View Full Version : The decline of food choices in supermarkets
I've noticed that the two supermarkets nearest me have slowly over the last year, swapped space that they used for fresh food, and increased the space for processed food.
In one store, half the produce department is gone and in its place are some coolers with a large selection of Lunchables. The meat section has shrunk, and in its place are those Tyson precooked meats (pot roast in gravy etc). The bakery department no longer has a selection of rolls, but has ice cream cakes and sweets.
I'm sure there are higher margins on prepackaged food. as well as less waste since these items have a longer shelf life, so I can understand why its an attractive proposition. But people must be buying this stuff for the space to be expanding. I'm no purist on this, I do buy packaged food from time to time, but I'm concerned about what seems to me to be an acceleration away from real food. If I want real choice, I have to go to a place like Whole Foods.
What are you seeing in your area?
I bet initially shelf life is the main driver. Because there is no waste to speak of the margins are higher. I've heard estimates as high as 60% of produce being thrown out. That much seems like someone should get fired for not ordering right, but I'm sure the real number is very high. Good old Americans love their convenience. I mean why take the time to clean, prep and cook fresh green beans when you can just open a can and microwave them? In a way it becomes a chicken/egg paradox. Do the producers make products to fill a demand or does the demand come about because there is a product waiting? I don't know, but it really doesn't matter. Probably won't be long until the produce section is down to iceberg lettuce (you know, for the health nuts), long storing apples and onions and bananas to fill the exotic niche.
Miss Cellane
3-29-12, 12:06pm
I am currently moving back and forth between the greater Boston area and a small city in New Hampshire.
In Boston, the large chain supermarket near me recently remodeled the entire store, closing for a few weeks to do this. When they reopened, they were definitely selling a lot more processed and pre-packed food. But nearby, as in within three miles, there are three Whole Food stores, two Trader Joe's, two independent fruit/veg stores and an independent butcher, plus a spice store. So I think the supermarket is choosing it's own niche--the store for people who don't want to cook all the time. And space is a huge consideration--nearly all of these stores are smaller than other stores in the chains, because there just isn't that much space for stores and parking. I think all the stores pay attention to what sells and what doesn't, because there is no room on the shelves for things that don't sell.
Up in New Hampshire, there are three main chain supermarkets, with a total of five stores in a 5 mile radius, plus both Target and Walmart stores with grocery departments. All the stores are much larger than the Boston area ones, and carry a much greater variety of both "real" and processed, prepared food. One is the lowest priced chain, one is the sort of yuppie, trendy chain, and one is the basic, middle-America chain. This is New Hampshire, most people shop at the lowest priced chain, but the others do have a slightly larger selection of goods. The trendy chain does have the best, freshest produce with the greatest variety, however.
But there used to be a great farm-stand type store, that sold great produce and whole grains and the like, that just closed last year. So a great many people who relied on that store are still figuring out where to buy produce. And there's a quirky sort of indoor farmer's market for produce--the prices are good, the quality is usually okay, but the availability of stock is not reliable. And if you want to drive about 10 miles, there's an IGA with a very good butcher shop.
We don't have a Whole Foods in the state (NH), but rumor has it that a Trader Joe's will be coming to the next town over sometime soon. Just 9 miles away! I can't wait!
domestic goddess
3-29-12, 2:09pm
I haven't seen any real difference in our Jewel stores, but we also have nearby a produce market, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods, so I imagine the competition stays pretty sharp. What I would like to find is a good bakery with actual bread in it, not just fancy cakes and cookies. Still working on that one, though. There are also several smaller, local markets and delis. Hope we don't go all pre-packaged any time soon.
I am currently moving back and forth between the greater Boston area and a small city in New Hampshire.
In Boston, the large chain supermarket near me recently remodeled the entire store, closing for a few weeks to do this. When they reopened, they were definitely selling a lot more processed and pre-packed food. But nearby, as in within three miles, there are three Whole Food stores, two Trader Joe's, two independent fruit/veg stores and an independent butcher, plus a spice store. So I think the supermarket is choosing it's own niche--the store for people who don't want to cook all the time. And space is a huge consideration--nearly all of these stores are smaller than other stores in the chains, because there just isn't that much space for stores and parking. I think all the stores pay attention to what sells and what doesn't, because there is no room on the shelves for things that don't sell.
