Grocery Angst

Choosing Where to Shop in Opposite of “Food Desert”

William Sundwick

Retail food shopping is very competitive  in many places these days. If you have access to a car and live inside the beltway in Northern Virginia like I do, there are many choices. No food desert here.

Indeed, there are so many choices that sometimes I make arbitrary decisions. I can easily stipulate that all the stores where I will shop must fall within a ten-mile radius. And even among those, the closest stores get the highest priority when I plan my trips. There are other factors -- quality of fresh foods, certain brand preferences, a friendly, helpful staff. But the clincher is usually that I’m not getting any younger, and gas is not getting cheaper!

I don’t mean to minimize the social/economic problem of food deserts in America. I understand that I am part of a privileged class in this country – the class of people that can afford to live in affluent neighborhoods and communities, places profitable for grocery chains to exploit. There is much competition to provide services for communities that are willing to pay. Not so much, places where there isn’t a sufficient consumer base with disposable income. Food deserts do exist, rural to be sure, and in urban neighborhoods that have not seen much gentrification of their population. Grocery angst comes not only from a plethora of choices for me, but my knowledge that many Americans don’t have those choices.

Having a car also enables far more choice. I would not be in the position of deciding which supermarket to put on my semi-weekly “medium-size” grocery trip if I had to walk or take Metro. Much less a bus. The size of my larder governs the size of the trip more than my ability to transport the goods. Not so for many – although Internet food delivery services are growing exponentially. Competition for my time is the luxury I can afford. With fewer choices, others must just make time!

Here are my choices in major supermarket chains -- arranged by proximity to my house:

·         BJs Wholesale (0.8 mi. – but, limited selections)

·         Safeway (1.2 mi. to nearest – and biggest)

·         Target (1.4 mi.)

·         Shoppers (1.5 mi.)

·         Harris Teeter (two stores to choose from, 1.7 or 1.8 mi.)

·         Giant Food (2.8 or 3.0 mi. – two stores)

·         Trader Joe’s (2.9 mi.)

·         Whole Foods Market (4.1 mi.)

·         Aldi (4.8 or 5.1 mi. – two stores)

·         Costco Wholesale (6.7 mi.)

·         Walmart Supercenter (8.4 mi.)

·         Wegmans – too far (outside my maximum 10 mi. radius)

Ranked by convenience, BJs should be at the top of my list. I could walk there if I weren’t planning on buying much. But, therein lies BJs greatest weakness – small quantities of many brands (both private and national) cannot be found in their big warehouse store! Also, I don’t have home storage capacity for huge quantities of most items, something that seems to be a BJs specialty.  Target’s grocery department, on the other hand, is developing, but so far has fewer choices and less fresh food than either the local Safeway (in the same mall) or the two Harris Teeter’s within two miles. Hence, if I must drive, the first choice for my semi-weekly trips will either be Safeway, which is a superstore by Safeway standards – virtually all amenities and brands of any competitor – or, one of the two equidistant Harris Teeter stores. It is hard to choose between Safeway and either of those Harris Teeters.

My rationale for consolidating the grocery trips, despite what many would consider extreme geographic convenience, is that I feel that competition for my time. I must include exercise, walking to garner my requisite 10,000 steps, reading and writing (Warp & Woof!), frequent babysitting for my grandson, seasonal activities like yardwork and politics, occasional social interaction – and, of course, eating and sleeping. Don’t want to make lots of annoying short trips to get this or that thing I forgot to put on my last grocery list. The semi-weekly model works well for my schedule and my food storage capacity. 

Neutralizing the convenience factor, I usually choose between Safeway and H-T (my elder son calls latter “The Teat”) based on other characteristics. All the staples of my regular life can be found at either chain. My wife feels that produce at Safeway is often fresher than either Harris Teeter store I frequent, but I tend to consider that evidence anecdotal. There is also no evidence that a longer trip to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods would significantly increase that freshness probability, either. Farmers markets in the area are limited in duration (one day per week for each – hard to schedule).

Then, there are the intangibles – friendly staff, store organization, amenities. Between Safeway and the two Harris Teeters, I have to say staff friendliness and professional dedication seem equal – with a few extra points given to H-T for having more staff available in aisles restocking while I’m shopping (more opportunity to ask questions, make comments, etc.), and some humanitarian points going to Safeway for employing a couple of special needs baggers (one of whom went through elementary and middle school with my younger son in Arlington Public Schools). My interaction with staff occurs mainly at deli counters, fresh meat and seafood, or checkout, and all three stores excel in those areas.

Store organization is something you get used to in any store where you are a regular customer. However, in one of these three cases, the Harris Teeter at Lee-Harrison Center in Arlington, a recent store remodeling has caused an unnatural (for me, at least) division between upstairs and downstairs – the two-level design of the store may be basically flawed, anyway. Since that redo, this store often loses out to the other two for the semi-weekly staples trips – although its garage does have a free EV charge station!

