Journal perfessor multigeek's Journal: As Rustin gets to see memfree's side of things 8
Today I went shopping for an eighty-four year old. Not me; though after this afternoon I feel at least forty-five. And I got an up close and personal view of the stuff that memfree has been disputing with me this past few JEs.
Now, I must say, I have also hit several health food supermarkets (most notably our local chain, Healthy Pleasures) this past few days and they certainly have plenty of good stuff (watermelon fruit water; yum!). But, then I went in search of healthy food to somebody else's spec. in conventional high-end supermarkets.
One of my favorite movie scenes ever has a pair of guys go into a market while one of them reminds the other that they are being pursued by the police and need to stay unobtrusive. Well, being the kind of maniacs they are, they turn a few entirely managable confrontations into a deafening, clip-emptying, machinery-blasting shootout in which they kill the staff, the customers, *and* the local sheriff. As they walk away, having utterly destroyed the place and reduced the area to a corpse-covered nightmare, the building explodes behind them while one asks the other, shouting over the sounds of the explosions and ducking from the flying debris[*],
"L O W _ P R O F I L E !!"
"Do you understand the meaning of the words, 'low profile'?!"
Well, perhaps this was *slightly* less extreme, but I ask the makers of America's grocery products,
Low sodium.
Do you understand the meaning of the words, low sodium?!
Now if I were merely talking about such long-time artery-stiffeners as Campbell's and Kellogg's[**], well, anybody who believes what *they* say just about deserves what they get. But Amy's? They present themselves as the next best thing to a month at Canyon Ranch.
I haven't had to shop for people with serious health requirements since I stopped shopping for my diabetic stepfather way back in '83. So I'm a bit out of things. After all, I mix my sometimes healthy diet with regular doses of cheeseburgers and General Tso's chicken and still keep a sub-120/80 pressure. So I've gotten lazy (and fifty pounds overweight). And, again, for those of us with easy access to farmer's markets and (as memfree pointed out) "ethnic" neighborhoods (I buy most of my veggies in our local Chinatown), the options are spectacular.
But yes, I must concede to a greater degree then I have in the past few days, modern supermarkets are something of a shell game. A bait and switch carried out with multi-million dollar ad campaigns, misleading branding, shelving fees, and media reenforcement.
Of course, for me, this all has an odd lack of easy enemies. After all, the people making this stuff up are thousands of creatives and production folk who, up close (Ogilvy&Mather or Kirchenbum, Bond notwithstanding) are pretty decent people. Smart, friendly, fun, well informed. Our classic cliche of the serial killer who always loaned a cup of flour to the neighbor who needed it and was good to his dog and kids.
Though, then again, I find it hard to have any feeling of fellowship for agribusiness people, let alone the Beef Council. But, then again, I've never met any of them (except, perhaps, for an uncle of mine and he's even more of a maniac then I am).
So, let us consider it accepted that our mainstream retailers have some *serious* quality problems. So be it. Now what? Personally I've long been in the habit of finding good, undersold products and getting the word out (I'm currently in the middle of getting the Healthy Pleasures folks in touch with the Dilberito people). But then, I'm an utterly shameless busybody and persistant to boot.
Nonetheless, I've got a question for all of you out there who are annoyed at the current state of things. Okay; if you're on /. you're probably some kind of problem solver. If you want to bitch to me, first tell me what *you* have done to make things better.
Happy days,
Rustin
[*] if you know what movie I'm talking about (we'll keep that on the QT, taking the RR to DtoD) you know that I have somewhat changed the scene. Well, If you know how to convey that sort of mind-warping insanity in a few sentences, then bully for you. I'll get by as best I can with a few retouches for effect.
[**]Kinda sad when one considers that Kellogg's started out as a health food-based spa.
Now, I must say, I have also hit several health food supermarkets (most notably our local chain, Healthy Pleasures) this past few days and they certainly have plenty of good stuff (watermelon fruit water; yum!). But, then I went in search of healthy food to somebody else's spec. in conventional high-end supermarkets.
