A Visit to Trader Joe’s
The quick answer: Supermarkets went astray when they chose profits over the health of their customers. Alternative stores, like TJ’s, offer better choices.
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Another Store Visit
It’s complicated, you know, to try and change one’s diet. Change is hard to do alone, and some may get a little grumpy if they’re lectured too much. Eric Hoffer, San Francisco’s longshoreman philosopher, now deceased, observed that when we’re free to choose, we choose to do what our friends are doing. It’s a form of gridlock: we pick friends that are like us, and then limit our choices to what they’re doing.
Still, in every social group, there are a few who act as catalysts, introducing some “new thing.” Unfortunately new things tend to be vices more than virtues, so there’s this downward spiral in societies. It’s bleak, except Eric Hoffer also noted this saving human trait: “Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one’s balance and keep afloat.”
That sounds like the food reformation: a flailing of arms—and tongues—as together we rediscover how to eat and be well.
Our society is at a tipping point. The rates of obesity and chronic disease are ever increasing. The treatment of these diseases grows increasingly complex and now costs more than the average person can afford. To complicate matters, Congress generously decreed that every person is entitled to this unaffordable care. So now the modern diet not only can destroy us, it can also bankrupt and destroy our nation. So when we speak of a food reformation, it’s about more than our family’s survival, it’s also about the survival of the world’s greatest democracy.
The way our family shops for food is changing. We still go to the supermarket, mainly because it’s closer and has a large variety, but we buy less. For the larger food quantities we go to Costco; we get other produce and bulk foods at Sprouts (used to be Henry’s) or a new store, Growers Direct; and the beautiful wife loves Trader Joes (TJ’s). In a new series of visits, we check out the stores that help us eat better, starting with TJ’s. But first, a little history.
The Rise and Fall of the Supermarket
Two generations ago, grocery stores were small and local. My grandfather borrowed $200 and started one in tiny Lincoln, CA, called “Heavy’s Cash & Carry.” Grandpa knew his customers personally; during the Depression he helped those worst off to survive. In the next generation the variety of processed foods grew without restraint and stores got bigger; we grandly called them supermarkets. What was once a small, local business became a large regional business. In all this growth, profits became more important than people, or their health.
The food corporations got big too, and their brands became valuable. Supermarket chains stopped caring what their customers ate and simply rented their shelf space out to the food corporations to better promote their brands. Brands were little more than a means to get more money for over-processed foods. Caveat emptor.
The 10 Best Things at Trader Joe’s
At TJ’s the brand game is kaput—most of the food has the TJ brand. So their food is cheaper but it tastes better than the stuff from the supermarkets. It’s a brilliant strategy: Sell cheaper food that tastes better. My main criticism of TJ’s is they're agnostic about nutrition. They sell lots of candy, cookies, and other processed foods, for example. I visited the local TJ’s to see what's healthy; here is my top ten:
Salad in a box: Right by the door as you walk in you find the prepared salads. I counted 12 different kinds, including shrimp & surimi, and grilled chicken salad with hard-boiled egg. The price seemed good, $3.49 for an 11 oz. serving.
Lunch: TJ’s offers a healthy alternative to fast food. Right by the salads they had sushi, $3.29; wraps, $3.49; and ready-to-heat pizzas, $3.49 for 10 oz. I’m not a big fan of prepared foods, but these were fresh with a short shelf life (meaning no preservatives), and offered good value.
Vegetables: TJ’s makes it easier to eat vegetables. As a rule, it’s best to buy foods as little processed as practical. But as I studied the produce section something stood out: 90% of the produce is packaged and a lot of it is minimally processed. This lets TJ pack a lot of variety into a limited shelf space—part of the TJ value advantage is the small size of the stores. Best products:
Mirepoix—I didn’t know what mirepoix (a traditional blend of three aromatic vegetables: carrots, onions, and celery) was until I started making soups. So I was amazed to learn you can buy pre-made mirepoix. We used it last week to make a chicken noodle soup from half a chicken carcass. $2.99 for 14.5 oz.
Root vegetable blend—this is a mix of cubed roots: rutabaga, turnips, and parsnips. I wasn’t sure if I had ever eaten these before but I knew they were healthy so got a package to use in a soup. $2.99 for 16 oz.
Julienne Sauté—a mix of onions, bell peppers, squash, zucchini, carrots, and oregano all washed, cut in strips, and ready to sauté or stir-fry. $2.49 for 9 oz.
French Baby Beets, peeled and steam-cooked, ready to eat cold or hot. This has more preparation—they’re cooked, but in France so how cool is that? I know beets are healthy but due to a childhood aversion I have a hard time eating them. I liked these because they aren’t pickled, the beautiful wife thought them a little tart, but they are French. (Good subject for a post: recipes that use beets.) $1.99 for 8 oz.
Nitrite/Nitrate-free lunchmeats: Supermarkets like a long shelf life but TJ’s sells some meats uncured (2-month shelf life). They also have uncured bacon (cooked).
