A grocery store tour at the Marshall Ingles on March 28 took a group of six women and two men through the store to share tips and ideas about how to shop health consciously and on a budget.
Mary Beth Horrell led the tour. The longtime dietitian said the walk through the aisles aimed to show ways to eat well on a budget.
“There is no “right or wrong food,” Horrell said. “Everyone’s a little different in terms of what they want or like and what they’re living situation is and we’re going to look at all those things.”
The Marshall Ingles has hosted two tours already, with the March 28 event bringing the largest turnout, according to Horrell. With an emphasis on low sugar, low sodium and low saturated fat foods, Horrell and Mission Hospital intern Jenny Coalson spent an hour and a half with the group explaining the different options presented to a buyer in the grocery store.
A good strategy for shoppers, according to Horrell, is to plan ahead. “If you go with a list and based on your menu then you’re going to use the items you buy and you’re going to buy what you need,” she said.
First-time attendant Shannon Brazil said she thought the tour was fun. “I got to learn a little bit more about food and I need that for my boys.”
The program, sponsored by the Act Now grant, provided the group with a complimentary reusable shopping bag filled with educational materials from cookingmatters.org.
Because “the request is so high” for the class, Horrell said the program, which also includes a $10 Ingles gift card at the tour’s end, will continue into the future.
