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Health & Fitness

Hunting for Food in the Vast Markets of NoVA

How many of us hunt for food here in the NoVA area?  We have plenty of options, don't we?  But my point is: why do we have to 'hunt' for food?  Personally, I think grocery shopping is a GIANT (pun intended) waste of time - especially when I have to plan visits to several stores just to get what I want.

There are five national chain grocery stores within a five mile radius of Vienna alone:  Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's.  Then there are the specialty stores like HMart, Great Wall, Fresh Market, Maple Avenue Market, and MOM’s Organic Market (Mosaic District), to name the bigger ones.

I know it’s a first world problem, but it amazes me how many different stores I have to go to when I want to make a particular few meals each week.  And I wonder if people who live in smaller areas either do without or get everything they need in one (or maybe two) different stores.  Do we create our own issues by living in a large (population-speaking) and diverse community, or are we living under a form of corporate tyranny to keep us coming back for specific items?

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In a given week I typically try to prepare two or three dinners each with sufficient leftovers to have for either one or two other dinners or lunches.  I have a list of favorite meals, but I also try to mix it up with some new and interesting recipes that appeal to me as the cook and my family as consumers.  I tend to be optimistic, seeing that I live in one of the most diverse communities in America, that I will be able to find what I am looking for in at least one of the three stores I regularly shop in.  But time after time I am amazed – and disappointed – that I cannot find a cut of meat, a type of grain or bean, an ingredient for a side dish without trekking to three or more stores.

Here are a couple of examples:

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A couple of weeks ago I offered to make pizzas for a group of people at a rural retreat.  I had my grocery list and planned to stop at two stores (Trader Joe’s and Giant) on the way out of town to get what I needed.  Trader Joe’s has, by far, the best pizza doughs around, and they were clearly on my grocery list.  And yet I neglected to pick them up with all of the other items I intended to get.  And I didn’t realize it until I was already well on my way out of town heading to a Giant for the five other things I needed to satisfy my list.  I hoped (and even prayed a little) that Giant would have a suitable replacement for the doughs and I would not have to head back to TJ’s.  One would think that a store the size and volume of Giant Foods would carry at least one type of suitable ready-made dough.  But they don’t.  They carry the Bobli pizza crusts, and seventeen different kinds of frozen pizza, but not one pre-packaged dough available in the whole stinkin’ store.   I could have continued searching for a suitable product at one of the additional super stores as I headed out of town (Wegmans’ to be specific), but after going to one ‘super’ store, I wasn’t convinced that my time would be well-spent or successful.  So I did the only irrational thing I could think of:  I went back to Trader Joe’s. 

I’m pretty sure I’ve surveyed other stores before for the availability of fresh pizza dough.  I’m certain that I have never even seen an option to Trader Joe’s dough, nor one that is as reliable in terms of quality or taste.  I’m also pretty sure that I am not the only Italian American in the Northern Virginia area interested – on occasion -  in making homemade pizza.  One side of my family lives in Rhode Island, an enclave for Italian Americans.  There are still a variety of bakeries and specialty grocery stores that provide a number of dough options within a fairly tight geographical area (such as the five mile radius of the five chains mentioned above).  So why do we, who live in an economically affluent and culturally diverse mecca, have only one option at one store?  I’m really asking the question.  I don’t have an answer.

Another one of my pet peeves about grocery shopping is the variability of quality in produce.  Take, for instance, celery and scallions.  In my house these two items are staples.  We go through at least one bunch of celery a week and as many as 10 scallions.  If I go to Giant Tuesday through Friday I can usually find both, but I will pay top dollar for each:  scallions cost as much as $1.29 per bunch; celery is over $2.00 for one stalk.  Any other day of the week it is a crap shoot as to whether either or both will be available.  Whole Foods is definitely more expensive for both items, but the quality is exceptional.  Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry scallions usually, but their celery is on-par with Giant prices, although it tends to be better quality.  But, if I take the time (and remember) to go to HMart on my way home from the gym (it’s on the way) I can get twice as much celery and three to four times as many scallions as I would at Giant.  And red peppers are a steal, and Kirby cucumbers are firm, fresh and a complete bargain.  Often I can pick up a pineapple, mangos, other assorted in season fruits, berries and bean sprouts (not available at the chains and of good quality) spending half as much as I can get out of Giant on any given day. 

Gone, but not Forgotten...

I was a frequent shopper at Magruders grocery store in Vienna before it closed late last year.  I ordered a Thanksgiving turkey every year.  Once every couple of month I would buy two or three of their in-store made meatloafs (with beef, pork and veal) to prepare a freeze so we could enjoy them at our leisure.  Their steaks were delicious, and the pork chops were always fresh and juicy.  I even bought whole fryer chickens, sausages and stew beef there regularly.  I also went for their deli meats (they still sold Dietz & Watson after Giant sold out to Boar’s Head), dairy products, pastas, soups, and all of their produce.  If they didn’t have something, I could easily find a department manager or the store manager to ask about getting it.  The guy that managed the produce section and I had a little ‘thing’ going on each time we would see each other after a week or so.  We would smile and exchange a pleasant “hello, how are you?” When the store closed, I was devastated.  Where would I go to get meatloaf now?  When I needed fresh broccoli or scallions on the way home from church on Sundays would I have to drag all the way up to Merrifield to get it? 

We haven’t had meatloaf, or pork chops, for a very long time.  I try not to get meat at Giant, and often they don’t even have the cut I am looking for.  I have only asked a Giant meat department person for help once in the past ten years: to get a turkey breast.  They had eight in the storage fridge but none in the cabinet out on the floor.  Imagine that.

So, tell me.  Am I alone in this 21st Century food foraging malaise?  Or do you have similar stories and feelings about grocery shopping in our little metropolis?  Bring on your comments.  I can’t wait to hear from my fellow hunters.

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