grocery stores

Saturday morning, I took C to the farmer’s market, and then stopped at the grocery store afterwards.

I absolutely love the grocery store at which we stopped. I love Publix, I do.

However, Friday night, while hanging out with A, I started thinking about agribusiness and corporate agriculture (yes, that whole can of worms). So while quickly running into Publix to pick up some cheese and something else for C, I quite literally felt overwhelmed. Nabisco’s bright red triangle seemed a million times brighter, emblazoned on the box of Nilla Wafers on display. The red and green bell peppers of Italian Fest (which begs another question: what the hell is up with the “Italian fest” between Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day?) look plastic-y and fake, and their taste is incomparable to their “real” (i.e., non-corporate) counterparts.

The artificiality of the grocery store overwhelmed me Saturday morning. C was pointing at balloons, happily, and there I was, feeling like there is nothing I can do to make the world better, even slightly. Total despair in the grocery store on Saturday morning.

I shook it off as best I could, bought what we needed, and once in the car, listened to Rage Against the Machine to remind myself that I’m not the only one, that it’s not futile…and I felt a little better. When I related the story to some friends that evening, I think they were surprised. I always seem so together, so energized. That I do get burnt out was surprising to them. (Okay, that and two of them hadn’t really any idea about agribusiness, and I don’t look “radical” to them.) That I got outraged—and that they should be outraged—over food was surprising to them.