I guess those were the days when we did not add preservatives to our groceries, the store bought gro...
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I guess those were the days when we did not add preservatives to our groceries, the store bought groceries were far and few . The modern day human consumption of processed food has reached the extent of a disease, it wasn't like the 60's when the products were made by few family owned trusted companies , now every jack wants to own a business and makes at least a jar of pea nut butter...there are thousands of factory made ,ready made food products , countless brands and multitude of varieties.
My prelude to this lament was triggered off by a visit to Trader's Joe, a quaint supermarket in town which distributed dutch-style news magazine for consumers.
I am always grocery shopping and when I do I have seen hundred others who do the same, but it is also interesting what each of their carts contain, some of them load their carts with meat , goat, lamb, beef and less and less of greens and grains, their carts also relate to the way they look and feel about food, it is food psychology that translate in to your happiness, your job and your own self. There are some who buy large quantity of flour, wheat, bleached, non bleached, self rising, whole wheat and corn meal, they are all about starch , it reflects some sort of happiness that keeps them content ...
Now where do I stand, I am one of those who read every word on the ingredients list on the label.
I would like less and less preservatives and more fiber and vitamins. I survey and browse the food sections for new arrivals, sometimes the food industry throws surprises at you by adding the health conscious ingredients in lay man's consumption. I have seen that the Key food and Trade fair have been constantly selling poor quality ,sugary groceries to the third world immigrants , they always have huge sales for these production which I am sure is pushing the immigrant generation in to the brink of a health crisis. Most of the immigrants here would like to shop and save, they always fall for the bait and buy goods that are processed and has 101 ingredients that are not healthy, most of them are not educated enough to read or be aware of the health issues. I have seen women buying donuts for snacks and they bought it just because it costs them less.
I do not know why the government do not care either, the whole generation of kids and adults are becoming obese and diabetic but there are no guidelines for releasing new products in the market.
When I visit the Pediatric wards, I have seen so many young children who are diabetic that it makes my stomach churn!
Having said that I thought of visiting Trader's Joe, the shop had this early Renaissance look, the products were advertised for low sodium, sugar free ingredients, they were surprisingly priced right, milk costs only $1.99 against $3.99 per gallon, I was amused...most of all there were few products and they all looked fresh and appealing.
frozen section had plenty of veggies, fish section had farm raised and wild salmon. The lamb section had meaty
leg portion marinated in beautiful sauces. The fresh fruits looked great on the aisle and Greek yogurt with honey was kicking good!
The breads had wonderful varieties and were fresh out of the oven..all in all it was like entering a time machine and finding yourself in a grocery store from the past!. Trader's Joe boasts of hanging the middle man by the hook and dealing directly with the consumers..so far they have made it simple, their ingredients do not have too many preservatives and look good and tastes wonderful. I loved shopping there and bought a bunch of daffodils like Wordsworth.
The experience was out of the world, if only they could replace half the junk yards that are out there and give us quality goods for less price there would be nothing like that!.
* p.s-this ain't an ad for Trader's Joe.
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Menace babe
Tagged you...won't you come out and play with me? :))
Would love to read your list :)
Meera
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thank gawd at the least u look nourished!
thanks suppu am here wonly..
yup kalyanee whateverr u say.
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hi denice, i too am like you that i don't like buying junk food. unfortunately for my family, i don't like cooking too.
no wonder all of my family members (except me) look undernourished.
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ya its a nice store.....
kinda for the yuppie folks,
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I aint eva been to Trader's Joe.. but sure sounds good ! ;)
how ya been menace?
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I moved in 2005 - 99 cents store is just a freakin gimmick...I went there once with a friend who wanted to shop ...whaaaaa is that? Talk about mindsets...they see 99 cents and they walk in...I found it is actually cheaper elsewhere :))) As long as they are people to buy shit..they sell it
Well... I used to shop in Whole Foods... nearer to the place I lived in. They had good breads and excellent strawberries :)))) Yet to taste sweet/yumms one that lhose... not even TJ had those that good.
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aw thanks Meera,
thanks for sharing my choice,,..trader's joe it iz.. when did u move back/ but u know we also have 99cents store where we still find third world groceries for throw away prizez one never knows what's in there it seems teh govt is totally blissful about what teh poor immigrants consume..bah!
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Denice
This is refreshing to read about Trader's Joe... I love their lil newsletter... the sketches and the write up on everything...monthly special and all. They do carry wonderful snack items...and chocolates even for the health concious ;))
I've gotten so used to scanning labels I missed them terribly when I moved to India...I mean who doesn't want to know whats in there! But then my system became an x-ray machine and now I dwell in junk, knowing it is! probably will do good for immunizing myself against the mass junk that is out there :)
I'm with fresh fruits/vegetables - not that I am health freak...a freak nevertheless ;)
now, I have become an official fan of your Friday column ;))
Meera
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