Up in New Hampshire, there are three main chain supermarkets, with a total of five stores in a 5 mile radius, plus both Target and Walmart stores with grocery departments. All the stores are much larger than the Boston area ones, and carry a much greater variety of both "real" and processed, prepared food. One is the lowest priced chain, one is the sort of yuppie, trendy chain, and one is the basic, middle-America chain. This is New Hampshire, most people shop at the lowest priced chain, but the others do have a slightly larger selection of goods. The trendy chain does have the best, freshest produce with the greatest variety, however.
But there used to be a great farm-stand type store, that sold great produce and whole grains and the like, that just closed last year. So a great many people who relied on that store are still figuring out where to buy produce. And there's a quirky sort of indoor farmer's market for produce--the prices are good, the quality is usually okay, but the availability of stock is not reliable. And if you want to drive about 10 miles, there's an IGA with a very good butcher shop.
We don't have a Whole Foods in the state (NH), but rumor has it that a Trader Joe's will be coming to the next town over sometime soon. Just 9 miles away! I can't wait!
Go to Tuttles farm in Dover. (I'm probably misspelling that)
I'm seeing just the opposite here. All of the big chain supermarkets in this area are increasing their offerings of organic produce and other organic and vegetarian goods. There's also a family-owned supermarket that's in direct competition with Trader Joe and Whole Foods, and aside from not being able to get free-range meat there, I think they're better in a lot of ways. They offer many local products including free-range, organic eggs.
We also have at least one farm offering free-range meats which is also trying to get a CSA started, and several farmers' markets in the area. There is another CSA not far away that's been around for at least a year. Last week I drove past an ordinary suburban home that's offering raw honey. I was going too fast to turn into their driveway, but I intend to go back.
I'm really pleased to see all of this local effort in the works! :D:D:D
Miss Cellane
3-29-12, 3:37pm
Go to Tuttles farm in Dover. (I'm probably misspelling that)
Sadly, Tuttles is the great farm-stand type store I mentioned. It closed last year. We are all very sad.
Tuttle's Red Barn, for those of you who've never heard of it, was the retail venue for one of the US's oldest continually owned family farms. The Tuttles settled on their land in 1623 and have been farming it ever since. In the 1970s, they had a small roadside stand, painted red. Over the years, it grew and grew into Tuttle's Red Barn, where you could buy fresh produce and whole grains and "gourmet" foods, as well as a green house where you could buy plants and things. It grew large enough that the farm couldn't supply all the produce and they had to buy from other farmers, etc. The parking lot was always full.
The current owners are too old to continue and word is that they feel the business these days is too difficult for a younger generation to take over.
I have no idea where I'm going to buy corn on the cob this summer.
If a grocery moves towards more processed, there are probably two reasons:
the demographics of the area and the fact that many food manufacturers often have a buyback (store credit) policy for processed foods if not sold by due date, damaged, etc. Fresh foods are normally just thrown out at a loss. We are very lucky here as we have many options for buying food. The grocery two blocks from my house carries mostly processed but also has "the outer ring" of perishable food including organics. Within a mile are farmer's markets, fancy urban markets, natural foods stores, etc. It is one of the main reasons we stay in this area.
I’ve not noticed a reduction in produce space around where I live, but it does seem like a lot more real estate is devoted to take-out and deli foods than there used to be. I’ve noticed more hot bars too (kind of like salad bars, but with hot food). I’ll admit I liked those hot bars when I was working, especially if my commute was particularly horrid that evening.
I shop one store at a time each week depending on what I am in need of. Hate to bring up WM, I have almost stopped shopping there for frozen veggies. Ours seems to carry all those steamer bags of buttered veggies, ick. I can not find just broccoli or such anymore. Whole Foods seems to have changed to 365 brand of everything that is their brand. I am happy with it, but so much for selection. The local grocery store has a very good variety of products, just pricey.
SteveinMN
3-29-12, 10:19pm
We're seeing both trends here.
The "warehouse" supermarkets carry far more organic food than ever before, and it does not seem to be at the expense of shelf space for conventional foods. Even the small supermarket just down the street from us has progressed -- when I moved here nine years ago, the only organic item in the store was some frozen Amy's lasagna. It's much better now.