One of my favorite movie scenes ever has a pair of guys go into a market while one of them reminds the other that they are being pursued by the police and need to stay unobtrusive. Well, being the kind of maniacs they are, they turn a few entirely managable confrontations into a deafening, clip-emptying, machinery-blasting shootout in which they kill the staff, the customers, *and* the local sheriff. As they walk away, having utterly destroyed the place and reduced the area to a corpse-covered nightmare, the building explodes behind them while one asks the other, shouting over the sounds of the explosions and ducking from the flying debris[*],
"L O W _ P R O F I L E !!"
"Do you understand the meaning of the words, 'low profile'?!"
Well, perhaps this was *slightly* less extreme, but I ask the makers of America's grocery products,
Low sodium.
Do you understand the meaning of the words, low sodium?!
Now if I were merely talking about such long-time artery-stiffeners as Campbell's and Kellogg's[**], well, anybody who believes what *they* say just about deserves what they get. But Amy's? They present themselves as the next best thing to a month at Canyon Ranch.
I haven't had to shop for people with serious health requirements since I stopped shopping for my diabetic stepfather way back in '83. So I'm a bit out of things. After all, I mix my sometimes healthy diet with regular doses of cheeseburgers and General Tso's chicken and still keep a sub-120/80 pressure. So I've gotten lazy (and fifty pounds overweight). And, again, for those of us with easy access to farmer's markets and (as memfree pointed out) "ethnic" neighborhoods (I buy most of my veggies in our local Chinatown), the options are spectacular.
But yes, I must concede to a greater degree then I have in the past few days, modern supermarkets are something of a shell game. A bait and switch carried out with multi-million dollar ad campaigns, misleading branding, shelving fees, and media reenforcement.
Of course, for me, this all has an odd lack of easy enemies. After all, the people making this stuff up are thousands of creatives and production folk who, up close (Ogilvy&Mather or Kirchenbum, Bond notwithstanding) are pretty decent people. Smart, friendly, fun, well informed. Our classic cliche of the serial killer who always loaned a cup of flour to the neighbor who needed it and was good to his dog and kids.
Though, then again, I find it hard to have any feeling of fellowship for agribusiness people, let alone the Beef Council. But, then again, I've never met any of them (except, perhaps, for an uncle of mine and he's even more of a maniac then I am).
So, let us consider it accepted that our mainstream retailers have some *serious* quality problems. So be it. Now what? Personally I've long been in the habit of finding good, undersold products and getting the word out (I'm currently in the middle of getting the Healthy Pleasures folks in touch with the Dilberito people). But then, I'm an utterly shameless busybody and persistant to boot.
Nonetheless, I've got a question for all of you out there who are annoyed at the current state of things. Okay; if you're on
Happy days,
Rustin
[*] if you know what movie I'm talking about (we'll keep that on the QT, taking the RR to DtoD) you know that I have somewhat changed the scene. Well, If you know how to convey that sort of mind-warping insanity in a few sentences, then bully for you. I'll get by as best I can with a few retouches for effect.
[**]Kinda sad when one considers that Kellogg's started out as a health food-based spa.
My problem (Score:1)
Ok for instance, I want some cottage cheese.
I do not want low fat cottage cheese.
I want something that is heaping in fat.
Or milk.
Even whole milk is. . . . err.
Why can't I buy 10% milk from the grocery shelves? DOH!
Or ice cream. Ickies. No cream. . . . . bleh. Unless I buy that no preservatives crud, one issue, I like preservatives in my food. So much so that I do my best to avoid buying any food that specifically states it is preservative free.
And "low fat" cheese is a travesty. If I gave a royal flying f*ck about my arteries do you think I would be walking around with a loaf of Swiss cheese in my pocket, occasionally taking it out to munch off a nub from it? Ok so I only have done that once, but I do plan on doing it again some day. It is fun.
