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Wednesday's Wall Street Journal got me to fuming. "Frugal Shoppers Drive Grocers Back to Basics" hyped the headline. Good news, yes? We wish. Reporter Ben Worthen wrote that supermarkets make as much as 70% of their profits from the middle aisles and thus are focusing attention there: "... the recession has refocused [supermarkets] on the staples sold in center aisles." Those "staples" he cites? Private label brands of canned vegetables, breakfast cereal and whole wheat bread. OMG I thought I'd have a heart attack.
Commenter Janice Benedict expressed my frustration perfectly. "Swell image, yum. Mommy buying basics. Canned food, white bread, salty snacks. The basic sodium/preservatives diet. For best results simply top with Zazz! soda pop." (I'd link to the WSJ story but a paid subscription is required. Instead, check other reactions to the story in its comments.)
Please, I do not begrudge supermarkets their profits, and to be fair, there IS some good news in this statistics, in that 70% of profits is down from 85% just ten years ago. (Are you doing the math? This is an 18% drop in middle-aisle profits. Over a decade, that's not exactly a sea change but still, progress.)
But please, please, PLEASE, supermarkets, I beg you, be part of the health and budget solution, not the source of the problem.
In the mean time, while I live in hope, here is the information that shoppers need to know.
WHAT ARE THE REAL STAPLES AND WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?
How can a family save money on food? Get OUT of the middle aisles where the shelves are lined with processed food that may be convenient (maybe) but is rarely healthful and certainly not satisfying. I call these the 'empty calorie' aisles, temptations to wasting money on non-essential commercial foods, budget killers that are unhealthful and full of expensive but empty calories. Think potato chips. Crackers. Candy. Cheap pizzas. Ice cream. Soda. The deli counter -- especially the deli counter. Frozen meals.
Instead, shop the perimeter of the store where the real basics are to be found. Vegetables and fruits. Milk and butter and eggs and meat. Then start to cook.
WHAT MIDDLE-AISLE FOODS ARE HEALTHY AND GOOD VALUES?
There are a FEW center-aisle foods that are worth dashing into those center aisle for. Here's my list -- and if you have others, please add them to the comments.
Coffee and tea -- just the basics, nothing fancy
Dried beans -- in one-pound bags, just beans, avoid the beans packaged in boxes that tend to be way more expensive
Canned beans -- black beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, etc.
Spices -- not spice mixes, just plain spices, watch for spice sales every couple of months and refresh your spice jars
Canned vegetables -- fresh would be better but canned vegetables can be lifesavers, think canned tomatoes
Frozen vegetables -- but just vegetables, no sauces, no herbs
Frozen juice -- orange, apple, etc.
Oatmeal -- in the big tubs, not the tiny packages with sugar and spices
Spaghetti sauce -- yes you can make your own but unless you can buy tomatoes in bulk at very low prices, commercial spaghetti sauce is a good value
Dried pasta --
Rice -- in bags, not boxes of parboiled rice like Uncle Ben's
Baking staples -- flour, sugar, salt
Olive oil -- the plain stuff, just for cooking
HOW TO RECOGNIZE GOOD VALUES IN THE CENTER AISLES?
There are exceptions, of course, but here are the questions I ask myself whenever I'm tempted by a product in the center aisles (and also food products along the perimeter too).
> Is it a food or a food product? If it's a 'product', chances are, it's NOT healthy and NOT a value.
> How much processing has the food undergone? The further it is from the original form, chances are, it's NOT healthy and NOT a value.
> Does the food have a brand name? If the food has a brand name, chances are, it's NOT healthy and NOT a value.
> How many ingredients are in the food? If the food has more than one ingredient, chances are, it's NOT healthy and NOT a value. (Think broccoli and oatmeal.)
> How many ingredients are recognizable? If we don't recognize the ingredients on the ingredient list, chances are, it's NOT healthy and NOT a value.
> Do you have a coupon? If there's a coupon for a food, chances are, it's NOT healthy and NOT a value.
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