Amenities are related to store layout and organization, but these days all major chains seem to have wi-fi, café seating area, Starbucks, salad bars, fresh bakeries, and full-service pharmacies. If I were interested (which I’m not), the Broad Street Harris Teeter in Falls Church even features a wine bar and sushi bar!

Even so, I have a small spark of curiosity to try other stores, perhaps farther afield, because I hear so much from friends and family who use them. Perhaps I should try Shoppers? They may have the large tubs of Utz pretzels that both Safeway and H-T are lax in restocking. Could be that Target carries Land-o-Lakes spread in tubs, which Safeway and Harris Teeter seem to have dropped. Trader Joe’s might be fun for snacks or frozen food.

But, it’s unlikely that I would change my regular shopping patterns for any of these reasons, unless my wife gets tired of the choices that the “big two” chains offer. When she accompanies me to any of the main three stores – relatively uncommon – I find we buy things NOT on my predetermined list. Is there a future for more boldness in my grocery choices?

Recently, I made the discovery that reduced fat peanut butter is not healthier, or lower calorie, than regular peanut butter. My research was prompted by the disappearance of all reduced fat varieties of chunky peanut butter from both Safeway and Harris Teeter shelves – this made me wonder. Indeed, the Internet provided the answer. “Reduced fat” was a scam for peanut butter, all along! I might similarly be surprised by further research into other disappearing products from my favorite store shelves. Do the major supermarket chains know best? Could be …

School’s Out!

Even Family Day Care Gets Summer Vacation

William Sundwick

It happens every year. This is Owen’s second summer vacation from the family day care provider in his neighborhood. Grampa and GiGi volunteered to take three days out of the facility’s five-day closure. We played, we napped on the Aerobed in Grampa and GiGi’s bedroom, bought just for Owen. And, then the big event Friday – we got a haircut at the award-winning Westover Barber Shop. They specialize in kids’ haircuts! Topping it all off, we visited the Westover Library and had lunch at the Lost Dog Café.

As he gets bigger, Owen is more confident of his place in the world. He is comfortable with us, our

house, our toys – and, we have now discovered, our neighborhood business district! This was his third haircut at Westover Barber Shop. He already knew the people there. And, he knew the Library and Lost Dog, too! Comfortable, confident, more interested in the truck and bus traffic he saw through the windows than what was happening inside.

But, if there was a lull in the adventure content of what he saw and heard, he made up for it with his active imagination – he became a “trash man,” the toy ambulance was rushing to an “emergency,” Grampa was “sick”! Or, Owen was a “monster,” making gruff roaring sounds.

As soon as he arrived Tuesday morning, the first thing he asked for was “trains” (the Brio collection inherited from the older boy next door when he outgrew them).

Then, thanks to GiGi buying sidewalk chalk for him, we went outside on the patio and drew on the pavers – long, straight lines, rather impressive. Grampa suggested two lines, different colors, equal length, next to one another. Then, the two pull-back vehicles entered the scene – a DRAG RACE! (Credit Grampa’s imagination for that.) it worked. The lifted Hummer beat the Crown Vic police car!

To prove to us that he was a “big boy,” Owen presented no resistance to afternoon naps on that nicely dished out Aerobed, with a full-size pillow (prepped, to be sure, with the requisite two bedtime stories). Like the barber shop, naps were a piece of cake for him – been there, done that!

When comfort begins melting into boredom, Owen easily fills in with his play-acting skills (child development specialists like his mom call this “imaginative play”). Presented with the same toys, the same Brio tracks, the same rooms, that he knows so well, he can make something different happen with them each time. The boredom isn’t in his head – maybe his grandparents? But, Grampa, at least, has no problem letting Owen take the lead, letting those wonderful fantasies go wherever they may.

As engaging as he is now, his life will soon be turned upside down with the arrival of a new baby sister! Owen knows she’s coming – Mommy and Daddy have spent much time talking to him about that. When GiGi mentioned her doctor’s appointment, Owen asked, “Do you have a baby in your tummy?”

Ramping Up

Summer Ground Game Coming

William Sundwick

Over the last few weeks I’ve been in a real funk over the daily outrage in the news cycle. I sometimes feel like my only solace is to unplug myself from the outside world. But, something inside me runs counter to that impulse – I can’t allow myself that indulgence. I must make sense of what is happening around me.

Being saved from despair requires action. I can’t ignore the constant drumbeat about the state of American politics, and the world, but I can give it perspective. It’s important, and somebody is managing that drumbeat – there is a plan behind it. The media’s plan is to engage us, they want outrage, they want eyeballs. If they want responses. I am responding this summer. Participation in the political process, the ground game, is my secret for overcoming fear. What started as disgust is beginning to melt into depression now. It must stop.