Breakfast cereals: TJ’s doesn’t live by the more-fiber-than-sugar rule, but they did have two affordable breakfast cereals that qualified:
High Fiber Cereal (looks like All Bran), 9 gm. fiber and 5 gm. sugar per serving.
Shredded Bites (looks like Shredded Wheat, bite-size), 5 gm. fiber, no sugar.
Frozen sockeye salmon, at a good price, $10.99 per lb. I grabbed a package.
Bread, with more fiber than sugar, whole wheat ($2.99 for a 24 oz. loaf) and sprouted whole wheat ($3.44/loaf). I tried the sprouted wheat and it was good for store bread, but not as dense or flavorful as homemade.
Soup: TJ’s Creamy Tomato Soup is a winter favorite, lots of tomato taste though there is added sugar (10 gm. per serving). $2.29 for 32 oz.
Flowers. OK, it’s not actually food, but where else can you get a bunch of flowers for just $3.99 or $5.99? I grabbed a bouquet of blue lilies for the beautiful wife.
Summary
TJ’s is okay, I decided. They offer better value and taste than the supermarket and make it easier to eat right (if you have the discipline to walk by the candy, crackers, cookies and alcohol). And it’s a fun place, as much a party as a store. Can the supermarkets get their mojo back? I wonder. Ever hear of a supermarket banning Twinkies? Maybe they’ll change, time will tell, we need them on the side of the food reformation. Everyone, these days, pretends to care about the public health, but only a few walk the talk.
Please comment: What’s your favorite store? How has your shopping changed as you’ve turned to healthier foods? What are your secrets to smarter shopping?
Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 1:54PM | by Skip Hellewell | 27 Comments | 2 References | Share Article | in grocery shopping | Email Article
Reader Comments (27)
I HEART Wegmans. TJ is just coming to my town this month. I also shop at ALDI and the public market. Wegmans is the best, but don't trust me. Alec Baldwin's Mom wouldn't move because she could never leave Wegmans are ( also it haas been in Forbes for the best place to work nationwide for a long time)
I like that it is local. The produce section is huge and the first thing you hit when you enter the store. They use local farmers with their wares in season. The Wegmans area is from NY to VA so their product has a low foot print. Their meat is cut there by by butchers. At harvest time the farmers were in the stor and Iw as able to amke arrangement to go directly to them for biiger amounts to can. It saved me time than going to the public market....
I also love that they have a health store inside...like a smaller version of a Whole Foods. I can get anything from bulk organic buckwheat, nitrate free dried apricots to rennet for making my own cheese.
They too have a prepared food section and I often find myself before rushing to work grabbing sushi( rolled there) or a dinner at their salad bar or soup bar. They have the bakery to die for ( ok most of the stuff there will kill you- BUT you will die happy:p) and a Workery.
I can't always afford Wegmans and Aldis is very good.
Ok I may be a commercial
Heather, haven't been to Wegmans but in one poll, they and TJ's were voted the two top places for grocery shopping. Eating more vegetables is the hardest part (for most of us) of food reformation, so any store that makes this easier gets my vote. Best to you.
This is not related to the topic of this particular post, but I thought of you when I read this Mr. Hellewell. It is a post about health claims on a new cookie. If you are interested...
http://www.macheesmo.com/2011/11/a-whonu-review/#more-26293
I buy my grains and beans in bulk from a lady I know that coordinates group buys, then I buy other things in bulk at Costco (the cheapest place I've found for organic butter) and then shop at Harmons' for produce. I like Harmons' because they have a lot of healthy items and really good produce (a lot of it is local). They also have all the unhealthy stuff, but it's all pretty expensive so that helps me stick to produce and a little dairy. I know a lot of people who shop at WalMart because they allow you to match coupons, but I think that place has the worst vibes, I can't bring myself to shop there.
LeeAnn, thanks for the link. I checked out the WhoNu cookie—a knock-off of the old Oreo cookie with clever claims that make it look nutritious. The Macheesmo blog seemed to do a good job of exposing the marketing shenanigans. For example the front of package label claims included, "as much vitamin E as a carrot" without acknowledging that carrots aren't known for vitamin E, they're eaten for the beta-carotene. Disgusting marketing, that can confuse people unless they take a close look. If you followed the fiber>sugar rule, you would reject the cookie because it has 13 grams of sugar to 3 grams of fiber. We all like cookies, but a good rule is to make your own. They'll have less chemicals you can't pronounce the name of, and you'll eat less because it takes work to make them. Best to you.
Just catching up on your awesome blog. My issue with TJs is that most of their produce is conventionally grown, not organic. With pesticides being linked to all sorts of ills (cancer, ADD, infertility) we buy strictly organic, which makes TJs less compelling. I'd love someone to make easy to use veggie blends with organic vegetables!
How fun to realize there's another Holly chiming in from Seattle!
I second PCC! I've worked at PCC and the Community Food Co-op in Bellinham, Wa. I find co-ops stock brands that are more often organic, local and minimally processed. They have a lot less items that I need to put under the microscope which streamlines the shopping experience and gives the store some accountability.
Co-ops are locally owned and governed by a board of directors that members can vote on. I know that I can feel good about shopping at and supporting such a healthy community hub.