Complicated Shopping
Grocery shopping is getting too complicated. There are simply too many options. Where before I might feel compelled to compare prices and ingredients on two or three brands, now there are sometimes a dozen. Even the generic or store brand option seems to provide two or three choices. So there I stand staring blankly into row upon row of products, trying my best to be an educated consumer. The young man stocking the shelves this evening as I pondered a veritable wall of tomato sauce asked if he could help me find something. “No thanks,” I said. I wish he could.
Grocery shopping is getting too complicated. There are simply too many options. Where before I might feel compelled to compare prices and ingredients on two or three brands, now there are sometimes a dozen. Even the generic or store brand option seems to provide two or three choices. So there I stand staring blankly into row upon row of products, trying my best to be an educated consumer. The young man stocking the shelves this evening as I pondered a veritable wall of tomato sauce asked if he could help me find something. “No thanks,” I said. I wish he could.
The same thing happened as my eyes glazed over trying to choose canola oil. There must be five or six brands. And then there’s corn, vegetable, peanut, olive, etc. Zack asked me if there was any appreciable price difference even among one type, and I reported that surprisingly, there WAS. You can pay a little or a lot. That always makes me suspicious and forces me to check ingredients. That way I make certain I’m not buying something less healthy than I wanted. For instance, the other day, a company that manufacturers a certain well known chicken broth claimed on television that cheaper brands contain MSG — and their product doesn’t.
Health issues have helped narrow my choices in some areas, and I’m almost grateful. Deciding I might be lactose intolerant has left me with one option for ice cream, one option locally for sliced American cheese, three or four options for milk (only two if you count those that are more reasonably priced) — and NO options for other dairy products. This narrows the playing field considerably.
When my daughter visits, her allergy to gluten effectively rules out anything containing wheat flour or gluten. This can be very tricky. Gluten is hidden in many ingredients the same as MSG. There must be dozens of totally unnatural food names for gluten and MSG alone. They’re listed on thousands of products. This confusing practice can mask or hide ingredients that can, at the very least, cause days of discomfort for an allergic person. With more serious allergies, it can mean more serious reactions. In the interest of complete disclosure and just plain decency, why don’t companies clearly state when something contains milk, gluten, peanuts, shrimp, iodine, etc. (To be fair, many do this now.)
I figure that if I can’t understand what the ingredients ARE, it’s time to just buy fresh and start from scratch. Or prepare or eat something else. Simple is often better. Many people work so long and hard that they have no time for this type of cooking. Convenience foods abound. They just don’t often work for us although there are certainly exceptions). So our interest in healthy food limits us in other ways. I long ago gave up most processed foods and mixes, opting for fresh from scratch whenever possible. I gave up caffeine. I don’t like artificial ingredients if I can avoid them. Rather than have sugar-free sodas, I’ll opt for water. I’ve been trying to eat healthy all my life within reasonable parameters. Fresh, canned or frozen? What’s the difference in cost and quality? Processed meat with nitrates occasionally — or not? What about convenience? This further complicates my trip to the market.
Price considerations limit me as well. Most of us are on a budget and must be sensible in our choices. I’d rather have prime beef or lobster than hamburger, but I won’t be tossing those first two in my cart every week. And of course our individual taste preferences narrow choices on other items. Sometimes we simply prefer one brand’s taste over another. Everyone has a favorite cereal or chocolate candy or whatever. And don’t get me started on pet food. Have you ever seen so many brands and options for dogs and cats? I know I get that “deer in the headlights” look when I shop for cat foods especially. Cats are the most finicky creatures on earth. It’s as if they KNOW we can shop for hundreds of different taste treats if they turn up their noses at whatever we plopped in their bowl.
Being the antique enthusiast that I am (and having inherited so many old things that “just seem right” into our ancient farm house), I noticed a prime example of marketing change over the last fifty or so years. In our kitchen hangs a very old metal “shopping list.” There are magnets to place beside each listed item, such as eggs, milk, meat, cheese, butter, detergent, etc. There are only thirty-six items. It’s wonderful that we live in such a land of plenty that we have so very many choices. But are they really all necessary? Or are all the choices unnecessarily complicating — even more — our already too complicated lives? And if we could do without so many choices, perhaps I could negotiate the supermarket in less than an hour!
(Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She is an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life.)