For me, the greatest challenge of the last month has been the Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy on the border. They have taken accepted international law on asylum for refugees and rejected it wholesale. Separating children, even babies, from their asylum-seeking parents is cruelty unworthy of our country.

Attending the #FamiliesBelongTogether march at Lafayette Square on June 30 presented me with one of those steeling opportunities for action. Not as big as #MarchForOurLives in March, but what it lacked in focus, it made up for in timing. Now is the time for action regarding the November elections. The ground game is underway.

 Marches help, but they need to be followed up with volunteerism. Virginia volunteers proved their mettle last year when an unprecedented 15 seats in the House of Delegates flipped. So, this year we need to focus on certain Congressional districts which are eminently “flippable.” Out of a total delegation of eleven seats in the House, there are only four Virginia Democrats. Two or three additional Democratic seats are within easy reach this fall (especially the VA-7, Abigail Spanberger, and VA-10, Jennifer Wexton).

Few doubt all incumbent Democrats will be re-elected (including Sen. Tim Kaine). Living in bright blue Arlington might suggest local apathy, except that even the Arlington County Board has one seat that Democrats can gain, with a challenger to established Board member John Vihstadt. It’s a great local contest – friction point being affordable housing advocacy vs. NIMBY fears. Matt de Ferranti is that young Democratic challenger. 

Beyond Virginia, however, prospects are less clear. I hear and read lots of political analysis. I can’t pull away from the apparent train wreck of national politics. It seems that we’ve devolved into two antagonistic tribal societies in the United States. I need to think that there must be a path back to a somewhat more unified country. But, what is it?

The first sign of dysfunction, visible in the 2016 Democratic Presidential primay, was the splitting up of the Democratic Party. No longer a unified national party, and not the old New Deal/Southern Democrat coalition that had been familiar for some eighty years. Dems were confronted by a deep ideological divide, left vs. center, so it seemed. But was it real?

Since the 2016 election, much time has been spent trying to “understand” Trump voters – what were they looking for? What did Trump say to them? My only conclusion as a consumer of much of the punditry is that whatever the message of Trump and Republicans, it’s not a message understood by the new elite of the Democratic Party – the professional class of East and West Coast cosmopolitan urban areas. That may be fine given the changing demographics of America, except that this new elite needs to work harder in traditional Democratic constituencies, especially white working-class voters (male and female) who treat them with profound distrust.

We also know that few voters are knowledgeable about the actual mechanics of public policy – they are ideological only on a symbolic level, not a policy level. This is uncomfortable for candidates who feel they must explain “where they stand” on specific issues. They just need to speak the language of their voters, use the correct buzzwords, that’s all! We’ve seen successes at getting the right mood going in special elections so far. These candidates will be the winners in November. It’s intensity of emotion, and symbolic language, not policy, that will carry the day.

Long-oppressed groups, like communities of color, speak one language. Working class whites speak another. The latter now see themselves as threatened, the new “hopeless ones,” especially in rural areas ravaged by opioid abuse and unemployment. Their language expresses fear and sense of loss, the most acute emotion for the Trump loyalists. Those accustomed to marginalization, on the other hand, feel they are on their way up in American society -- or were, until the 2016 election. The pernicious influence of money in politics tends to exacerbate the divisions. It seeks to vilify “the other” – whether it be race, gender, or class. The worst possible outcome for those moneyed interests would be a united front of ordinary Americans focused entirely on them, and what they do with their money. Much better to keep Americans fighting among themselves!

With the supercharged news cycle that we see these days, it’s hard to predict what will happen tomorrow. The news cycle is managed. It is managed both by the media and by the White House itself. Those tweets from the President are not accidental. Neither are the leaks. The best that can be said about the proliferation of Internet news outlets is that a multiplicity of sources makes managing the flow more difficult. News consumers have effectively more power in this rich environment, if they know how to use it.

And, we feel it. The streets are alive with protest – it’s not that difficult to organize demonstrations in major cities simultaneously, each drawing tens of thousands of marchers. We know we can identify and promote the good -- or identify and discourage the bad. Not just in mass demonstrations, but in the political ground game as well. We can canvass and phone bank. We can open our checkbooks. We can even find where cabinet officers dine out and confront them individually!

Perhaps the “arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice,” as MLK said in 1956, but we can move it on a steeper curve if we commit ourselves to action. And, being part of a team is much better than sitting all alone in our righteousness. Interaction with teammates tends to get more things accomplished. It’s also a balm for the ego.

Alex Jones of InfoWars said that “Democrats” were going to start the second civil war on July 4. So, on July 5 I did my first “Beyond Arlington” phone banking shift calling infrequent voters in Spotsylvania County, urging them to vote for Abigail Spanberger to replace Dave Brat. It felt good!