Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores
I grew up in Montana so I am probably one of the few millennial Americans that probably recalls what life is like before supermarkets. They were just becoming a thing there as I was growing up. (Very, What&#x27;s Eating Gilbert Grape.)<p>We had an IGA in the small town I grew up in. The fresh food options there were borderline Soviet. We went to a butcher to get our meat when we didn&#x27;t have meat from hunting.<p>We got produce direct from growers, at various markets and from our garden. I would get strawberries once a year when they were plentiful enough to be affordable in a pallete from a local bulk market.<p>Baked goods were what you got from home, otherwise you could have generic branded spongelike bread loaf.<p>American supermarkets blow my mind. I can get strawberries, blackberries and blueberries year round. There is a butcher in the store selling fresh high quality meats. There is a bakery producing French roundloaves, donuts and cookies, most produced in the last 24-48 hours.<p>It&#x27;s incredible. And yet, when I unload my cart of fresh produce, meats, cheeses and baked goods it doesn&#x27;t look like the carts around mine. They are full of canned foods, frozen foods, boxed foods, etc. I&#x27;m not judging. You can&#x27;t beat a frozen pizza for satisfaction&#x2F;effort, especially when you weren&#x27;t expecting to feed anyone. But I can never get over the variety in my local produce section.<p>When I see people share &quot;fast&quot; recipes on YouTube they involve jarred sauces, spaghettiOs and raisins. (Fuck raisins.) You can make a great meal fast with few ingredients. If you take the time to have brown sauce or demi glace on hand.<p>Even with the aid of the supermarket and all it can provide, good food takes time. And that requires sacrifice. One parent has to come home after 8 hours working and cook. The kids can&#x27;t do extracurriculars every week of the night. If you want to enjoy food culture, both cars have to be in the driveway a couple nights a week. And IMO that&#x27;s why class and America&#x27;s work culture have a lot more to do with our poor food culture than our grocery stores.