Conversely, the food co-ops (maybe ten or so in the metro area) offer an increasing array of prepared foods in delis/hot bars/freezer cases. I don't notice that they're pushing out the whole foods, either. Just creative about how they make room, I guess. (Parenthetically, I will note that the Whole Foods here carries a surprising [to me] amount of conventionally-grown produce. Widens the selection, I guess.)
There is one supermarket near our house that *did* reset to mostly convenience- and gourmet foods. It's a smaller supermarket in a well-to-do area of town. Lots of organic, lots of imported foods, a small-but-good-quality selection of produce, but no longer the place to buy more-obscure baking items or to choose from four sizes of cans of yams. It's also a place that sells $24-a-pound cheese. I don't shop there often...
There hasn't been a change at the safeway across the street from our house. Personally we get the majority of our veggies from our CSA 9 months of the year, so it wouldn't be heartbreaking to me. Plus we have a great small fruit/veggie store a block away that has better produce cheaper then safeway. It's smaller than safeway's produce section but if there's less variety I haven't figured out what they're not selling.
Like others have mentioned, the economics of grocery stores favor the prepackaged stuff, and a lot of people buy a lot of it. Prepackaged may not sell well in certain neighborhoods but in much of middle America it must sell just fine. Heck, even Michael Pollan got caught buying sugary cereal for his son at the Berkeley Bowl... Personally I have no interest in eating canned green beans, but my mother bought thousands and thousands of cans of veggies in her lifetime (causing me to spend my whole childhood thinking I hated veggies) but she seemed perfectly happy with them, so I'm well aware that my opinion is not everyone's.
I am currently moving back and forth between the greater Boston area and a small city in New Hampshire.
In Boston, the large chain supermarket near me recently remodeled the entire store, closing for a few weeks to do this. When they reopened, they were definitely selling a lot more processed and pre-packed food. But nearby, as in within three miles, there are three Whole Food stores, two Trader Joe's, two independent fruit/veg stores and an independent butcher, plus a spice store. So I think the supermarket is choosing it's own niche--the store for people who don't want to cook all the time. And space is a huge consideration--nearly all of these stores are smaller than other stores in the chains, because there just isn't that much space for stores and parking. I think all the stores pay attention to what sells and what doesn't, because there is no room on the shelves for things that don't sell.
Up in New Hampshire, there are three main chain supermarkets, with a total of five stores in a 5 mile radius, plus both Target and Walmart stores with grocery departments. All the stores are much larger than the Boston area ones, and carry a much greater variety of both "real" and processed, prepared food. One is the lowest priced chain, one is the sort of yuppie, trendy chain, and one is the basic, middle-America chain. This is New Hampshire, most people shop at the lowest priced chain, but the others do have a slightly larger selection of goods. The trendy chain does have the best, freshest produce with the greatest variety, however.
But there used to be a great farm-stand type store, that sold great produce and whole grains and the like, that just closed last year. So a great many people who relied on that store are still figuring out where to buy produce. And there's a quirky sort of indoor farmer's market for produce--the prices are good, the quality is usually okay, but the availability of stock is not reliable. And if you want to drive about 10 miles, there's an IGA with a very good butcher shop.
We don't have a Whole Foods in the state (NH), but rumor has it that a Trader Joe's will be coming to the next town over sometime soon. Just 9 miles away! I can't wait!
Not having been to a Trader Joes, but looking online, it seems TJ is mostly processed foods also.?
loosechickens
3-30-12, 12:05am
Trader Joe's certainly has some processed foods, especially lots of convenience foods in their frozen food cases, although far higher in quality than most. You can actually buy some frozen entree type stuff at Trader Joe's, even a from scratch cook might be willing to eat sometimes.
But, no......lots of organic stuff, often their own brand, and inexpensive, whether it's organic peanut butter, applesauce or anything else.....great whole wheat pastas, good cheeses, great frozen wild salmon, good chocolate........and a fair amount of organic produce.....when we are in an area with Trader Joe's, we do most of our shopping there, going to an ordinary grocery store only for things that Trader Joe's doesn't carry.
We have been known to drive a hundred miles out of our way to hit a Trader Joe's. They not only have great products....their private label stuff is top quality, but they treat their employees well, and it's a delight to shop there. I saw a survey recently and Trader Joe's had by far the highest level of customer loyalty, and I'm not surprised.
