I’ve recently come to learn that my favored general shopping strategy is actually a thing. That thing? “Perimeter Shopping”.

There’s a surprisingly intricate science to the way grocery store shelves are organized. High profit, brand-name items are more likely to be shelved at eye-level or on end caps. The produce and/or bakery sections of the store are often situated right near the entrance, as the colors, smells, and sensations created by fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh-baked breads have been shown to correlate with people purchasing more. Stores are designed to sell you things, and aren’t above engaging in low-level psychological warfare with you in order to do it; it’s an interesting topic to read about.

One pattern I never noticed until it was recently pointed out to me though, was that generally, the healthiest, lowest-calorie, least-processed foods are stored almost exclusively on the outer edges of the store space. People looking to eat healthily are best served by “shopping the perimeter” to the greatest extent possible, and avoid the concentrations of unhealthy, high-calorie food in the central regions of the store.

Think about the floor plan of your favored gocery store. Around the perimeter walls, you generally find fresh produce, fresh meats, the fresh dairy section, and the bakery. What’s in the very middle of the store? Generally soda, chips, and sugary breakfast cereal.

The theory of perimeter shopping? Stick to the edges of the store, and you’ll generally find stuff that’s good for you, contains fewer ingredients over all, and fewer ingredients you can’t pronounce. Eat from the perimeter, and you’re probably eating healthier.

My two favored local stores follow this pattern, and one goes a bit further by sticking the frozen vegetables (better for you than canned, and keep longer than fresh – nice to have around in a pinch) along the edge as well. Even before I heard about the concept of “perimeter shopping”, it seems I was doing it.

Well, except for when I”m at my local Kroger, which sticks it’s great international section in the middle; I take a sweep through there for all the interesting hot sauces, Indian and Asian spices, and English tea. But otherwise, it’s the meat, vegetables, and dairy on the perimeter.

One of the best things I ever did for myself and my family’s health was to cut out much of the processed “boxed” food from our diet. All this stuff lives in the middle of the store. I’m not entirely sure cutting out pre-packaged taco kits and Hamburger Helper is really making me healthier (other than cutting out stuff like sodium and excess fat), though I know that I feel better not eating those things, and eating is more pleasurable because I can create better tasting, healthier versions of the foods that these boxed concoctions simulate with a little research and a well-stocked spice rack.

I’ve also found that it’s actually less expensive and no less convenient to not buy the pre-packaged crap and cook with fresh (or frozen fresh) ingredients. It doesn’t take me any longer to chop up a couple of onions and potatoes and throw some spices on them before pitching them in the oven. than it would to open a few envelopes of mystery powder and combine them with boiling water and butter or oil to reconstitute them.

Plus, I know exactly what I’m eating, and that’s generally a good thing.

In the couple of years I’ve been operating this way, I’ve definitely gotten healthier (though some of that comes from eating a little less and having a regular exercise program). So it works for me (of whom there’s probably thirty or forty pounds less of than there was two years ago), and apparently enough other people that the practice earned a name.

So I was doing this before it was cool…I’m such a hipster.