I am at the ONE TIME in my life where I can eat all sorts of icky nasty shit and GET AWAY WITH IT (more or less), and damnit, NOBODY IS WILLING TO SELL.
The Pike Place Market has a "Dairy Shop" in it, supposedly sells all sorts of fancy dairy goods.
My ass. More freakin SOY products in a DAIRY store. . . . . grrrr, if I wanted soy why the hell would I wander into a dairy store???
Re:My problem (Score:2, Interesting)
That having been said, yes, I would say that memfree's point applies here as well. About ten years ago I spent a few weeks in Central America where I picked up the habit of eating steak for breakfast and I can tell you that the steak I had there for *maybe* 4 dollars a meal, let alone what I had at a mountaintop barbeque place wasn't even in the same category as the stuff we call good steak. In fact, I've not only had conventional "good steak", I've had Peter Luger's which people proclaim as spectacular and yes, was certainly most tasty, but still didn't compare with the stuff I got *anywhere* in Latin America.
As it happens, both side come down to the same issue. If you talk to the health-oriented types, they'll tell you that the best bet is to have animals that are hormone free, allowed to wander and eat what they want, not fed colorants and other such goop, etc.
If you want meat or dairy that tastes best, you should want *the same set of conditions*.
Why, may I ask, do you like preservatives? I can tell you that the best food of the Lay-on-more-grease school is almost all (Snowballs and Mallomars notwithstanding) going to be preservative-free. Ben&Jerrys? No chems. Fresh mozzerella? Chem-free fer sure. Fresh sausage or pate? Nothing in that you can't pronouce. Et oh-yeah cetera. I think that you may have to choose. If you want superfine chocolate or fresh heavy cream or any of the things I mentioned above, then you'll just have to make your peace with the fact that most of us who get involved in creating/distributing/marketing the stuff don't want anything in it that is an added phenylpolymultibimonoanything.
My first suggestion for ways to bypass the "health" brigades is to learn to make your own barbeque. Not Kraft-covered burned meat; real barbeque. That means soaking it for *days* in molasses and vinegar and spices (I used to get great results with truly terrible Kosher wine) and pepper (you *do* grind your own, right?) and Tabasco and then cook it *slow* over low heat for *hours*, ideally over slow-burning wood. Mmmmm, tasty! And if you want, you can bloody well drape bits of chicken fat over each piece and let the juices soak in.
As for cheeses, well, move to Wisconsin or deal! Do you need the names of Wisconsin places that ship their famed local specialties like fried, sugared cheese bread? You'll just have to wait until January when I update (if I stay on schedule) that part of the shopping links on my site. In the other direction, try the Southeast. I personally am appalled at companies in places like Alabama who will lovingingly make something like pecan pie (have you *had* pecan pie yet? you MUST) but put(ew!) stuff in it. Maybe you just need to move to a place where the pickups still mostly have Confederate battle flags on them. (though I don't think that Rosia would be too thrilled with that.)
Better luck in the future and may we all have better choices,
Rustin
Re:My problem (Score:1)
If steak isn't home made, it isn't steak. It is meat pretending to be steak.
Proper hormon treatment in cattle
Ditto goes for the majority of people against geneticaly engineered food. While I may strongly disagree with how a number of genetic food companies are treating farmers in relation to intellecual property issues, on the whole I believe that if the subject is treated properly, geneticaly engineered food is a good thing. Mainly because I looove my fruit and almost anything that makes the price of fruit go down is a good thing.
Ben and Jerrys rocks, Dryers sucks.
Sugar is by definition a preservative.
whole milk = 4% (Score:1)
If it makes you feel better, I, too, want whole dairy products. For Ice Cream and most other food, I'd rather _not_ have preservatives. Too many things (like puddings, cake mixes, and instant rice/noodle side-dishes) taste like plastic to me.
