For this project, I was tasked with viewing shoppers in a detached, scientific manner. The goal of the project was to visit and observe the shoppers at each of the following locations from a different perspective, essentially forgetting everything I thought I knew about buying food in East Lansing. I visited a supermarket (Meijer), a local grocer (East Lansing Food Co-Op), and a farmer’s market (Allen Street). At each location, I studied the shoppers to see if I could make conclusions about their values, tastes, and class status based on their shopping patterns.
While seemingly everyone has been to a large supermarket such as Meijer, Walmart, or Kroger, it is usually just for one purpose: to buy food and get out of there as quickly as possible. For this project, I had to take a step back and watch the shoppers and how they interacted with one another. The shoppers at Meijer seemed to be in a hurry. There were many college students in the store. Most adults in the store were there individually and there was no communication among the shoppers. Many shoppers even chose to avoid the employees, opting for the self-checkout, even if it meant a wait. There were a large number of lower class shoppers at Meijer. It is well documented that obesity is rising in this country, and at an even higher rate among poorer citizens. Julie Guthman, in her article Can’t Stomach It quotes Michael Pollan, who says “…When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it and get fat.” I think this holds true especially in the Meijer due to how low the prices are and what kind of people shop there. These shoppers were searching for the lowest prices among products. In addition, many of the shoppers had unhealthy processed foods in their carts, with the perceived goal of optimizing their caloric intake per penny. However, it is more likely that that is just what they knew and liked, even if it is unhealthy.
I also visited the East Lansing Food Co-Op. I chose this as my small grocer because it offers stark differences from the large supermarket and the farmer’s market. The Co-Op is a small store, and had a unique smell. It had an air of freshness to it from the moment I walked in the door. Nearly everything in the Co-Op was labeled as organic, from the ice cream to the pasta to the dish soap. However, there was actually more processed food than I was expecting in a store that is advertised as healthy. I even saw frozen cod sticks. However, in general, the Co-Op products were much healthier than the Meijer products. There was a whole section of the store with tubs of nuts, flour, and granola for each individual shopper to fill up. The Co-Op is rarely busy; however, when I was inside, there were two customers. One was a single man, and the other was a man with a young daughter. All three shoppers were fit. By my approximation, both men were middle class based on the way they were dressed. I think food co-ops are usually seen as very expensive, but in my experience, I don’t think the prices at the East Lansing Co-Op were so large as to exclude lower class citizens. As one shopper left the store, he thanked the employee for her help, an act you would likely not see at a large supermarket.
My experience at the Allen Street Farmer’s Market was very unique. Everyone seemed to know somebody else. While walking around, I heard things like “Hi, Billy” and “How’s your mother doing?” One farmer, when asked whether his goods were organic, replied that they were in fact organic, but that he hadn’t spent the time and money to get certified. The woman replied that she didn’t care about the organic label. At all farmer’s markets, you can be sure you are getting fresh products and supporting local farmers. The prices at the farmer’s market were relatively high, which makes sense based on the fact that these local farmers are trying to make a profit on their produce. These farmers do not receive government subsidies for their produce. Essentially, corn and soy are the only crops subsidized by the government. Subsidies are the only thing that keep big farmers in business, as there is just not enough money from the crop yield to support a family (King Corn, Cheney and Ellis, 2007).
This project really opened my eyes to the grocery industry in the United States. Viewing these stores in an abstract manner allowed me to see just how different they are from each other. It was very eye-opening to see how people from the same geographic region could have such varying shopping patterns. The large supermarket drew more lower class citizens due to the cheaper prices. The Co-Op and especially the farmer’s market had higher prices, but also much healthier food. The Co-Op and farmer’s market advertise that their food is better for you than some of the more processed foods at Meijer. The three methods for buying groceries in the East Lansing area offer different values, price ranges, and experiences.
While seemingly everyone has been to a large supermarket such as Meijer, Walmart, or Kroger, it is usually just for one purpose: to buy food and get out of there as quickly as possible. For this project, I had to take a step back and watch the shoppers and how they interacted with one another. The shoppers at Meijer seemed to be in a hurry. There were many college students in the store. Most adults in the store were there individually and there was no communication among the shoppers. Many shoppers even chose to avoid the employees, opting for the self-checkout, even if it meant a wait. There were a large number of lower class shoppers at Meijer. It is well documented that obesity is rising in this country, and at an even higher rate among poorer citizens. Julie Guthman, in her article Can’t Stomach It quotes Michael Pollan, who says “…When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it and get fat.” I think this holds true especially in the Meijer due to how low the prices are and what kind of people shop there. These shoppers were searching for the lowest prices among products. In addition, many of the shoppers had unhealthy processed foods in their carts, with the perceived goal of optimizing their caloric intake per penny. However, it is more likely that that is just what they knew and liked, even if it is unhealthy.
I also visited the East Lansing Food Co-Op. I chose this as my small grocer because it offers stark differences from the large supermarket and the farmer’s market. The Co-Op is a small store, and had a unique smell. It had an air of freshness to it from the moment I walked in the door. Nearly everything in the Co-Op was labeled as organic, from the ice cream to the pasta to the dish soap. However, there was actually more processed food than I was expecting in a store that is advertised as healthy. I even saw frozen cod sticks. However, in general, the Co-Op products were much healthier than the Meijer products. There was a whole section of the store with tubs of nuts, flour, and granola for each individual shopper to fill up. The Co-Op is rarely busy; however, when I was inside, there were two customers. One was a single man, and the other was a man with a young daughter. All three shoppers were fit. By my approximation, both men were middle class based on the way they were dressed. I think food co-ops are usually seen as very expensive, but in my experience, I don’t think the prices at the East Lansing Co-Op were so large as to exclude lower class citizens. As one shopper left the store, he thanked the employee for her help, an act you would likely not see at a large supermarket.
My experience at the Allen Street Farmer’s Market was very unique. Everyone seemed to know somebody else. While walking around, I heard things like “Hi, Billy” and “How’s your mother doing?” One farmer, when asked whether his goods were organic, replied that they were in fact organic, but that he hadn’t spent the time and money to get certified. The woman replied that she didn’t care about the organic label. At all farmer’s markets, you can be sure you are getting fresh products and supporting local farmers. The prices at the farmer’s market were relatively high, which makes sense based on the fact that these local farmers are trying to make a profit on their produce. These farmers do not receive government subsidies for their produce. Essentially, corn and soy are the only crops subsidized by the government. Subsidies are the only thing that keep big farmers in business, as there is just not enough money from the crop yield to support a family (King Corn, Cheney and Ellis, 2007).
This project really opened my eyes to the grocery industry in the United States. Viewing these stores in an abstract manner allowed me to see just how different they are from each other. It was very eye-opening to see how people from the same geographic region could have such varying shopping patterns. The large supermarket drew more lower class citizens due to the cheaper prices. The Co-Op and especially the farmer’s market had higher prices, but also much healthier food. The Co-Op and farmer’s market advertise that their food is better for you than some of the more processed foods at Meijer. The three methods for buying groceries in the East Lansing area offer different values, price ranges, and experiences.