Miller Farm in Clinton, MD

Many large retail stores use secret shoppers to review their stores, staff, and customer service. The store I used to work at used this service - they make sure the staff are doing their jobs well, and you can be reviewed at any point, without knowing it until the results come back to your boss. I think it’s time for Whole Foods Union Square to use this service. Over the past few weeks, every time I go into this location I’m less and less impressed. Now it’s hit a new low. Sure, it was great to be able to wander the aisles and not have to compete for the salad tongs. But first, the fishmonger could not get my order right. NIce man, no English. It took me 4 tries to get half a pound of Tilapia when I had asked for 1 pound, and had received 3 other tries before I even got that close to my order. I also asked for half a pound of the cleaned squid - I was handed a pound package of shrimp in shell. I gave up and walked away after 15 minutes with less fish than I needed. I was also not impressed with the mussels that have been on special, which basically inspired my seafood craving. We’ll see how many are usable. At checkout, the cashier and her friend, who I assume worked there, although by the conversation they were having I wasn’t sure. The friend then loudly commented that my fish choices were going to make her vomit, and left. THEN, the remaining cashier takes my arugala bag and asked ME if it was the same prices as the spinach - am I supposed to know the price of all their produce? But, to my benefit she ended up charging me less, as did the cashier the other night who charged me for garlic when I bought mushrooms, which saved ME money. So, the results this week are only slightly skewed. After consistently shopping this store for several weeks, I’ve sadly come to realize this store, not necessarily Whole Foods in general, does not value my hard earned money. Down the street at Trader Joe’s people were helpful, and the cashier chatted, as they usually do, and packed my purchase in the bag I had brought-what service! They have been a company I’ve shopped around the country and have consistent staffs, food, and customer service. BRAVO! Other notes from this shopping trip: I bought frozen shrimp from Trader Joe’s since I’m doing 2 meals this week with shrimp and needed quite a bit. All the other fish I bought was fresh. I also bought an artisnal loaf of bread from TJ’s rather than my usual Green Market bread to save money for the fish as well. I also bought a cheaper cut of beef from TJ’s for the steak tacos since they’re going be wrapped up with a bunch of other goodness anyway. Lastly, I caved and bought the 2 for $6 strawberries at Whole Foods - there’s going to be a great dessert this week! Johnathan and I also stopped at the Miller Family Market while on a day trip to the DC area. Great seasonal produce, grown right where the store sits, and lots of busy shoppers and great peach pie! Here are the receipts and totals for this week - let’s see how we go!

Union Square Green Market

Big bunches of Basil, Parsley, and Cilantro - $5

Red Leaf Lettuce - $2

Miller Family Market

Onions - $2

Zucchini - $.62

Ripe Tomatoes -$2

Potatoes - $3.06

Total Groceries for 2ppl: $101.25

10 meals - $5.06/person/meal

That’s less than last week!

This is really difficult - posting my grocery receipts - it’s very… well…exposing. I have not looked this closely at my grocery bills or prices of what I’m buying since I was a student (all of 2 years ago). This is a great excercise! It requires more time standing in front of the meat case, choosing the cheapest per pound of chicken that is still antibiotic free while getting colder by the minute and fielding glares and bumps from other busy shoppers around me. It was also hard not to get sucked into the Kettle Chips or Honest Tea sale at Whole Foods; I did however buy the organic grapes that went down to $1.99/lb which I’m currently enjoying for a healthy snack. So, I’m going to share a couple observations, starting first with Whole Foods. After reading the NYTimes article about them cutting prices, I went in with a higher expectation of lower prices and much more scrutiny. My trip to the Union Square store was not as their banner outside stated “Shop Like You Deserve It!”. Weren’t they trying to get past the Whole Paycheck nickname? Sure I deserve good food, but at what cost? Anyway, I rummaged and stood idly often, trying to collect my thoughts and only buy what I had on my list - you have to admit that they display everything so nice - you always think you need some exotic mushrooms and some weird fish you have no idea what to do with. I went back to the egg case twice, and realized I could get the 1/2 dozen free range eggs $.20 cheaper if I bought this other brand. The Whole Foods brand I must say is substantially cheaper in general. The coffee was $2.00 cheaper per pound than what I was ordering from Fresh Direct. Unfortunately/Fortunately I came to the infamous, aromatic cheese case. I love parm - I think that’s why Jamie Oliver and I are secretly best friends, but $16.99/lb - yikes! I decided to check out Trader Joe’s the next day and see what they had.

Today, I wandered the Union Square Green Market. I still had my list, and I was stickin’ to it! As you can see, I hand wrote the market receipt. If you go to a farmers market, especially if you’re just starting, like yours truly, take a whole tour first, look at what’s in season - which will be most of whats out- and LOOK AT PRICES! I thought everyone was selling the Jersey Corn for 2/$1.00 - alas I was taken! I found someone else who had 3/$1.00. Herbs are also something that vary by as much as $1.00 between sellers. Something I’ve started buying is a fresh artisnal, organic, sliced bread that costs $4.75. However while looking at other local organic breads sold at Whole Foods, I had sticker shock - $5.69! So, this Green Market bread is something we never waste, makes amazing sandwiches and toast, and supports a great local bakery - Bread Alone.

Next, I ventured into the always tumultuous Trader Joe’s. Even at 11am on a Monday the tell tale guy with a sign marking the end of the line was posted around the store. I pressed on, and beelined to where I knew my last items lived. Their Parm was $12.99/lb - so much better in the grand scheme of Parm. I also succumbed to the freezer case and picked up some lemon sorbet for $1.99 - a great treat after long summer days. Something that I had to also get this week, which always puts a kink in my budget is olive oil. Trader Joe’s is definitely the better choice, although with much fewer selections than Whole Foods. So there went $7.99 for oil, which I hopefully won’t have to buy again for a while.

This is week 1 of shopping - the more stuff you can get at the Farmer’s Market that’s in season the better. However I do hope to get my costs down each week, and figure out this balance of food, fun, and health.

Union Square Green Market

1 bunch of Scallions - $2.00

8 ears Jersey corn -$4.00

5lb ripe tomatoes - $7.00

1 head of lettuce - $1.50

Organic bread - $4.75

Grand Total: $106.86/2ppl

10 meals/week

= 5.35/person/meal!!