TracyFood

Four ways of looking at Trader Joe’s 5 February 2008 10:34 am

Posted by Tracy in : convenience, environment, fangirl, friends, politics, responsibility, sustainability , trackback

I’ve mentioned repeatedly that I’ve been a month or so behind on all kinds of stuff since my trip to Nepal, which is why it was January before I caught up to the fact that it was open season on Trader Joe’s in early December, and I’ve been concocting a reply ever since. Today I’ll finally be discussing the two blog posts that got my attention, and sharing a few other pieces from even more way back in the day, just to add to the fun.

First I saw Greenwashing on the High Seas at Culinate, in which Cindy Burke has some fighting words about TJ’s packaging and… the fact that she didn’t read the ingredients label on a package of hot cocoa mix? Okay, that last kinda bugged me (I’ll get back to the packaging later on). While I’m as skeptical as anyone about big food companies whipping out organic versions of highly processed (and highly profitable) products, I’m not particularly offended by it, because those companies are after all in the business of selling food for profit, and the more the better, and they’d be idiots not to jump on organics since it’s one of the fastest-growing segments of the food industry these days. Also, I’m willing to roll with organic packaged food since I don’t buy much of it, and I read the ingredients list on anything more processed than pasta. Which, by the way, describes just about everything I buy at Trader Joe’s — food in packages, therefore factory food, therefore worthy of a little careful thought, since there’s a good chance it’s crap. So I was surprised at the indignation expressed in this article, especially coming from the author of a book about making smart food purchases, both organic and not. Buying less-packaged (and thus hopefully less-processed) foods is smart food shopping step one for me, but being careful about (and hence attentive to) ingredients is a very close second indeed.

But back to packaging complaints. They were also in effect in Say It Ain’t So, Joe on Wasted Food, in particular about TJ’s produce departments, which I fully agree are sort of a heartbreaking place. All that plastic… yuck. And I’ve never worked in a produce department, unlike Wasted Food author Jonathan Bloom, who understandably has really strong opinions on the subject. But again, I don’t go to Trader Joe’s for the produce; I go for the cheap packaged food (and the cheese — oh, the cheese). Articles like these remind me that I sort of effortlessly fell into all kinds of black-belt politically correct food habits here in Eugene, where good hippie options are ubiquitous, which is to say that I’m incredibly spoiled, and wherever I go next is likely to come as a bit of a shock. Eek.

So now I feel the need to lighten the discussion a bit after those two downer stories. I’ll start by pointing you to Holy Grail at Kris Dresen’s extremely sporadic Maggie Bitter. I was of course in love from the very opening line, “Today I scored my Lesbian Holy Grail: I was flirted with at Trader Joe’s,” but I went on to giggle quietly to myself at many other little moments in the story, especially the observation, “I swear to God, I should get a tattoo on my forearm that says, ‘Why yes, I am wearing patchouli.’ ” Comedy gold!

Finally, the fabulous Chiara was way ahead of the ups and downs of this particular food retail experience years ago in Trader Joe’s, Pros and Cons. I think she says it best right here:

PRO: I feel like I fit the Trader Joe’s demographic very well…

CON: I feel kind of weird fitting into that Trader Joe’s demographic so easily. Shouldn’t I be subverting the dominant paradigm or something? But if I did that, where would I get my delicious San Pellegrino Aranciata soda for a reasonable price, huh? ANSWER ME.

You should really go read the whole thing, because it is awesome. Life is all about compromises, and if I’m some kind of sellout for wanting to choose the most awesome (or least awful) of many choices, then so be it, I guess. But I maintain that there’s nothing wrong with doing your best, even when you wish it were a little better. In fact, it might be even more important when your best isn’t as good as you want, because while it’s tempting to give up and decide the effort doesn’t matter anyway, it just plain sucks to regret not doing your awesomest. Huh. Now that I’ve waxed all unexpectedly philosophic, I might as well go crazy and implore you all: be excellent to each other, or at least don’t be jerks. Also, eat something you love today, and big bonus points if you share it with someone else.