Supermarkets copy Whole Foods' shopping list
"They look like Whole Foods. They smell like Whole Foods. They even taste like Whole Foods. But they're actually part of some of the oldest and most familiar chains in the supermarket industry. Mimicking Whole Foods might not be a bad idea. Its same-store sales growth averages 11.1% annually for the past five years. Meanwhile, old-line grocery chains are starving for growth in the stagnant, $480 billion supermarket world. So they're increasing their focus on specialty, natural and organic products -- the kinds of things that fill the aisles at Whole Foods." Posted at 7:26 AM Central Time

The Hunter/Gatherer Mode Of Shopping Increases
Symblogogy: The"There was a time when we went down to the local store, said 'Hello' to Charlie, the grocer, and asked him what were the specials ... and inquired as to what was 'in season' this week. Today, in the more progressive shopping environments, one is likely to encounter large touchscreen displays that will answer our basic questions and run video ads telling us what is on special." Posted at 6:48 AM Central Time

Shopping list is a glimpse of a life
"I found it a couple months ago on the floor of a Target, in the aisle devoted to skin care. Since then, the list -- someone's list, on a white scrap of paper -- has resided on my desk, where every few days I pick it up to study again its everyday but mysterious contents. The scrap is the size of Monopoly money, with one long ragged edge. At the top, someone wrote Target then underlined it..." Posted at 7:43 AM Central Time

Amazon.com Grocery
Now in Beta: "We offer more than 10,000 non-perishable grocery items--and our selection is growing every day... At Amazon Grocery, you'll find longtime staples, from Kellogg's to Jiffy Pop. You'll find new entries, such as Kashi cereals and Kraft Easy Mac microwavable snack packets. And when we carry a brand, we'll try to carry every flavor available: not just the most popular flavors of Jell-O, but all flavors, from apricot to wild strawberry and the 70 flavors in-between. We're also making regional favorites like Andy Capp Hot Fries available nationwide, and making hard-to-find specialties like Zico Pure Coconut Water a standard part of our mix. We also have an extensive selection of natural and organic products. If you haven't heard of Immaculate Baking Company or Bear Naked, let us be the first to introduce you to these earth-friendly brands and their fantastic products." Posted at 8:15 AM Central Time

Michael Pollan: My Letter to Whole Foods
"Last month, John Mackey, the president of Whole Foods, wrote me a letter (also published on the Whole Foods Web site), taking issue with some of the points I have made about his grocery chain--in my book 'The Omnivore's Dilemma,' in my column for TimesSelect and in some of my public remarks. What follows is my response to Mr. Mackey." Posted at 8:07 AM Central Time

Nudo: Adopt an olive tree
"Nudo is an olive grove. And part of it can be yours. Adopt one of its 881 trees for a year and you'll receive all the produce from your tree. Imagine dunking your bread in your own oil from your own tree 1,500 miles away on a hillside in Italy. It's delicious, it's good for the world and you get to show off to your friends." Posted at 8:04 AM Central Time

Hey, I still need grocery lists from these states...
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

If you've found (or find) one in a grocery store in any of these states, send them to me and they'll probably end up in the book I'm working on. Or you can just send me one of your lists. I'm not picky -- I just want to have a list from all 50 states in the book. C'mon! Posted at 8:14 AM Central Time

Why My Local Grocery Store Loves Me
"This is a receipt I saved from a trip I made to the supermarket one day. I had strolled into the local Giant Foods and decided to take advantage of the bulk-food section where a sign prominently hangs urging customers to 'Take as much or as little as you need.' Well, on this particular day, I only happened to need one grain of sugar." Posted at 8:23 PM Central Time

Veggie man delivers
"For more than 60 years, Joe the Green Grocer's truck has cruised the streets of the Grosse Pointes, providing what has become an old-fashioned service. In the decades that the eye-catching half-green, half-cream-colored truck has delivered produce directly to the doors of hundreds of homes, only two drivers have been behind the wheel: Tony Lucido and his son, Joe Lucido." Posted at 6:35 AM Central Time

Look what's coming to dinner...
"With a savory twist, [waffles] aren't just for breakfast anymore." Posted at 8:18 AM Central Time

Vincent at the supermarket
This Flickr set is awesome: "I always have my camera with me and the supermarket has proven a fun place to photograph." (Thanks swissmiss!)
Posted at 11:21 AM Central Time

Happy Grocery II
Oh joy, it's the Happy Grocery!
Posted at 8:22 AM Central Time

mygrocerydeals.com: An independent source for flyer deals and healthy meals
"Find your flyer deals fast! Click to search specials, pick the best deals, save bundles in store... We want all grocery shoppers to save time and money!" More here: New web site allows U.S. consumers to find local grocery deals. Posted at 7:14 AM Central Time

