Grocery Shopping is Different, or Bulk Shopping = Great/Terrible

So I tried the new grocery shopping.

It's definitely more fun, that is to say I like the people that I see and how I interact with them. I now go to the Farmer's Market and the East End Food Co-Op first. I have to say I love the loud man who really enunciates from Jodikino's Farm. And I found out (since I became a member of the Co-Op) that some of the people working there are actually volunteering for the week. They're just regular old Joes and Janes. I think it's right to support them first but it definitely changes the way I shop.

So in the past I would simply pick some recipes for dinner and write down the ingredients I didn't have and then I would look around in the fridge & pantry & cabinets to see what other things we needed for lunches & breakfasts & snacks. That's what made up the list and I would just go once a week.

The past weekend I did the same thing but I was thrown some serious curveballs. Curveball 1) I thought I'd have to get vanilla at trader joes but saw that the co-op had it in bulk, so I was all like, "oh, ok, i'll get it here, I am so zero wastin' it" I had thankfully brought a small tupperware so I just poured some in there and off I went. Doesn't seem like a curveball, eh? Welllllllll, my small tupperware was leaky and by the time I got home I had exactly NO vanilla. Fail. Curveball 2) the farmer's market did not have a lot of the veggies I put on my list. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. No carrots. No cauliflower. No broccoli. No zucchini. Surprisingly, there were tomatoes. I was all like, "How did you do this?" to the farmers and they were like, "Start them in a greenhouse in February." I was skeptical, but I have to say they are scrumtralescent. Curveball 3) The Co-Op had some feta in their salad bar and I was going to take it in one of my containers and pay the $6.99/lb. for it but I couldn't do it. It was weird. I felt weird. I felt like I was breaking a rule, but there weren't any rules. Except for maybe, don't 'bow the person sneakin' in on the last of the chick peas and don't sneeze on the mesclun greens.

For some reason I found The Co-Op to be stressful. I took my containers and asked a very friendly young man how to take care of the Tare (the weight of the container). He kindly explained to me and I got to it. So I just weigh them on this little scale and was told to write the Product Number and the tare on the container, except the just had a ball point pen and they were plastic containers. I made it work but looking back I was weirded out!

Which brings me to my point in writing this blog post. This is a culture shock. It is not easy. I am finding myself feeling really disheartened in some moments and really excited in others. I know though, that I am motivated because I have not stopped. I don't have the strongest of determination so it's certainly not just me pulling it through. I am reminded in every hour that this is an important endeavor - one that is worthy of my greatest efforts.

How are things going for you? What changes are you making in your food shopping habits?