Wal-Mart holding its own against Whole Foods?

While it's hardly news that Wal-Mart has become a huge purchaser of organic milk and dairy products, few people think of the superstore giant as a place to buy organic and local produce. In this Atlantic Monthly article, Corby Kummer takes a look and conducts a few blind taste tests.

His overall takeaway?

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, people would buy their food directly from the people who grew or caught it, or grow and catch it themselves. But most people can’t do that. If there were a Walmart closer to where I live, I would probably shop there.

Most important, the vast majority of Walmarts carry a large range of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. And Walmarts serve many “food deserts,” in large cities and rural areas—ironically including farm areas. I’m not sure I’m convinced that the world’s largest retailer is set on rebuilding local economies it had a hand in destroying, if not literally, then in effect. But I’m convinced that if it wants to, a ruthlessly well-run mechanism can bring fruits and vegetables back to land where they once flourished, and deliver them to the people who need them most.

Whole Foods to Return to its Health-Food Roots

Whole Foods is putting shoppers on a diet: Says CEO John Mackey, "There have been these two dominant values driving our products over the years. One is food as health and the other one is food as indulgence. Those have battled, you might say, for the soul of Whole Foods."

Mackey recently spoke about his intentions to focus less on the indulgent aspect of food and more on healthy foods. This is, in part, because indulgence has fallen out of fashion in this economy, and there seem to be a lot more people interested in healthy eating. He expressed that a push to promote healthy foods may be in step with the broader arc.

The products won't change overnight but will gradually evolve.

You can read more here.

Powdered Peanut Butter

I know this stuff is kind of old news, but it just crossed my radar again—Powdered peanut butter sounds a little weird, and while I can't say I'd be able to justify paying a lot for it, I am rather curious. It could be really good in yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, baked goods, and other stuff. True, you could just add peanut butter or almond butter, but this is powder! So weird! So convenient!

Haha I hate when I am won over by marketing and novelty. If I get around to trying it, I'll be sure to post.

Another Day, Another Beef Recall

While reading the paper this morning, I came across an article about another beef recall being put into action after two people died and more than a dozen people fell ill, possibly due to the same source of contamination: ground beef from a company called Fairbank Farms.

The voluntary recall, issued on Saturday by the company, includes 545,699 pounds of ground beef sold to retailers in 8 states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Some of the stores at which these products were sold include Price Chopper, Giant, Trader Joe's Wild Harvest, and Shaws.

While I know that cooking can kill a lot of the bacteria, I still get really nervous when I read stuff like this. It seems to be happening way too often. There is a lot that the consumer can do to lower their chances of falling ill, but if you're starting out with a contaminated product, there's not a whole lot you can do.

Since one of the few foods I don't like is ground beef, it's not a huge deal to me, but I know that my dad, for example, practically lives off of the stuff. I feel like when I read about these things, it's easy to feel like "oh, that's just something that happens to other people," but I'm sure that those people who get sick felt the same way.

While I'm not going to try to advocate a restrictive diet in which potentially dangerous foods are cut out (the list is way too long), I will say that events such as huge meat recalls should make people more concerned with knowing where their food comes from.

"Sandwich Steak"

Question: Has anyone ever heard of "sandwich steaks" before? I'm assuming they're a similar thing to minute steaks since they cook so damn fast...

Any male readers squeamish about girly period stuff, stop reading...

Okay, so I have the good fortune to be strangely in sync with the full moon (clearly, the menstruation goddess or whomever has a sense of humor), and given that Tuesday was a full moon (and an eclipse, no less), let's just say this week has been something of a mini roller-coaster.

I had a physical today and had to get some blood taken (for an anemia test—ironic, no?), and after getting sucked dry, I was feeling kind of shaky and weepy and pissed off over phone troubles.

A lot of blood for a tiny girl to lose in a matter of hours. By the time I got home, I needed chocolate and caffeine and advil...and steak?

Now, a lot of you guys who know me know that I kind of hate red meat and only eat it a few times a year. That's why when I get a craving for it, I know it's for a reason—I need it, damnit. I reminds me of that Friends episode where pregnant (and bewildered) vegetarian Phoebe wolfs down hamburgers ("for the babies").

Only, I'm kind of the opposite of pregnant, but you get the idea.

I've probably mentioned the sketchy meat market down the street and how I go there for cheap non-meat things like oatmeal (also high in iron but just not the same). Well, this afternoon, I decided to purchase actual meat there.

This place has a refrigerated room for the all the meat (see photo). I spent a long time looking for something cheap that came in a small quantity and that I could use in a variety of preparations.

I ended up walking home with a $2.82 package (about 12 oz) of these sandwich steaks, which are very cute and tiny. I put a little pepper and rosemary on them (not sure why, I just figured I should put something on them) and grilled them. They were very tasty topped with truffle salt (another weird addition, I admit) and served with sauteed spinach (to which I added more truffle salt and garlic powder for some reason...)and a baked sweet potato.

I'm a little afraid of what I'll concoct with the leftovers tomorrow...

It's probably a good thing Chris wasn't around for this meal (aside from the whole non-meat-eater thing). Clearly, I am not at my culinary best this time of the month. Still, the over-seasoning was oddly satisfying. Or maybe that was just all the direct animal protein.

Of course, I had chocolate gelato for dessert—perfect. Covered all the bases. The only thing that would have been more perfect would have been if I'd happened to have dark chocolate peanut butter m&ms lying around the house.

Do they even make dark chocolate peanut butter m&ms? They should if they don't.

I could read up for my microbiology class tomorrow, but I'm kind of leaning towards Hemingway instead...

MIrror, Mirror

An article from Sunday's New York Times discusses recession-driven changes in consumer spending at major retailers such as Wal-Mart. Said John E. Fleming, the chief merchandising officer for Wal-Mart, "Our sales—it's like holding up a mirror to our society."

With consumers prioritizing how to spend what money they do have, they are sticking close to their lists of the essentials and favoring generic-brand goods over brand-name items. We're also seeing a "recession protein hierarchy...with ground beef trumping steak, and chicken trumping beef." Many consumers are just plain skipping protein, choosing pasta instead. 

Not surprisingly, microwave sales are also up. Heating up leftovers or a frozen entrée is more popular these days than going out or ordering in.

One good thing about living in New York is that we have access to a lot of great, cheap food, and there are even places where you can get cheap groceries. 

I used to think nothing of shelling out for a bunch of fancy Greek or Icelandic yogurt, for example, or white asparagus I didn’t really know how to cook. Now, I save that kind of stuff for once in a while (2 for $1 White Rose yogurt, anyone?), and buy cheaper produce. 

Luckily, a block away from us is this market that has amazingly low prices on fruits and vegetables. They may or may not be cheap because they fell of the back of a truck somewhere, but whatever—just wash them before you eat them, like you would anything else.

For packaged stuff like oatmeal, rice, and bread, there’s the sketchy meat market a few doors down, which is also cheap, and something of a vortex, but I’d rather risk having an adventure than pay twice as much at the Food Emporium.

Learning to cook balanced meals that actually taste good using a few cheap ingredients has been a lot of fun too—definitely better than eating a five-dollar frozen entree every night. 

So there's a bright side to everything, I suppose.