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?