grocery store

Solving the Food Label Mystery

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drawing of women in a tie and long jacket with the words Unpeeled and the case files of Maya McCluenNavigating the grocery store aisle is challenging for many consumers—especially those who want to buy the most nutritious food and stay within their budget. Learn more and play Unpeeled: The Case Files of Maya McCluen at s.uconn.edu/unpeeled.

Additional food label resources, including understanding best by, sell by, and expiration date are in this article and a further exploration of food labels is in this UConn Today article.

New Unpeeled Game Helps Consumers Navigate the Grocery Store Aisle

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Maya McCluen and the text Unpeeled behind her
We developed a new game to help shoppers like you learn about genetically modified food with our partners at New Mexico State University. UConn Extension is dedicated to providing educational resources to consumers and we would like your input! We would appreciate it if you could play the game (https://unpeeled.nmsu.edu/) and tell us what you think.
This link will take you to the game, after which there is a short survey. Our goal is to learn what you think about the game, including what you did and didn’t like. The game and survey should only take 20 minutes and your input will be used to improve the game. Play the game and take the survey at https://unpeeled.nmsu.edu/. Thank you for your help!

Food Safety with COVID-19

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As we are closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic in our community, we at UConn Extension are trying our best to bring you the most updated information from across the country for safe production at your farm operations.
Here are some links to info-sheets related to coronavirus for Farmers Markets, Food Banks, U-Pick Farms, Grocery Stores and Food Services.
General FAQ:
COVID-19 PREVENTATIVE MEASURES-HANDSANITIZER
Farm Operations:
COVID-19 FAQs for Farmers markets
COVID-19 FAQs for U-Pick Farms
Food Services:
COVID-19 FAQs for FoodServices
COVID-19 FAQs for FoodServices_Receiving and food packaging
COVID-19 Cleaning and Disinfection
Grocery Stores:
COVID-19 FAQ Grocery store_GENERAL QUESTIONS AND EMPLOYEE HEALTH
COVID-19 FAQs for Grocery stores_Food packaging

COVID-19 FAQs for Grocery stores_Cleaning and disinfection

Food Bank:
COVID-19 FAQs for FoodBanks_Receiving and Cleaning
Use of Gloves:Although gloves could reduce virus spread, they need to be worn with caution, since they can be misused i.e. contamination can happen if gloves touch dirty surfaces and then the food. Also, if food workers are sick and wipe their nose with their hands, or cough on hands (with or without gloves) and touch the food, it is no better than not wearing gloves. If you have been properly trained to use disposable gloves, make sure to wash your hands before wearing them and after removing them.
Hope this information is helpful, we will update this on our UConn food safety website as well. Meanwhile, for best practices for food safety at home please read this article UConn_basic food safety practices.
Article: Indu Upadhyaya, DVM, MVSc, PhD,Assistant Extension Educator – Food Safety

UConn Extension

Holiday Food Shopping on a Budget

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grocery store shopping cart filled with food
Photo: Flickr, Phil Gold

It is that crazy, stressful expensive time of year.  But planning for that holiday meal shouldn’t be on that list.  Here are a few steps to help ease the process and cost:

  1. Clean out the refrigerator and freezer of unneeded or wanted items. This will make room for items for the big meal.  Also it will let you know which items you already have and don’t need to purchase.
  2. Go through the pantry to double check items you may need for baking (flour, sugar, baking soda or powder) or additions to the main meal.
  3. Look through the grocery store flyers either in the paper on online. This will help to plan what you will make for your meal. For example turkey is at its lowest price around Thanksgiving, beef and pork roasts in December, and ham around Easter. The store flyer may have a coupon for more discounts.
  4. Have a good idea how much money you have budgeted for this meal, some adjustments can be made by the number of people attending. If you can’t swing a big meal keep it small and invite others over for dessert. Another way to reduce cost is to have guests bring side dishes and desserts. It really takes the financial burden off the host and everyone feels more involved in the meal.
  5. Keep your menu seasonal! Vegetables and fruits that are in the holiday’s season are the best choice to stay on budget.
  6. Finally stick to your shopping list and your plan. If you have questions about how much meat you will need for each guest talk to the store butcher, he/she will help you stay on budget.

For more resources, including recipes, visit https://efnep.uconn.edu.

By Erica Benvenuti

Healthier Food at the Right Price

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shopping group

Moms from Grassroots Academy learned about saving money at the store while feeding their family healthier foods during a grocery store tour at Price Rite in Danbury last week led by EFNEP educator and dietitian Heather Peracchio and extension aide Juliana Restrepo-Marin. The tour was in partnership with the Cooking Matters at the store program.