You are in for a nice surprise. When we first started shopping at TJ's, every trip, we would try one or two new things, but at this point, we have so many we like, that it's hard to get in and out of the story without spending a pot of money, there are just so many good things........ ;-)
loosechickens
3-30-12, 12:13am
Tiam......we went to TJ's today, and came home with wonderful lamb tips, marinated in a lovely marinade, frozen wild coho salmon, organic red peppers, organic spinach, organic zucchini, asparagus and bananas, Greek yogurt, organic butter, their wonderful unsweetened soymilk, roasted unsalted almonds, mixed nuts, organic raisins, Belgian dark chocolate, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheesesticks, wine, green tea, frozen organic blueberries, frozen mango chunks, and a bag of organic corn tortilla chips........just to give you an idea.....not a single processed food thing, really, except maybe the lamb tips, because of them being already in a marinade. Oh, and a dozen brown, organic free range eggs.........
ApatheticNoMore
3-30-12, 12:33am
TJ's may well make the bulk of their sales and profits on processed foods. It's not what I shop though. Their processed foods are way better than the supermarket though (supermarket is pure garbage mostly, a total chemical soup). Still I'm so picky that I really don't want even citric acid or natural flavors in my food (unless I'm deliberatately falling off all dietary wagons :)). So I steer clear of most processed foods, even at TJs. But gasp TJ's makes a few processed foods I will even eat.
But mostly at TJs: I like the nuts, I like the peanut butter (valencia organic peanut butter, now that is a high quality product), the dairy products like milk, butter, yogurt are good (all rbgh free. many organic). Great selection of chips and dips (I won't deny it's junk food but at least you'll know the ingredients - you won't at the supermarket). Have some nice desserts like pies, but again it's a treat. Produce is ok, decent amount of organics, but I don't find it to be the quality of a WF (not as fresh). Really good organic potatoes, decent omega 3 organic eggs (you might do better at a farmer's market, eggs will be pastured and everything, but for supermarket eggs these are pretty good). Decent bread if you buy bread (I seldom do) - but it is bread in which you actually know the ingredients, imagine that. Ignore the processed foods and you can definitely eat well at a TJs.
hmm.
in a normal super market here in NZ -- the smallest areas are fresh produce, bakery, meat. most of the floor space is processed.
in the market that we go to, the "fresh" side is simply these three things with a very small area of high-end pre-packaged stuff (such as olive oils, etc), and the dairy section (of specialty cheeses and yogurts and related chutneys and such) is massive.
BUT this same market has a bulk section, which is -- of course -- mostly processed foods (but also some dried, frozen that are minimally processed). And that area is much larger than the fresh area altogether. It's a funny shop, though.
We don't have a Whole Foods in the state (NH), but rumor has it that a Trader Joe's will be coming to the next town over sometime soon. Just 9 miles away! I can't wait!
I've found Trader Joe's to have a ton of processed food. I don't understand what's so great about it. It also sticks in my mind as the first place where I purchased bad Swiss chocolate, a TJ brand. I didn't know that there was such a thing, but since then I've found other Swiss-made brands that aren't great so it's not just TJ's fault.
APN I don't understand your references to not knowing ingredients in processed foods in other stores. Ingredients are listed on the back.
I am currently moving back and forth between the greater Boston area and a small city in New Hampshire.
Up in New Hampshire, there are three main chain supermarkets, with a total of five stores in a 5 mile radius, plus both Target and Walmart stores with grocery departments. All the stores are much larger than the Boston area ones, and carry a much greater variety of both "real" and processed, prepared food. One is the lowest priced chain, one is the sort of yuppie, trendy chain, and one is the basic, middle-America chain. This is New Hampshire, most people shop at the lowest priced chain, but the others do have a slightly larger selection of goods. The trendy chain does have the best, freshest produce with the greatest variety, however.
We don't have a Whole Foods in the state (NH), but rumor has it that a Trader Joe's will be coming to the next town over sometime soon. Just 9 miles away! I can't wait!
She's right. Most of us here in NH do shop the locally owned (MA based), less expensive store. We actually have 4 major chain markets here but one does outshine by far in terms of produce quality and availablity. I make two trips each week. One to the locally owned chain for most things and then to the more trendy one for my produce. I also shop local butcher for my meat. Now in the summer, I shop strictly locally grown. Shopping the local farm stands and I take advantage of the farmers markets and grow/dry my own herbs. I'll also drive 30 mins south into MA to get farm fresh milk (glass bottles), butter, eggs and ice cream.
