Reflection on Supermarket activity #1

Giant Eagle has a very generic and similar layout and feel to other grocery and supermarket stores. Walking into Giant Eagle immediate impressions of fall treats capture your attention but also start the onslaught of prices and items jumping out at you. The dairy, bread and milk – things you need to buy often and are “loss leaders” are located most conveniently in the back of the store so you have to walk past at least 10 aisles to get to them.

At least with Giant Eagle the first thing you’re greeted with is produce! Even if much of the produce is from California right now it’s still a happy sight to see all this healthy (or just shiny from the wax…) fruit and vegetables. As you work your way back you get to the meats along an entire wall. That seemed like a lot to me. I don’t eat a ton of meat because of the environmental impact I think it has but there is so much meat in grocery stores. On further inquiry – it’s all thrown away when it goes bad. So is the produce. Not even composted.

All the produce is segmented by individual produce and pre-bagged produce. Now the pre-bagged produce is cheaper but often looks worse for the wear or older because of this convenience. Why is it cheaper if they separate and bag it for you? There seem to be a lot of places in grocery stores where more is less (more work is less money). As I keep walking around I think it could be advertising to sell more, rebranding of eggs really hits me hard. There are 4 brands that are actually Giant Eagle but they all have different labelling and packaging.

Before shopping with a list and having an imaginary family to think about I often perused around and tried to pick what I thought was in-season or would go well. I didn’t like to make lists or choose beforehand what I even wanted to make. So shopping for a family of four was a foreign concept to me. It leaves you with a question every time you make a choice in the grocery store that I think Nestle is trying to convey with her whole book “did I choose right?” And often times I feel like my gut was right – but having to analyze every containers sodium and sugar (things Americans are addicted too) and looking at different serving sizes for different meats. It’s all extremely confusing – and when looking at the store through this lens you start to think that’s how they want you to feel – confused. Confused people buy whatever they’re comfortable with.

Nestle brings up that many of her friends, family members, colleagues and clients all implored her to write this book so that they would “know what to eat” and while they probably meant that specifically and she gives more of a general outlook (just like Pollan does!) and help decoding it’s hard to shake the fact that just because you know something is bad doesn’t mean you know how to then choose. Sometimes you just have to try your best and do what you can – I think that’s often what primary food prepares do and we’ve got to applaud them for it.