Dennis Leary (Score:3, Informative)
Can't remember if I've mentioned before, so I'll do it again: parents bought house in 1979. A place with an oil furnace. In 1979. And my father still had alimony, child support, etc, etc, etc. They bought meat and dairy at the store. All the veggies were grown and picked by me and my family (nuclear, not extended).
In high school, prior to being able to drive to a job, I wanted money. We planted an orchard.
I know what good food tastes like. I know how to pick it, find it, etc. I have yet to see any market capable of being in the ballpark of the produce I had as a kid and young adult. I don't even try any more, it's such a futile gesture.
I'm also wholly unimpressed with the quality of goods at several 'farmer's' markets. There are a few problems with them. Let me spell them out (and I've spent more than my fair share of time at them, both as a seller and a buyer).
First, not all of these people are farmers. Many folks go to the nearest market (in our case, washington DC) and buy the same crap that grocery stores sell. They set up a stand and sell to unwitting folks who just assume the gap-toothed redneck picked those tomatoes last night or this morning.
Second, quality seeds and plants are hard to find. It is much cheaper to buy the same seeds and plants that the big agribusiness companies buy. These plants and seeds are not grown for taste, they are grown to withstand the rigors of modern processing.
The most disappointing factor is the customer. Customers have become 100% used to the stuff at Food Lion. They expect produce that is 100% bruise free. As just one example, this is not possible with a fresh, good peach. A good peach is soft. It is not hard like an apple. Stacked more than 2-3 deep, they will bruise each other just from the weight. You can pick a little early, but then you run the risk of a nice, crisp peach. People also freak out about bugs. Guess what? I'd rather flick an ant off of a tomato than have to use that special soap crap to scrub off the chemicals. In order to sell, you have to bring in stuff that you wouldn't eat yourself. I didn't last long in the business after I figured this out. My brother stuck with it a little longer. I just couldn't bring myself to sell garbage.
I was spoiled for a number of years by my uncle. His daughters were in 4-H. They preferred livestock to vegetables for competition. By this time, my parents had the money to buy a side of beef, two lambs, and a pig every year. Fresh meat means you gave it a pat on the head about three days before you threw his ass on the grill. Forget that aging crap. It doesn't get any better than this.
Can't speak to fresh dairy products. That was another uncle's forte, but my parents never were big dairy fans. I will say that low fat [dairy product] is referenced in the bible as 'an abomination before the Lord'. Well, it should be.
Whole foods/fresh fields (Score:2)
But they're in the DC area and yr in the DC area so I gotta ask how you rate their stuff.
Now- the extent of my farmers market experience was buying pineapples from road-side stands in hawaii (ahhhhh, sugarloaf!), so I don't have much to back up with.
However I thought that whole foods had some of the best produce around... tastes great looks great.
First I learn that Stoli is considered crappy vodka, next I find that my fruits and vege's are sub standard. Today is not my day.
Re:Whole foods/fresh fields (Score:2)
Anyway, I've never been to Fresh Fields.
Re:Whole foods/fresh fields (Score:2)
I think (I have no research so take with grain of salt) that enough of MD was already built up but NoVa was still mostly untapped- as such much of the housing (mid to high end) in NoVa is recent developements. They even have some new ones out in Va winecountry! (by Peidmont vineyards) An hour from DC/MD, but still 300-400k.
Although MD does have a decent Freshfields presence with the one on Rockville Pike in rockville and the one in Kentlands (a paltry 15 minutes from me, plus my sister does marketing for the kentlands store)
I'm with you on the high-end auto audio dealers- There was *ONE* in rockville, and they botched my alarm install on one car. Thankfully some kensington store offered "Drive to you and install at your place of business" install/delivery.
Well fresh fields has a good twist on the whole organic thing- they try to appeal to higher end customers, so they shed the "dirty hippie" image of organic food (I guess that means they cater to "trust-afarians"?) and some of their stuff isn't too outrageously priced!
Hopefully the housing market should bust down in a few years. Hopefully!