Trader Joes is going in in my city but I don't like the location choice. It's hard enough to get in and out of that area as it is and there is a small Trader Joes on the same road, just across the state line. Not sure of the logic of that one unless they plan to close the smaller TJ. The IGA store is nice but is a 12 mile drive for me and unless I'm in the area for something else, I won't make the trip.
It's funny but Trader Joe's is the one chain we don't have. With Whole Foods headquartered here and adding three new stores this year, it doesn't look likely. Nevertheless, there is a huge write in campaign to have TJ's here - mostly I undertand from all the recent California transplants.
Tiam......we went to TJ's today, and came home with wonderful lamb tips, marinated in a lovely marinade, frozen wild coho salmon, organic red peppers, organic spinach, organic zucchini, asparagus and bananas, Greek yogurt, organic butter, their wonderful unsweetened soymilk, roasted unsalted almonds, mixed nuts, organic raisins, Belgian dark chocolate, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheesesticks, wine, green tea, frozen organic blueberries, frozen mango chunks, and a bag of organic corn tortilla chips........just to give you an idea.....not a single processed food thing, really, except maybe the lamb tips, because of them being already in a marinade. Oh, and a dozen brown, organic free range eggs.........
These things you mention at TJ's don't excite me:
The lamb tips sound good! But we never buy lamb, too expensive. I mean it is WAY expensive. But if I'd price it at TJ's perhaps I might change my mind.
I don't like salmon much, think it's overrated.
I love red peppers, how much did they cost? I've got "organic" spinach in my garden, has been there practically all winter.
TJ's Greek yogurt, butter, cheese sticks, PArm cheese and unsweetened soymilk taste no different from the equivalents at my regular store and I don't care if they are not organic.
TJ's is great for nuts, that's probably the only thing I will purposely go there for. In fact, I remember the last time I bought nuts there because our rescue dog of the moment got into the bag of cashews and ate most all of them and slobbered on the rest of them! ha ha. That was about $8 down the drain.
Chocolate--see previous post.
Wine? hmmm. I don't know. I've gotta have good wine, and while I respect two buck Chuck as a decent uber cheap wine, that's not what I buy. I honestly don't know how TJ's upper end wines are. Do they have the TJ label as well? Wine is important to me and I've never thought of TJ's as a wine store.
I don't buy frozen fruits, and besides, I would consider those plus tortilla chips (which we don't buy) processed foods. But whatever.
See, TJ's is just not my thing and I really tried it for a while. But I DO still drop in occasionally to buy stuff, mainly nuts.
Miss Cellane
3-30-12, 9:41am
Maybe it's just my area, but Trader Joe's tends to be less expensive than either Whole Foods or the regular supermarkets. Maybe not on every single item, but for the things I buy there regularly--greek yogurt, bananas, butter, cinnamon, dried fruit, their brand of Cheerios--they are significantly lower priced and the quality is the same or better.
Mostly, I shop TJ's for the price.
And then there's the frozen chocolate croissants, for which I can find no substitute anywhere.
Wine? hmmm. I don't know. I've gotta have good wine, and while I respect two buck Chuck as a decent uber cheap wine, that's not what I buy. I honestly don't know how TJ's upper end wines are. Do they have the TJ label as well? Wine is important to me and I've never thought of TJ's as a wine store.
Same story in our house regarding wine. They actually have a pretty nice selection at all the locations I've been in and the prices have been good. Two buck Chuck, now three bucks, is the claim to fame, but they carry a lot beyond that. Overall we've found a little better pricing at Costco, but TJ's is way easier if you only want a couple bottles.
We have a TJ less than 2 miles from us. It just opened last year and we were pretty excited because we've been loading up after a visit to DS in CA for years. We buy mostly stir fry or "simmer" sauces to have for a quick meal. With just a little doctoring up they are usually very good. There is lots of processed food (including those sauces) and they have a big selection of frozen food, as several mentioned. We like to cook from scratch most of the time and find their selection of base ingredients somewhat limited so we go there more for treats and higher quality convenience items. Oh, and wine.
