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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

#171

Post by astrange »

robonerd wrote: post #85
bragr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I strongly believe personalized nutrition and shopping experiences will have major impact on non communicable diseases. What about all the poor people without smartphones? We have such an unequal distribution of wealth and technology in this county that (particularly on site like this with mostly digital natives) it is easy to loose sight of the fact that the poorest ~20% still don't have basic smart phones, or mayb…

Or the people who have smartphones and are sick of it and pine for the old ways, but feel compelled to keep one by society increasingly expects that everybody have one and capriciously install invasive apps on it, even for things like buying groceries!

What's invasive about a grocery store app? Seems less invasive than going to the store - they could always record you there and they certainly know what you buy.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#172

Post by DubiousPusher »

I grew up in Montana so I am probably one of the few millennial Americans that probably recalls what life is like before supermarkets. They were just becoming a thing there as I was growing up. (Very, What's Eating Gilbert Grape.)

We had an IGA in the small town I grew up in. The fresh food options there were borderline Soviet. We went to a butcher to get our meat when we didn't have meat from hunting.

We got produce direct from growers, at various markets and from our garden. I would get strawberries once a year when they were plentiful enough to be affordable in a pallete from a local bulk market.

Baked goods were what you got from home, otherwise you could have generic branded spongelike bread loaf.

American supermarkets blow my mind. I can get strawberries, blackberries and blueberries year round. There is a butcher in the store selling fresh high quality meats. There is a bakery producing French roundloaves, donuts and cookies, most produced in the last 24-48 hours.

It's incredible. And yet, when I unload my cart of fresh produce, meats, cheeses and baked goods it doesn't look like the carts around mine. They are full of canned foods, frozen foods, boxed foods, etc. I'm not judging. You can't beat a frozen pizza for satisfaction/effort, especially when you weren't expecting to feed anyone. But I can never get over the variety in my local produce section.

When I see people share "fast" recipes on YouTube they involve jarred sauces, spaghettiOs and raisins. (Fuck raisins.) You can make a great meal fast with few ingredients. If you take the time to have brown sauce or demi glace on hand.

Even with the aid of the supermarket and all it can provide, good food takes time. And that requires sacrifice. One parent has to come home after 8 hours working and cook. The kids can't do extracurriculars every week of the night. If you want to enjoy food culture, both cars have to be in the driveway a couple nights a week. And IMO that's why class and America's work culture have a lot more to do with our poor food culture than our grocery stores.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#173

Post by bombcar »

SoftTalker wrote: post #165
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…

I have never seen a cheap farmers market. Around here they seem to be exclusively for and patronized by wealthy older people, who don't blink at paying $7 for a head of lettuce.

Actual farmers markets are often designer shops for rich people.

If you find actual farms and coops you can get good deals.

There’s a local food coop that sells large boxes full of produce for $20 every Thursday - but you don’t get to choose what’s in the box.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#174

Post by newsclues »

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...

Some have vendors who appear to be farmers but are people who buy produce at the food terminal like grocery stores and sell it at the farmers market.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#175

Post by Hellion »

DubiousPusher wrote: post #172

I grew up in Montana so I am probably one of the few millennial Americans that probably recalls what life is like before supermarkets. They were just becoming a thing there as I was growing up. (Very, What's Eating Gilbert Grape.) We had an IGA in the small town I grew up in. The fresh food options there were borderline Soviet. We went to a butcher to get our meat when we didn't have meat from hunting. We got produce…

Why fuck raisins? Earnest question, I always just assumed taking a lot of the moisture out of a grape was bad enough for flavor

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#176

Post by astrange »

zozin wrote: post #104

The US in 2015 had an average household income 55% higher than the UK, which effectively negates most of the arguments this argument is trying to make, as well as the graph which shows daily costs in the US being 60% higher than the UK. The US is a richer country, costs are accordingly also higher. Not exactly surprising.

This is true, but it doesn't work to tell Europeans this because they seem convinced all Americans are poor due to being in medical debt. America is a very rich country and most Americans are globally well off.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#177

Post by bombcar »

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.

I am absolutely baffled by the local grocery store’s (Midwest US) supply of potatoes. They have something like five+ varieties of midsize ones, two types of big ones, bags of both, and an entire end cap dedicated to various little bags of tiny potatoes.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#178

Post by quickthrower2 »

fredley wrote: post #32

UK supermarkets are crap, and have got noticeably crapper in recent years. At even large mid-tier supermarkets you will find a paltry range of fruit and veg, and a maeger selection of almost entirely prepackaged meat and fish. I have noticed many things are routinely out of stock and it can be a lottery shopping for a specific recipe. I recently visited Portugal, and in a small city supermarket there was a bakery, me…

What I remember of the UK you had to inspect everything you buy closely. In Australia you don’t it is pretty much all good.

Also avocado and mangos taste good in Australia and are hard and tasteless in UK.

Most fruit is grown in Australia except out of season stuff that is easy to spot by it being triple the normal in season price.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#179

Post by astrange »

assttoasstmgr wrote: post #28

What exactly are the clear conclusions from this over-worded drivel? Inflation aside, if you're paying too much for groceries, you don't know how to shop. Part of the problem is people are willing to pay $6 for bananas at Whole Paycheck, and the obsession with organic foodstuffs. When the same products are available at Walmart or Costco for 1/3 the price. I think we have an entire generation of people who never learn…

Whole Foods isn't expensive anymore, this post is from like 6 years ago. Amazon lowered their prices on basic goods and keeps it higher on the packaged goods. Which are usually not especially healthy, they just have some superfood ingredients in them.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#180

Post by thaw13579 »

throwaway892238 wrote: post #160

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…

I'd be curious to learn more about this, any recommended reading?
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