One of the things I love about whole-food, plant-based eating is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. And sometimes, the simplest place to start is at the grocery store.

I recently came across this great video from Tom Campbell, MD, presented by the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, called Shopping for a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet. If you’re interested in eating more whole, plant-based foods or you’re just looking for some practical grocery-shopping tips, I think it’s well worth watching.

One of the key messages in the video is wonderfully simple: the produce section should be the main place you shop.

Rather than spending most of your time navigating the endless aisles of packaged foods, Campbell encourages us to make fruits and vegetables the foundation of our grocery cart. From there, you can fill in with other whole plant foods such as beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds and other minimally processed ingredients.

I also appreciate that this video isn’t about creating a long list of foods you can’t eat. Instead, it’s about learning how to navigate the grocery store in a way that makes healthy choices easier. Campbell offers practical tips for reading labels, choosing minimally processed foods and thinking about what you’re bringing into your home.

And there’s something to be said for changing the way we shop. If the majority of what ends up in your cart comes from the produce section, you’re already well on your way.

Whether you’re just getting started with plant-based eating or you’ve been doing it for years, this is a great reminder that healthy eating starts before you even get into the kitchen.