We like to go up to Sonoma or Napa a few times a year to go wine tasting. I tried to convince SO that we should find the Charles Shaw winery and do a tasting there! But alas, a little research found that apparently there is no Charles Shaw tasting room to visit. :-(
iris lily
3-30-12, 10:48am
...We like to cook from scratch most of the time and find their selection of base ingredients somewhat limited so we go there more for treats and higher quality convenience items. Oh, and wine.
That's how I think of TJ's now, a specialty store. But then, I have to drive out in the county to shop there (which I hate to do) and so, I seldom go now. When TJ's first came to town, I tried to drink the TJ koolaid, and while I liked some of their stuff well enough, it was the specialty products that I liked.
Whole Foods is never a place where we actually shop, we just pay a visit once every couple of years to point and laugh at the overpriced absurdities that yups seem to be buying.
There's a Whole Foods coming here, opening later this year. I've been to a couple when visiting friends. Seems ok, but expensive. I'll check it out (even though its across town) to see if it lives up to the hype or not.
ApatheticNoMore
3-30-12, 12:02pm
APN I don't understand your references to not knowing ingredients in processed foods in other stores. Ingredients are listed on the back.
Yea I meant recognizing the ingredients as actual food stuffs. Have you ever read the ingredients of say a supermarket Mac and Cheese or a supermarket frozen dinner, Swansons or what have you? I don't eat that, but unfortunately some family members do, and I will read the ingredients and proclaim the food as total garbage. :) Really it's a chemistry lab. There's less of that in the processed food with ingredients at TJs, and there's even less so at a WF. So if you want to subsists on prepared foods (if you are a male bachelor in your 20s :laff:) that will be a bit of a step up. Still not for me, I read labels on everything and don't buy most food with many ingredients.
whole foods is really not worth the money.
you can do much better by going local. look around for a locally owned/operated health food store, look for CSAs and farmers markets. Most of these will have all kinds of connections to great local foods. we lived near two whole foods and NEVER shopped at them. didn't' need to, and the prices were ridiculous.
I'm with ANM, too. Very few ingredients in our house as well. I think the thing that has the most ingredients in our house is mayonnaise (it's a locally made cottage industry, it has 4 ingredients none of which is a chemical -- oil, vinegar, eggs, and salt or pepper) and chocolate (which has cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, and lethicin). Everything else is a single ingredient.
When we lived in the US, we shopped at TJs. We purchased: frozen wild salmon, frozen organic berries, broccoli, and other veggies; free range roasting chickens; raw nuts, dried fruit in bulk; chocolate.
Then went to the local HFS to get: sprouted grain (ezekiel bread); eggs; raw butter, yogurt, and milk; veggies when not available at CSA and farmer's market; coffee and tea; soap, deodorant, tooth paste; oils (such as cod liver oil, flax, etc).
We went to the CSA and farmers market for most of our fruit/veggies -- and then when it was winter, it would be the HFS to get stuff from NJ and other places.
And then we would go to a local farm for beef/bison which we would get on occasion.
And then we joined a group who started buying chicken, beef (including offal), raw milk and butter, and eggs. So we were mostly getting from a local farms for the last 4-5 years in the area.
It worked nicely for us.
I shop mostly at HEB and I have noticed that they have greatly expanded the organic produce, dairy,and meat sections. They still carry all the processed junk but I can get the quality products that I want there.
Trader Joe's certainly has some processed foods, especially lots of convenience foods in their frozen food cases, although far higher in quality than most. You can actually buy some frozen entree type stuff at Trader Joe's, even a from scratch cook might be willing to eat sometimes.
I discovered Trader Joe's while on a long term work assignment in Indianapolis. I stayed at an upscale residential hotel which had a tiny kitchen with a full size-refrigerator and an enormous micro with so many functions I never learned them all in nine months. The stove had only two burners and no oven, so I mostly used the micro.
Trader Joe's convenience foods were a lifesaver. I'm gluten-intolerant and I was very pleased to be given a list of gluten-free foods by a cashier. Love their brown rice bread. I often bought their frozen fish and chicken entrees, which were large enough for two or three meals, and I tried their store brand Channa Masala, which remains a favorite to this day. The three-serving package of microwavable brown rice was also really handy. (I flew home every other weekend, so small quantities worked well in this case.)
I've been back home for two years and Trader Joe's is now inconveniently located about eight miles away. Every now and then, though, I go clean off the brown rice bread shelf and get a stack of frozen meals. TJ's is also far more dependable about carrying organic produce and free-range meats than Whole Foods.
