And yet…
This morning I get an email from the president of the board of our local food cooperative, the Mifflin Street Co-op. Food for the people! -- reads their slogan. I am a member, though a reluctant one. I cannot get myself to spend good money on wilted produce and their produce is more than just mildly wilted. No matter. After so many years of service, they are shutting down. Something about unpaid taxes, mismanagement, etc etc. The usual.
And so I go to Trader Joe’s. Might it become my neighborhood store? I do love shopping at Whole Foods, prices notwithstanding, I do! Will I love shopping at TJ’s?
No, probably not. I walk back to the loft with two heavy bags filled with various foods. Thirty minutes along the most ugly and boring stretch of Madison roadway and I think: buying food has to be beautiful. Returning home with it along the ugliness that is Regent Street (or, in the alternative, that ugly snippet of the bike path) takes much beauty out of the expedition.
And the plastic. For decades, we have suffered a disassociation from out food sources. Plastic has separated us from the meats and produce that we eat, so that we have conveniently permitted outselves to forget about tending to our gardens, our herds. And here we go again: most everything at Trader Joe’s is bagged and wrapped. I bought eight roma tomatoes even though I only needed four. I picked up chocolate covered banana chips, neatly wrapped and ready to throw into my cart, even though I needed none.
Oh, I appreciated the prices. If I am going to buy mediocre wine, I am happy to spend only $2.99 for it.
Still… I walked home from Trader Joe’s thinking how passive we are about navigating ugly scapes and indifferently presented foods. My best visuals for the day? A clump of seed pods and, further down the block, the reflection of the sky in the windows of the Kohl’s Center. I wish there was more to say about it all, but there really isn’t. Sigh...
I've never bought produce or meat from TJ's, and it's not all that "organic" either. Nuts and dried fruits are excellent and fairly priced; flash-frozen fish, bags of frozen fruits and vegetables (tiny Maine blueberries, haricots verts, avocados) are great. Look for the ginger granola. And there is a superb premium vanilla ice cream that you can rationalize buying/eating because it provides 15% of your calcium - forget its name. As with any market you have to pick and choose.
ReplyDeleteSixty-five, you're pretty much right on, but you really have to try their apple smoked bacon, no nitrites or nitrates, absolutely fantastic. And their dairy products are spectacular, all BHST-free. The eggs are the freshest I've bought anywhere. That said, there are very few fruits or veggies I buy from TJ's, namely stuff that I would get packaged elsewhere: the button mushrooms, bags of baby carrots, celery hearts, that sort of thing. I prefer to pick my fruits and veggies myself, and get the amount I need.
ReplyDeleteNina, you would probably enjoy the chocolate selection. And their crackers and cookies, all of which are made without any "bad stuff" in them. In the cheap wine department, the Tuscan Moon sangiovese is a new one that runs about $6. It's a little too lightweight for me, but since you like rose wines you might like it. My husband and I prefer the Old Moon old vine zinfandel, but we're going to have to find something else to drink every day since we seem to have run out the local stock. (Such decadence, wine every day! It's lovely, and thanks to TJ's, we can afford it.)
I think the best hope for TJ's produce section is that the amount of traffic through the place will keep their packaged veggies turning over fast. This may amplify what Sixty-five says, but with Whole Foods increasingly sourcing produce locally (where possible), they're selling quite different products.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Regent St. corridor, it is damn ugly, though portions of the Beltline corridor give it a run between sleazy motels, shabby warehouses, and the Hummer dealership. I will, however, defend the Greenbush connector. It may not be quite the main stretch of Southwest Path, but then again one is urban and the other suburban.
It is easier to do your shopping in one place, but after a while you may be able to find a balance between the stores.
ReplyDeleteIn Connecticut they do not sell wine, so I haven’t had the opportunity to see Trader Joe’s offerings.
I belong to the Natural Farms coop in Madison, and that is a nice way to get dry or bulk items for a reasonable price. And I get herbs/spices in bulk from frontiercoop.
ReplyDeleteHowever, those places are not nearly as much fun as going into a store like Whole Foods. I love the atmosphere, the fresh, local produce at Whole Foods. There is something nice about going through and getting just what I need for a meal, or finding some new thing that I never knew existed.
But I will always buy my eggs from the local "egg lady" who sells them for $1.50 a dozen off her back porch, proceeds in the coffee can on your honor.
And I miss the place I used to live where I could buy unpasteurized milk out of an old pepsi refrigerator, $1 a gallon, cream on the top, in old glass jars. And you could help with milking or watch her skim the cream if you wanted.
You have a great blog, very interesting.
I love shopping at Trader Joe's, and I think a big part of the reason is that I don't like to cook very often. I can get wonderful frozen or pre-made food there. It might not be so appealing to someone who loves to cook as much as you do. I don't buy produce there, though. I prefer farmer's markets.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, all. I honestly cannot say I hated TJ and I will definitely follow up on some of the items you guys identified. But it cannot be a favorite -- not in the way that Whole Foods is (again, prices and past hiring practices notwithstanding). Whole Foods entirely changed my attitude toward food shopping in this country. I rarely buy for more than a day or two at a time (yes -- even in my busiest periods) and so to find a place that feels warm and food-farmer-friendly was really exhilarating. I am capable of feeling exhilarated about food.
ReplyDeleteTom, I love the bike path more than any stretch of pavement on this side of the isthmus, but the segment that runs parallel to Regent is plain ugly. Unless you like city power plants and parking lots. I walk it every day and walking only intensifies the pain of viewing all that urban yuk. Trees might help. Hell, anything would help. I'll even take the quintessentially suburban and personalityless yew bushes. Anything.
Nina: Point well taken -- that stretch of path certainly would not be improved by slowing from biking to walking speed.
ReplyDelete