All the James Bonds Combined

I kind of like shopping at the farmers market more. Where each booth is a specialty, they tend to be of the best quality. Supermarkets can survive having a sub-par meat department, or produce section, or bakery. But if you specialize in meat, or baked goods or produce, you can't afford to have poor quality.

I still do most shopping at grocery stores however. Call me a hypocrite.

I would never call you a hypocrite.

I used to bemoan the fact that there were once 30 or so neighborhood markets in my little town and they are all gone, thanks to four huge supermarkets. Once you could walk to the store, deal with people you knew, and even have groceries delivered.

But then I recall that they all smelled bad, the food expired, they were closed on nights, weekends, and often Wednesday as well, they wouldn't hire anyone they weren't related to, and they didn't care that their customers promised to buy a lot of x product if they would only stock it please. The quality of their food depended on kickbacks and soap-opera relationships with wholesalers and truck drivers. Some would let people charge groceries, then they would charge huge interest rates.

Things change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

I live in a rural town high up in the mountains and we only have a small grocery store. You really have to pay attention to expiration dates.

A favorite trick of a small grocery store is to put a sale tag over an expiration date. Boxed items like crackers and cookies are often way out of date (6 mos. or more sometimes) and people rarely check those like meat and bread.

I prefer to buy local to support my town even if it costs more. But I do not appreciate being sold expired and potentially dangerous food and I often drive 25 miles down the canyon to a supermarket where I know the food is fresh.

Some grocery stores will buy their produce from local farms. I've gone into Superfresh and seen signs advertising Jersey Fresh, and showing which farms the produce is from. I'll still buy some fruits and veggies from the farmer's market, but it's nice to know I'm supporting the locals regardless.

My grandfather worked at Safeway back when they sold pickles out of wooden barrels and hard boiled eggs from ceramic containers. Like you get meat, now, at the butcher's counter. Amazing stuff.

I love crunching through places like this in post apocalyptic games. It's cooler, somehow, than more modern places.

To quote Miss C: "But then I recall that they all smelled bad, the food expired, they were closed on nights, weekends, and often Wednesday as well, they wouldn't hire anyone they weren't related to, and they didn't care that their customers promised to buy a lot of x product if they would only stock it please."

Yep, there was a small neighborhood grocer who turned down the AC in his refrigerated meat case to save money. All the meats were green or gray. Eww.

The successful small grocers around my area tend to specialize, ala Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican, etc.

I could have sworn this was a Bathroom Reader's article, and I was right! I have about 10 of their books and I love them.

This article snubs A&P HARD. Did Uncle John have a bad experience at one or something?

From what I have read the abundance of synthetic fertilizers that came online in the late 40s allowed farmers to produce on a huge scale and supply supermakets across the country.