NPR story - Grocery Stores: 'The Best Of America And The Worst Of America'
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RalfLott
Posts: 5,036 Member
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/15/528461703/grocery-stores-the-best-of-america-and-the-worst-of-america
"I think the grocery store is sort of a nostalgic place. We want to think the people who care about our food care about us. It goes back to that corner grocery store. But I don't think they do anymore."
"I think the grocery store is sort of a nostalgic place. We want to think the people who care about our food care about us. It goes back to that corner grocery store. But I don't think they do anymore."
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The author, is by one of my favorite food writers, Michael Ruhlman. He has written books on eggs, chicken schumltz, cooking ratios, and lots of other interesting stuff.
I love his blog, even though he isn't as active as he used to be. I think his book sales have gone up considerably, and he got divorced, will be remarrying soon, all of which can disrupt one's regular schedule.
http://ruhlman.com
Is his website if anyone wants to check him out.1 -
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/15/528461703/grocery-stores-the-best-of-america-and-the-worst-of-america
"I think the grocery store is sort of a nostalgic place. We want to think the people who care about our food care about us. It goes back to that corner grocery store. But I don't think they do anymore."
For some reason I can't open the article... but going by the micro-snippet you've quoted....
My company's Food store has been named 'Best Supermarket 2017' (and it's only May!
) but my company prides itself on always striving to put the customer first. Without exception.
We have opened drop-in centres (open 'after hours') for those who feel the stresses and strains of life are bringing them down further than they can deal with; they can come in, have a coffee, share experiences and talk to trained staff who will provide 'tea and sympathy' but with care and consideration.... there's a young guy who works in one of our Northern stores, who was mentioned on FaceBook for taking a customer's squalling child, and holding him in rapt interest and curiosity, while he passed the mother's food over the scanner.... the kid was mesmerised... a lady from our own store personally delivered a birthday party food order because the husband wasn't able to collect due to a broken foot.... we have an entire internal staff magazine nominating members of staff across the country for going that 'extra mile'... I am very proud to work for them.
Sure, it's not always plain sailing, and sometimes, staff members have a gripe or a moan about some aspect of Policy...Nothing is ever perfect. But we DO try.
Why?
Because without our customers, the food might be of dazzling excellence, but if clients aren't happy, they won't buy. And it's not an ulterior motive, either.
We like to see people happy, because there really is nothing more satisfying than a shop full of happy people.2 -
retirehappy wrote: »The author, is by one of my favorite food writers, Michael Ruhlman. He has written books on eggs, chicken schumltz, cooking ratios, and lots of other interesting stuff.
I love his blog, even though he isn't as active as he used to be. I think his book sales have gone up considerably, and he got divorced, will be remarrying soon, all of which can disrupt one's regular schedule.
http://ruhlman.com
Is his website if anyone wants to check him out.
I love Ruhlman as well and can't wait to read this new book!
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Definitely The Making of a Chef: Mastering the Heat at the Culinary Institute of America. A very small (and much younger) part of me would have loved to attend this school so reading about others experiences there is my version of porn!
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For what it's worth, here are my memories of the grocery store in Alabama where my grandparents took me when we visited. Even in the mid-1950's it was something of a museum piece and I was fascinated. It was about one-20th the size of a supermarket today and was arranged with all the items for sale on shelves along the walls, separated from the customers by counters. You indicated what you wanted and the grocer took it off the shelf and added it to your purchases. It was slow going but then there were seldom more than one or two customers at a time. There was very limited selection; what Mr. Grocer had in stock was what you bought.
On the other hand, my grandmother (who never drove a car in her life) had all sorts of vendors who came to her back door. The Watkins man brought spices, coffee, tea and cleaning products. The milkman brought dairy. The butter and egg man brought butter and eggs. In warm months, the produce truck delivered fresh fruits and veggies from local farmers. There was an incredibly ancient old lady who sold blackberries by the sugar scoop from a wheelbarrow.
And here's a really historic note: When Nanny went into downtown Birmingham to shop, she would have been amazed and offended if she had been required to carry her purchases home. The nicer department stores ALWAYS delivered, frequently that same day. We won't even go into the celestial joys of lunch in Loveman's tea room.4 -
@mandycat223, so what did your grandfolks' typical grocery store haul consist of?0
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mandycat223 wrote: »For what it's worth, here are my memories of the grocery store in Alabama where my grandparents took me when we visited. Even in the mid-1950's it was something of a museum piece and I was fascinated. It was about one-20th the size of a supermarket today and was arranged with all the items for sale on shelves along the walls, separated from the customers by counters. You indicated what you wanted and the grocer took it off the shelf and added it to your purchases. It was slow going but then there were seldom more than one or two customers at a time. There was very limited selection; what Mr. Grocer had in stock was what you bought.
On the other hand, my grandmother (who never drove a car in her life) had all sorts of vendors who came to her back door. The Watkins man brought spices, coffee, tea and cleaning products. The milkman brought dairy. The butter and egg man brought butter and eggs. In warm months, the produce truck delivered fresh fruits and veggies from local farmers. There was an incredibly ancient old lady who sold blackberries by the sugar scoop from a wheelbarrow.
