Simplify Your Food: Sort

Is the food in your kitchen helping or hindering the food culture you want to build?

We live in a time of overwhelming food abundance—yet feeding our families real, wholesome food has never felt more complicated. The average grocery store stocks over 40,000 items—most with labels that require a nutrition degree to decode.

And even at home, we keep foods that don’t serve us—things we don’t like, aren’t good for us, or are too tricky to use.

At Hobby Ag, many of our customers are health-conscious and hold high standards when it comes to food. But even so, it can still feel like a battle.

One tool I’ve carried over from my background in manufacturing is the 5S method—a Lean Management framework for creating clarity and simplifying good habits.

Today, I'm going to highlight the first principle—and how it can make your real food journey easier.

The First S: Sort

Sorting is all about identifying what’s essential—and clearing out the rest. What takes up space, goes unused, or otherwise clutters your efforts? 

We can’t simplify the supermarket—but we can simplify our own pantries and freezers. Ask yourself:

• What’s buried in your freezer and never used?
• What always expires before you get to it?
• What food do you try to avoid but still keep around?
• What leaves your family unsatisfied?
• What ingredients intimidate you?

When you know what belongs, it becomes easier to:

• Set in order what you stock
• Simplify your shopping decisions
• Standardize family food “rules”
• Sustain what works long-term

It all starts with this honest assessment: what's truly serving your family's health and what's just creating clutter and stress?

Your body (and budget) will thank you.