Yesterday I needed to pick up tomatoes and parsley for a dish I am making. (Spouse and I take turns.) While I joke about my cooking, the dishes I know how to make are quite good.
An unexpected and pleasant surprise happened in the health food store. I have been seeing large brown bags on a shelf without rhyme or reason in various stores and assumed it's for food drives.
In the past some of the big stores have a display bag, it's 10 or 20 dollars, they are usually filled with non-perishables, and allegedly given to food banks. I say allegedly because while I like to help, selling contents at regular price to give to a food bank instead of matching it or selling it at cost, doesn't seem charitable.
When grocery stores have a good idea, I wish they would keep it. As a graduate student, my budget was tight, but I wanted to eat healthy. Another student told me that a high end grocery store had an incredible fruit and produce sale before every long weekend. How good can it be I thought? Probably damaged product. Well. This was a high end store. The freshest berries imaginable, shrimp packages for 25cents each. I learned how to freeze the berries and make sugar free compotte for my oatmeal yoghurt breakfast. Every month practically free exotic fruit like physalis or passion fruit.
When covid then two wars increased food prices, I was happy to see health food stores do this. I peeked inside the bag, saw 7 vine ripened tomatoes and parsley. A container of strawberries, some nectarines, ten apples, perfect carrots. Normal quality. For three bucks. Why I asked one of the staff. Customer appreciation, I was told. When they buy surplus they reduce it before it goes bad. First time I bought one.
Great idea.
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