Do you know who made your food?
If you shop at a farmer’s market you probably do. But if you, like most of us, buy even a few products from your regular neighborhood grocery store, the answer may surprise you.
Statistically, the average grocery store has more than 38,000 items on their shelves. And, according to this infographic, most of them are made by just 10 companies.
(Click through to view the original at full size.)
For a while now, I’ve tried to avoid buying products by KRAFT, partly because they make a ton of unhealthy food products, and partly because I don’t agree with a lot of their business practices. But looking at this map, I realize I have a few more products to cross off my list (Toblerone?? Really? Aw, man…).
They just remodeled one of the King Soopers grocery stores near me into a Super King Soopers—thousands and thousands of square feet of products, with everything from fresh meat and produce to baby clothes, toys, sofas and a jewelry store. It seems like an incredible array of products, a gluttony of choice.
But looking at this, it’s really just an illusion of choice.
What do you think of this consolidation of our marketplace?
So this is unrelated to the topic at hand, but I just wanted to offer a quick thanks for empowering me to make better shopping choices. I read one of your blog posts (or perhaps the e-Pamphlet?) where you discussed your hatred for Walmart shopping. I’ve been shopping there because a) they have relatively low prices, which is what’s been keeping me away from our local co-op, and b) they were close, which is what’s been keeping me away from our local Trader Joe’s. I saw your note about Sunflower’s circulars and thought, “Huh! There’s one about two blocks from here.” I hadn’t gone because a friend had told me it was expensive, so I lumped it in with the co-op in my head, but… you were right, they had such good sales on meat and produce that it balanced out and I was able to get about the same quantity of food. And the quality is so much higher! They had fruit sales on nectarines and cherries, which I ordinarily wouldn’t buy because of price, and I was able to get grass-fed beef on sale for 3.99 a pound, which is… less than I pay for the regular stuff at Walmart. I feel like I was able to get real food, and I don’t feel like my soul was destroyed. Now I don’t have to dread grocery shopping! (And I’m really excited about those cherries.) Thank you so much. 🙂
That is SO great to hear! Thanks for letting me know.