour, where Registered Dietitian Melissa Baker led participants around PriceSmart Foods in order to gain a clearer understanding of food labels, healthy choices, and budgeting tips.

The tour was a success and everyone walked away with valuable new information to guide their future shopping trips. This was thanks in whole to Melissa who kept the tour fun and interesting.

A few good tips I walked away with:

• Variety is key! Switch up the foods you buy to vary the nutrients the body receives from them.
• Olive oil has a low smoking point, which doesn’t make it a great choice for cooking. Try grapeseed, coconut, or rice bran oil instead.
• You can buy fresh turmeric the same way you’d buy fresh ginger root. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties and a mild taste, so it goes great in many meals.
• Letting a clove of garlic sit for 5-10 minutes after crushing it releases the alliinase enzyme, which has valuable cardiovascular, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer properties.

Check out Melissa’s blog, Upbeet Nutrition, for recipes and food news.