Grocery shopping can be just a royal pain in the ass when you're a busy vegan. Up until very recently, in order to get all the groceries I needed for a week or two, I had to go to at least two places--the oh-so-boring grocery store, and the kind of weird, vitamin smelling natural foods store.
With the increased awareness of the health benefits of soy products though, the main grocery chains are starting to offer veg*n friendly items that make one-stop-shopping closer to a reality. Then there is Whole Foods, a veg*n actually could get everything for the week there, but for me, the nearest Whole Foods is a 45 minute drive away. What do to? I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare the two.
With the increased awareness of the health benefits of soy products though, the main grocery chains are starting to offer veg*n friendly items that make one-stop-shopping closer to a reality. Then there is Whole Foods, a veg*n actually could get everything for the week there, but for me, the nearest Whole Foods is a 45 minute drive away. What do to? I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare the two.
Shaws
Overall, Shaws has a pretty well stocked natural foods, veg*n friendly section called Wild Harvest. A good selection of grains, frozen foods, pre-packaged foods (my favorite is macaroni and Chreeze), and soy milks and soy based products. It saves me a long trip to Whole Foods.
The problem with my local Shaws is that the produce sucks. I went in the other day to get some tomatoes for this yummy variation I have on Chana Masala, an Indian dish. There were no loose roma tomatoes that weren't shriveled up, so I looked at the packaged ones. I found a package that looked promising, and turned it over--low and behold, there was MOLD living happily in the crevices of the tomatoes. Yuck.
I read somewhere recently that people in general don't have the time to investigate the true quality of things like grocery stores, or doctors for that matter, so they use proxies to measure quality. For a grocery store, that proxy would be the quality of the produce--sucky produce, crappy grocery store. Such was the case with this Shaws, which, by the way, was a brand new location!! Needless to say, I find this grocery store is good only for the non-perishable goods. Good thing I live relatively near a specialty grocer that deals pretty much only in fresh produce.
Whole Foods
Generally, Whole Foods is just a fun place to shop, if only for the sheer variety of veg*n products offered. The produce is almost always super fresh, and just down right pretty. I don't think I've seen a rampant case of mold yet at the few Whole Foods that I've visited. Whole Foods also has a fun bakery, with some downright yummy vegan cookies.
There are a few downsides to WF though...Sometimes it's a bit hard to find the really basic products, say, like Rice Krispies. The ready-made food section has recently been slim pickings on the veg*n options..At least that's what I've found in one particular location. I wonder if market research showed that most pret-a-manger people were just not buying the vegan stuff...I'd be interested to find out.
My grocery shopping expeditions can be summarized by:
Shaws, or other main-stream grocery store (Hannaford, Stop n Shop):
Ok for basic staples, like tomato sauces, chickpeas, aluminum foil, peanutbutter--you get the picture. Shaws has a pretty good Wild Harvest section, which is good for basic non-perishable vegan foods.
Whole Foods:
Great when I can actually make a trip there. Good produce, good selection of odd ingredients that I generally need for my cooking experiments. The cookies are fun. It's a downright mediocre place to stop by for a quick lunch or dinner though for the ready made foods--there used to be a great selection of ready to eat vegan eats, but not so much anymore.
Other Vegetable Place:
When I can't get to Whole Foods, and there is mold on the produce at Shaws, and I have time, I'll stop by one of several little places relatively nearby that sell mostly produce--fresh produce that is.
One advantage, and disadvantage of being a vegan--by necessity, we become the nomads of the grocery world.
A comment on my last post asked for more information about veganism. Below is a short list of online and offline resources:
A site run by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), has some good recipes and facts about being veg*n.
PETA's official site. Like it or not, they are a powerful force in the animal rights/veg*n movement.
A cool blog/web site that has some interesting perspectives on being vegan.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine official website. Has some great information about the health benefits of a vegan diet.
Diet for a New America by John Robbins. I think every vegan I've ever met was heavily influenced by this book. A very logical and well written book about why being vegan is a good thing--all from the son of the Baskin' Robbins empire.
Vegan Planet my favorite vegan cook book.
VegNews magazine. A great magazine that is published quarterly. Go to www.vegnews.com for more info.
1 comment:
It is amazing how much Shaws & other grocery stores (for the better) in the past 10-15 years.
I am in the same boat as you. But, fortunately, Shaws is in the same parkinglot as the health food store. When shaws went in, it caused the health market to lower thier prices to compete. Seemed to work, because this place is always busy.
Whenever possible, I prefer to give my money to a health food store, as opposed to a large grocery chain.
But i gess that raises the question of where or not, I am actually discouraging shaws from having a health food section? Doubtful, but still a valid question.
Regardless, there are somethings that I buy at Shaws, simply because I cant justify the added cost of buying at a health food store. While most of the items are now competative in prices, juice is one item that has never seemed to change! It is usually much cheaper at Shaws.
Good Luck
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