Supermarkets

Over Thanksgiving break, I worked at the local supermarket in my town. Previously I had worked at the front end of the supermarket but this time I was put to work the produce section. In this section I would constantly make sure that any produce that was running out would be restocked as soon as possible. I spent most of my day making lists of what needed to be brought out and then going to the freezer room in the back and finding the fruits and vegetables I needed.

After taking this course though, I found myself observing very carefully where all these different fruits and vegetables came from. Along with the fruits and veggies, we dealt with different types of nuts and some packaged seasonings. What surprised me the most of this high end supermarket in my town that the organic section was not so big. There were plenty of arugula, kale, carrots, broccoli and many more but I almost wish they had more choices. There were definitely lots of different salad mixes, most commonly known as the Olivia's but this one section of organics was much smaller than all the other produce they sold. The packaged seasonings also had an expiration date for sometime in 2016. This was shocking and it made me think that something that can last 2 years without going bad is definitely not healthy for anybody or anything.

Another detail I noticed as mentioned before is where all these fruit and vegetables came from and the long trips they have endured to make it all the way to the east coast. Many fruits and vegetables came from places like Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, and the list just goes on. It was also surprising how often these shipments came into this small supermarket: three to four times a week. Many people from my town and the towns nearby shopped at this high end supermarket making it reasonable for shipments to come in that often. Yet, it still amazed me how far these crops had traveled and the alterations that had to be done to these crops to make it this far to survive without rotting.

I would say that this class has made a huge impact on how I look at things when I walk into a grocery store. This class has definitely taught me a better and healthier way to live my life.