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Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

economist.com

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Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#151

Post by jen20 »

tpict wrote: post #147
jen20 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also as a British expat, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in Bath had all of the types of onion you’d find in the US pre-pandemic - though I haven’t been back since. I’d imagine Brexit may have ruined that.

I haven’t been back in a few years, but the selection of onions in my local Kroger would be staggeringly exotic next to the offerings of Tescos of the north-east.

Yes, I suppose it doesn't really surprise me that the regional variation would be different. Bath didn't have a Tesco until recently, but it did have a Safeway/Morrisons which had a slightly worse selection than the "posher" two. It also had a farmers market though which was by far the best place to buy anything.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#154

Post by istorical »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #153

> Today Americans spend a smaller share of their income on food to be cooked at home—about 6%—than people in almost any other rich country... Well then, where is that windfall going? Or do Americans not cook at home all that often?

Probably due to eating out way more often and eating shitty cheap processed foods for the meals they do cook.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#155

Post by jfengel »

Vladimof wrote: post #131
photochemsyn wrote: post #99

Farmer's markets are the way to go for produce if you have farms in your area. Some are overpriced and upscale, some are cheaper than your local chain grocery store. You can also buy grains/beans in bulk at lower prices, often direct from farmer's coops, and have it shipped to your door. Get a pressure cooker for beans, a rice cooker, save on the gas prices as they're electric, and use an induction electric stove. If…

> Some are overpriced and upscale, some are cheaper than your local chain grocery store Some also sell imported fruits and veggies...

Indeed. I've seen bananas at the farmers market, and I don't live in Hawaii.

One local farmers market puts in significant effort verifying that the farmers are indeed local, including visiting the farm. People still show up with trucks full of identical pies, swearing they spent all day baking them.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#156

Post by zarzavat »

prennert wrote: post #120
bowsamic wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UK supermarkets are far better in terms of fruit and veg selection than anything we have here in Germany. It can be much worse trust me. UK is also way cheaper

Honestly? Where are you shopping, what are you comparing to each other? I think the segmentation of stores in the UK and Germany are very different. UK has Waitrose and (for some things) M&S for high quality fruit and veg. But they are also highly priced. Germany does not have a posh equivalent. However the common non-discounters (Rewe, Kaufland, Edeka, Globus), are really not bad. I am not sure about the exact numbe…

Everything other than Waitrose in the UK is a “budget” brand. That’s why the selection is poor, and why the presence of a Waitrose makes house prices go up around it.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#157

Post by formerkrogemp »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #153

> Today Americans spend a smaller share of their income on food to be cooked at home—about 6%—than people in almost any other rich country... Well then, where is that windfall going? Or do Americans not cook at home all that often?

Prior to the pandemic most people in cities would eat out more often. Now with the rise of the hobby baker, lockdowns and remote work killing restaurants and commuting, homemade cooks, and inflation tightening budgets more people are cooking at home. Also, British grocery stores are just sad mate. Aldi is lovely for its low prices however.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#158

Post by istorical »

rco8786 wrote: post #123

Anecdotal I guess but I’ve visited 15-20 countries across Europe and Asia in the last ~10 years and the supermarkets were largely not great relative to your average American Kroger.

Yeah I think the like lowest end bread at an Italian grocery store is going to be way better than the lowest end "bread" at an American grocery store, but the difference is at the American store there is literally (I shit you not) 50-100 varieties of bread and a lot of them are decent (actually by a lot I mean like 4-10).

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#159

Post by angmarsbane »

assttoasstmgr wrote: post #103
Georgelemental wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the greatest trick the devil ever played is convincing people he doesn't exist, his second-greatest trick is convincing Americans that eating well is for stuck-up elitist liberals. Yes, While Foods is mega-expensive and not that good for the price. But that's not because good food is a fake consumerist concept, it's because the American agricultural system has been gutted by perverse commercial and regulatory ince…

I think it's more that as Americans have evolved and more people seek white-collar occupations, and as women have taken more career (as opposed to domestic) paths as dual-income households become necessary to survive especially in places like SF, people have lost critical skills. Like how to cook healthy with a few basic ingredients. Most of the people I work with don't know how to use an oven. I don't think half of…

Home Economics is no longer coursework in high school so you have generations who have made it to adulthood without basic kitchen training.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#160

Post by throwaway892238 »

I guess people have forgotten the world before supermarkets (the replacement for traditional 'grocery stores'). You could not buy a pineapple or a banana or an orange. It was impossible. What made it possible were the literal overthrow of governments by corporations that acted like pirates with a monopoly on a given crop, in combination with technical and logistical revolutions.

It's also amazing to see supermarkets getting the blame. Food prices are almost entirely based on trade deals and exploitation by food producers. Supermarkets are just the last mile in a long chain that includes not just food producers and transporters and sellers, but competing markets with politically-influenced tariffs and government subsidies. The price you pay for food has almost nothing to do with the supermarket, unless said supermarket has such a stranglehold on its markets that it can dictate prices up the food chain (Walmart is the only one in the US like this afaik).

Yes, America, your food is more expensive now. Because for the past 70 years, your food prices have been artificially lowered as a result of anticompetitive market manipulations, government subsidies, backroom trade deals, and changing global environments. The majority of fresh produce you get in a US supermarket isn't even from this country! And let's not even talk about the sizeable portion of this country that doesn't even have access to fresh produce, regardless of cost. Your ability to "eat healthy" is more of a political act than a gastronomic or commercial one.

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