Pre-Apocalyptic Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping for my family is trying at the best of times. Last summer I was diagnosed with celiac disease. A gluten-free diet may not sound very challenging, but it more than skipping the bakery. I am locked out of most of the cereals, the cookies, the pasta, and about a third of the frozen foods. I also need to dissect ingredient lists for any sources of “surprise gluten” looking to poison me.

If that wasn’t difficult enough, my wife and I follow vegetarian diets at home. This eliminates the meat counter and another third of the frozen foods. Still too easy? My wife is lactose intolerant, meaning that shopping the dairy aisle feels like a scavenger hunt — rummaging through to find the best lactose-free options.

Then there’s the boy. He is five and autistic. Autistic folks can be extremely picky eaters due to sensory issues. Obviously, there are plenty of finicky 5-year-olds, but autism takes this to another level. Conventional wisdom suggests parents should force children to try unwanted foods since “they won’t starve themselves”. Well, for autistic children, “yeah, they will”. My son’s preschool years involved a drawn-out battle over every meal. He ate so little that he dropped to the 5th percentile in both height and weight. My wife and I were forced to surrender. Now, my son’s diet has is mainly processed foods and white carbs. Thankfully, he tolerates…