There's a Whole Foods coming here, opening later this year. I've been to a couple when visiting friends. Seems ok, but expensive. I'll check it out (even though its across town) to see if it lives up to the hype or not.
Beware. I don't usually shop there, but a friend gave me a gift card so off I went. When they first opened, everything was organic and pricey, but now you have to read labels carefully, because a lot of their produce is the same stuff you can get in any supermarket, complete with chemical fertilizers and bug spray. They had no gluten-free foods or even flour. That was my last visit and I don't expect to be going back.
ApatheticNoMore
4-1-12, 1:52am
TJ's is also far more dependable about carrying organic produce and free-range meats than Whole Foods.
I don't really find this to be the case. Well ok other than fish (never organic anyway) and beef (chickens are from the farmer's market), I'm mostly talking produce. Basically the entire WF greens section is organic (and the prices are basically identical to TJs for that stuff), a lot of other organics too.
They had no gluten-free foods or even flour.
I'm not sure what gluten free flour is. Bulk bins here have rice flour which I have tried (ha I think I've tried both brown and white rice flour!), I think they have some bean flours (like garbanzo flour) - doesn't really interest me, and they have corn meal. All that is in listed ingredients gluten free, but if you were celiac I imagine you'd worry about contamination and really not want stuff from bulk bins anywhere. I know at least one store with a whole gluten free section (processed foods though - wierd stuff imo).
I haven't noticed any changes in our big chain supermarkets with the variety of fresh foods. Our big stores are Safeway and King Soopers. Anymore, I mostly only go there for for staples like cleaning supplies and some paper products. While I haven't noticed any change in variety I think the quality of fresh products has gone down significantly. We have a Sunflower Market that has a huge selection of fresh regular and organic produce plus good fresh meats. And also a regional chain called Vitamin Cottage that specializes in more organic and natural products. Both of these are reasonably priced. Plus Whole Foods, which is slightly overpriced but seems to do a reasonably good job of having locally grown or produced products. I have to say that Whole Foods produce is usually very fresh and good quality and is sometimes worth paying a premium for.
I suppose the large traditional chains are here to stay for a while, but wonder how much business they have lost to these smaller stores. Maybe they are having trouble turning over fresh products and are being forced into either lower quality or less selection.
Blackdog Lin
4-1-12, 9:13pm
Y'all seem to be in cities with lots of choices. I am in a small town with one grocery store. We must travel 10 or 20 miles away to have access to a larger variety/market. As in Wal-Mart, Save-a-Lot, Country Mart (area chain). And we're in the part of country where we garden, and grow vegetables.....but we don't have much in the way of Farmers Markets, and while I've heard of CSAs, I don't personally know anyone who participates in one.
So fresh food for our hinterlands means vegetables in season. That you've grown yourself or know someone who does. There are organic and free-range meat producers, I've seen the ads, but they are not necessarily nearby. As in using an 80-mile round-trip tank of gas to go get good meat. Fresh and organic cheese? Nope. Never even heard of it around here.
We grown our own veggies and eggs, and do the best we can with the rest. We don't have the resources y'all do in the cities for purchasing organic foodstuffs.....BUT the organics we do have I am very sure are very very organic and fresh. You do the best with what's available.....
Y'all seem to be in cities with lots of choices. I am in a small town with one grocery store. We must travel 10 or 20 miles away to have access to a larger variety/market. As in Wal-Mart, Save-a-Lot, Country Mart (area chain). And we're in the part of country where we garden, and grow vegetables.....but we don't have much in the way of Farmers Markets, and while I've heard of CSAs, I don't personally know anyone who participates in one.
So fresh food for our hinterlands means vegetables in season. That you've grown yourself or know someone who does. There are organic and free-range meat producers, I've seen the ads, but they are not necessarily nearby. As in using an 80-mile round-trip tank of gas to go get good meat. Fresh and organic cheese? Nope. Never even heard of it around here.
We grown our own veggies and eggs, and do the best we can with the rest. We don't have the resources y'all do in the cities for purchasing organic foodstuffs.....BUT the organics we do have I am very sure are very very organic and fresh. You do the best with what's available.....
Geez. It really puts things in perspective to hear how other people live. I thought it was a huge improvement in our lives when we moved from being a 12 minute walk from Safeway to living across the street from one...
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.