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- Shopping Matters for Adults Shopping Tour Wal-Mart-Donaldsonville, LA October 22 & 23,2012
On October 22nd & 23rd , 2012, a total of twenty-four (24) Head Start Parents from St. James Parish attended a Shopping Matters for Adults Shopping Tour at the Wal-Mart in Donaldsonville, LA conducted by Cynthia Clifton, LSU AgCenter-St. John Parish and Lisa Weber, SU AgCenter-St. James Parish. Ms. Alisa Dunklin and Ms. Nikki Bailey from the St. James Parish Head Start Program also participated in the Shopping Tour along with two Tulane Dietetic intern students. The parents and grandparents were given a Shopping Matters for Adults workbook to follow along with the shopping tour and to reference when shopping in the future. The shopping tour focused on guiding and teaching the parents and grandparents on purchasing, cooking and making healthier food choices for their families. The areas in the store covered included: fresh vegetable, spinach and lettuce, meats, breads, pastas, can goods, cereals, juices and yogurts.
The parents and grandparents were instructed on how to check for freshness, look for expiration dates, read labels for sodium, fat, calories and carbohydrate contents. They were also instructed on how to compare prices pertaining to the unit price and retail price. The group discussed using 100% whole grain, 100% whole wheat, buying more fresh fruits and vegetables with natural sugars and not items with added sugars. The parents and grandparents had a lot of questions and learned a lot from the tour. Most of the parents and grandparents stated that when they shop, they just pick up things and not read the labels or think about how fresh it is they stated that they don’t even look at the expiration date. The parents and grandparents were asked if they purchase brown rice as opposed to white rice and brown pasta as opposed to white pasta. Out of 24 parents and grandparents only 3 or 4 stated that they buy and like or have tried and didn’t care for the taste.
Now that they have taken the Shopping Matters for Adults Shopping Tour, they stated that they are more likely to read the labels, check for freshness and definitely check the expiration dates on meats and can goods.
After the shopping tour was over, the parents and grandparents were given a $10 challenge gift card to purchase items that they don’t normally purchase and try with their families. Some of the parents and grandparents did purchase fresh vegetables and fruits, cereals and juices that were healthier than they normally purchase.
The parents and grandparents were given a shopping tote bag, calculator and nutrition information from LSU AgCenter and SU AgCenter. The shopping tour was awesome. Great job parents and grandparents.
