I’m getting back into the swing of things after taking a couple of weeks off. With the bitter cold and snow that Michigan had this winter, my husband and I headed south to be in the warm Florida sunshine! It was a nice reprieve from the harsh winter Michigan had this year (even though I can’t complain too much since Boston had it worse!).
I love the Florida sunshine and the vitamin D it provides! We had a mixture of weather while we were there, but even when it was cooler at times, we knew it was much better than being in the negative digits that Michigan was experiencing.
Organic Food Options in the Orlando Area
It had been a couple of years since we had visited Florida. The last time we were there, it seemed that organic and gluten-free food options were not readily available. I remember asking a manager at a popular Orlando grocery store about organic options. He replied, “they didn’t really offer much of it because people didn’t necessarily want to eat healthy while on vacation”. I understand, but what about the people who live there year round and what about those of us who have to eat gluten-free, or can’t eat food with tons of added chemicals?
I remembered that comment and packed a few coolers of food to take with us on our trip this time. Even though I brought most all of my food, I still needed to purchase some produce while on our trip. And call me strange, but I like to see what other areas of the country offer in regards to food.
Healthy Food Orlando!
I was encouraged to see that some things had changed on this visit. While the options seemed to be a lot smaller than what we have in Metro Detroit, at least there were some options this time. Also, I was glad to read that a Trader Joe’s is planning to move to the area. That should alleviate some of the overflow from the only Orlando Whole Foods. My husband and I were amazed to see all of the people crammed into Whole Foods on a Saturday night!
Gluten-Free Restaurants in Orlando
In Florida, Disney World has had a good reputation for offering gluten-free options and understanding food allergies. I also used to enjoy going to Downtown Disney and buying a gluten-free cupcake at Baby Cakes. That has sense closed. However, I read that a new gluten-free bakery moved into The Landing (another area of Downtown Disney, which we didn’t walk through because of construction). I’ll have to check it out next year.
As for restaurants in general, I noticed that more of them were offering either gluten-free food options, or at least labeling it in their menu. That was much appreciated!
While I noticed that people still don’t totally understand the difference between organic, natural and even gluten-free (at least the ones I spoke to), they have heard of the terms. Hopefully in years to come, organic offerings will be even more easy to access in the Orlando area. At least I hope so, as I want to spend more winters there in the future!
Living Natural Today Wants to Know:
- Do you know of healthy restaurants, or grocery stores in the Orlando area?
- Do you try to eat healthy while on vacation?
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