It has come to this. Woodman’s is Madison’s premier discount grocery store. A place that, to me, is everything that makes for a grocery shopping nightmare. Aisles of bulging containers of godawful stuff that some would call food.
Except, there are two points to remember: 1. It’s cheap (Ed appeal) and, 2. if you look carefully, you'll find something fresh and honest. Maybe not fresh. But honest. I have to believe that Kashi crackers and organic grape juice are honest.
Life has been so brutal (meaning – busy) that we have run low on the basics. It's time for that quarterly Woodman's trip.
But walking up and down the aisles (and we walk up and down all of them), I have to wonder – cheap, yes, maybe, but at what price to the American eating habits?
We stand in line at the check out. Ed tells me – I have never in my life checked out with TWO carts full of food here.
Except that we haven’t bought anything, I tell him. A bunch of bananas and a pint of blueberries – that’s the extent of the produce.
Indeed. What we have are two carts full of everything but dinner.
The experience is so (to me) depressing that I insist on a pause for air at the nearby La Baguette. There, we chat with the owners, we laugh...
...we meet the owner’s parents. We walk away with only one baguette ($2.50), but my sense of well being has surged.
In the late late afternoon, we take Ed’s ancient (is 30 years old ancient?) Honda to his farmette. He wants to feed his cats, I want to take a walk.
Earlier, I was creating space on my laptop (the way to do this is to get rid of hundreds of irrelevant photos) and I came across pictures from March and April in Madison. It is a sadly gray time of the year here.
Today is its exact opposite.
I walk over to the fields where the Hmong farmers have so earnestly planted market vegetables and flowers. They are used to seeing me with my camera. We chat in the way that people do when neither understands the other’s language.
I continue up the road, past fields of market flowers…
And further still. The sun is low, the colors are sublime. My shoulders are bare – it is that warm.
I call Ed. Pick me up on the Rustic Road. I’m ready to head home.
Woodman's is incredibly cheap. It is locally owned, and sort of employee owned (they own 51 percent). With respect to staples, they sell what you would buy elsewhere. Their apples are terrible, and the rest of the fruit and produce is hit and miss. Without exaggeration, there are times you can go there and spend half what you woud pay at an upscale grocery store.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I went to Woodman's was right after moving back to Madison from Germany. In Germany, I was used to either the German stores or our small American commissary. Imagine my surprise when searching for mustard at Woodman's and Brian and I found an AISLE of it. It was the same with just about everything on our list. We were so traumatized with all of the choices that it took me until I moved to Appleton years later to shop at Woodman's again. I agree with the previous commenter; the produce often leaves a lot to be desired. But, their "organic/healthy" aisles have prices that are unmatched elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, I loved your pictures today. It doesn't even look like fall in Utah yet.
Yes, Woodman's does not do everything perfectly. But Woodman's isn't just cheap. There actually is a Woodman family (is there a Trader Joe?). The founder actually bagged groceries at his store many years in addition to everything else. He later made it employee owned. I think it started in Janesville. You knock Woodman's, you knock later 20th century native culture in your adopted home. Yes, these are the people that used to run effete Honda owners off the road. Yes, now their kids own Hondas. It is their taxes that built the academic institution from which you draw a paycheck. They shop there, why shouldn't you? And yes, they also shop at the fresh markets in season. So glad you finally paid a visit!
ReplyDelete-Amy
"It is a sadly gray time of the year here."
ReplyDeleteBut fall is the most beautiful time of year in Madison!
For me, there is little pleasure in shopping in very large stores. Nothing more than that. The very fact that a customer never meets a member of the Woodman family is sad. Bigger is cheaper, but it comes at a price. I understand the need for inexpensive food, but I love small stores nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteTo find the good at Woodman's skip the produce, meat, etc. and head to the liquor section. In my experience, the Woodman's liquor department employees are as knowledgeable as any other wine merchant in the Madison area. They have a selection that is just as good too. I lived in Janesville when I was a law student and due to Woodman’s I was able to consistently drink wines rated in the high 80s and 90’s (per Wine Spectator and/or Robert Parker). The employees were available to help with food parings and other general suggestions. I miss Woodman’s liquor section!!!!
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