And here's a really historic note: When Nanny went into downtown Birmingham to shop, she would have been amazed and offended if she had been required to carry her purchases home. The nicer department stores ALWAYS delivered, frequently that same day. We won't even go into the celestial joys of lunch in Loveman's tea room.
When I was growing up in the 50s, in a small farming community, the grocery was very much like that with a cold cooler that had cuts of meat, cheeses, and eggs in it. There were several vendors who delivered milk/bread/pastries to your home. So I am very familiar with your granny's experience. My great aunt provided us with fresh chicken, pork, duck, hams, bacon, veggies from the garden (we picked them and canned them for winter) and several different kinds of fruits, she had a 5 acre subsistence garden, along with fruit trees in her back yard area. I loved the figs that got the rain water from the down spout of the house. She also hunted squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, caught catfish and feed them cornmeal in a rain barrel before eating them. I had to help with all of that, from shelling peas to skinning her game meats. You have a deeper appreciation of chicken when you had to kill it and clean it up.1 -
Ratio - great for both experienced and newbie cooks.
Charcuterie - how to make own
The Book of Schmaltz - what to do with all that lovely chicken fat
Egg - what to do with them
Twenty - 20 cooking techniques is James Beard Foundation 2012 Book Awards winner, General Cooking category and International Association of Culinary Professionals' 2012
Cookbook Awards winner, Food and Beverage Reference/Technical category
The Element of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen, for newbies and anyone that wants a good reference to cooking terms and techniques.
While there are recipes in most of these, there is a lot of techniques in all of them. I own a signed copy of Ratio. I have read most of Twenty, plan to buy a copy soon as it is a go to kind of book. I don't plan on doing any more DYI charcuterie, had my fill of that as a child, but I do have a couple of the recipes from the blog that came from there. I do plan on buying Egg and Book of Schmaltz for my birthday present this year
While he's not a promoter of any diet, he does think the fear of fat is just silliness. He believes people should cook for those they love. The blog is one of more interesting ones out there IMHO.1 -
What's interesting to me is that regardless of "reality", MY grocery store is tiny. Mainly because I only shop the outside perimeter. I very rarely go down an interior aisle for anything. Which keeps me away from temptation and also saves a lot of time.
My store's outer perimeter goes from cheeses, to deli meats and more cheeses, to veggies, to raw meat, to smoked meats, to eggs, butter, cream, and more cheeses. Perfect.4 -
JessicaLCHF wrote: »What's interesting to me is that regardless of "reality", MY grocery store is tiny. Mainly because I only shop the outside perimeter. I very rarely go down an interior aisle for anything. Which keeps me away from temptation and also saves a lot of time.
My store's outer perimeter goes from cheeses, to deli meats and more cheeses, to veggies, to raw meat, to smoked meats, to eggs, butter, cream, and more cheeses. Perfect.
I'm with you here. The few things I used to get in the main aisles like oils, I now get online because I can get better quality. I have gotten my wife and daughter to eat more foods from the perimeter, but I do still have to get some stuff from the interior. One step at a time.2 -
Yep. Maybe frozen foods, nuts and seltzer water. I agree with online. I've been buying more and more things online cause it's just cheaper. Esp w Amazon Prime.0
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JessicaLCHF wrote: »What's interesting to me is that regardless of "reality", MY grocery store is tiny.
Mine always has been. In part because by comparison with many, it is small (I live in a city, and I think our stores are smaller than suburban ones). Partly because I've always been a super efficient shopper and go into a store with an idea of what I want, buy it, get out. I couldn't tell you where the cereal is, I'd have to go down the aisles and look, because I just don't wander through stores (which also makes me not really think the store affects what I buy, at all).
Another thing I do, in part due to being in a city, is buy a lot of my stuff elsewhere anyway. In season I get a farm box for vegetables and supplement with the farmer's market -- I only buy vegetables at the grocery store out of season. I also get meat from a farm, so only buy things like occasional smoked salmon at the grocery store. I also have a good meat market that I do supplemental meat purchases from and a fish market I sometimes use (although I sometimes buy fish at WF or frozen fish at TJ), and a spice shop I got to rarely but enjoy. For years my usual trip to the supermarket is a quick pop in on the way home to grab some nuts, yogurt (I also get this from the farmer's market), European cheeses (I have a good cheese place and the farmer's market, but sometimes buy it at WF), supplemental veg, picked veg, canned beans/dried pasta/canned tomatoes for a spur of the moment thing, or frozen berries, bagged greens, or ice cream. Also my grocery store is a pharmacy, so I'll get paper products, garbage bags, or the like.
Over the weekend I went to a place that was just olive oil as well as some other oils and vinegar (I've gotten it online before, but do prefer to shop locally if it is not too inconvenient).0 -
I love grocery stores. When I travel I always check out the grocery stores nearby and my husband thinks I'm crazy. I'm in a rural area and our stores used to be really sparse on specialty items so I had things I liked that I could only get out of town. Mostly gluten free prepared items. Now the situation has improved and I can get most things I want locally though ironically due to LCHF I don't need it now.2
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That's funny. I don't care about grocery stores now, but remember when I was in school and in an area without access to a grocery store how exciting it would be to go to one on rare occasion.0
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bump for interest sake0
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