Just two items on this list: Diet Coke and Mentos
"The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments: What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane." Links to video -- holy cow! Posted at 6:52 AM Central Time

Grocery nightmare: Teen's eating habits keep changing
"By the time meal preparations loomed in the late afternoon, the Crown Prince had had it with being a vegetarian. The whole phase lasted about four hours and fell entirely between meals." Posted at 6:43 AM Central Time

Meijer to rent carts with videos
"Meijer has come up with a new way to keep the kids occupied while mom and dad shop for groceries: Play videos for them. Meijer soon will begin offering shopping carts that, for a $1 fee, play kid-friendly videos while parents shop. Called TV Karts or Kid Karts, the shopping carts are equipped with an LCD screen with a chip containing two hours of programming." Posted at 7:39 AM Central Time

Let's have a Grocetry (not a poetry) Slam
I'm not sure why, but I added a button to each list so you can record yourself reciting the things on the lists. It uses Odeo so I'll be able to set up Podcasts with this audio once people start participating. Grocetry slam: Try it yourself with this awesome list or any of the hundreds of others! Posted at 11:26 AM Central Time

Kids pushing minicarts are a shopping hazard
Old person rant of the day: "A questionable lure, at least to my way of thinking, for parents and pint-size customers is miniature grocery carts. 'Shoppers of the future,' as one grocer calls them, are encouraged to push their own little carts and throw in their own little choices. Isn't it enough that we can barely maneuver around those huge carts designed like cars, and almost as big, usually holding two pretend drivers covered up to their necks with groceries?" Posted at 6:26 AM Central Time

Free books! It's the June GLC giveaway!
The free books are gone! | While we're hard at work on our own book, let's give away some others: The first person to write in and request one of the books linked below gets it for free during our sixth Monthly GLC Giveaway of 2006. Limit one per person -- and you must request a specific book. You also must include a snail mail address -- but we won't use your email or postal address for anything other than sending you the book. Email me for a free book!

Gone! Claimed by Hannah of Minneapolis, Minnesota!
It's a Long Road to a Tomato: Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life | "Already in his early forties and not entirely content with his lot, Keith Stewart traded life in New York's corporate grind for an upstate farm. Starting as a one-man operation, short on experience and with modest expectations, Stewart soon found that the agrarian life, despite its numerous challenges, suited him well. His new business flourished. Today, he has a crew of six to eight seasonal workers and grows about one hundred varieties of vegetables and herbs. What began as a yearning -- 'to live on a piece of land, closer to nature; to work outside with my body as well as my brain; to leave behind the world of briefcases, computers, corporate clients, and non-opening windows' -- has become a life 'more full, more varied,' often 'more demanding and exhausting,' but 'always more real.' Stewart sells everything he grows directly to consumers and restaurateurs, and in doing so has developed loyal and growing ranks devoted to his Rocambole garlic, varied herbs, heirloom tomatoes, and other organic produce." —Amazon.com (List price: $16.95)

Gone! Claimed by Amy of Elizabethton, Tennessee!
Saving Dinner: The Menus, Recipes, and Shopping Lists to Bring Your Family Back to the Table | "Full of practical tips on simple, healthy meal planning, Saving Dinner is the ideal solution for today's busy parents who would love to have their family sitting around the dinner table once again -- sharing stories along with a nutritious meal. Efficiently divided by season, each section features six weeks of menus with delicious recipes, side dish suggestions, and an itemized grocery list that is organized by product (dairy, meat, produce) to make one-stop shopping a snap. Plus the book is packed with helpful hints and short cuts in the kitchen that make cooking easier and more fun. From Big Basil Burgers and Salmon Carbonara to Crockpot Chili and Spicy Apricot Chicken, Saving Dinner will have your family coming back to the table -- and back again for seconds!" —Amazon.com (List price: $14.95)

We do this every month, so keep coming back. Posted at 6:25 AM Central Time

Whole Foods Market: An Open Letter to Michael Pollan
"Michael Pollan's new book The Omnivore's Dilemma has been near the top of the best seller's list since it was published in April, and it deserves to be. This is mostly an excellent book which I strongly recommend people read, along with Peter Singer and Jim Mason's new book The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. Both books are real wakeup calls about how our food is being produced in the United States today, and how our food choices potentially can make a positive difference in the world. While Singer and Mason have many nice things to say about Whole Foods Market in their book (especially regarding our approach to improving farm animal welfare), Pollan is far more critical and skeptical about many of Whole Foods Market's practices, both in his book and in subsequent interviews about the book in the media. Unfortunately Pollan did not carefully research Whole Foods Market's actual practices while writing his book so many of his comments about us are either inaccurate or misinformed." Posted at 8:01 AM Central Time