Grocery shopping looks different these days. On Saturday mornings, instead of the local supermarket, I’m at our local San Diego farmers’ market, loading up on fish, meat, apples, cheese and berries – enough for a family of four.

But it’s not a cheap excursion; our weekly grocery spend is now higher than it was when we decided to try to cut ultra-processed foods (UPFs) from our diet five years ago.

In 2021, I learned about how UPFs are formulated, engineered and marketed. I dived into books such as Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss, which revealed the processes and strategies behind these highly palatable products. I discovered how companies sculpt flavors that please our taste buds, and how such highly engineered foods can have potentially adverse consequences on long-term health.