Published this on White Center Now this morning, but wanted to share it with you too: Results of the latest area grocery survey by volunteers working with the King County Food and Fitness Initiative, which is focusing on areas including South Delridge/White Center, though this survey included a few West Seattle supermarkets too. Read about it here.
i found this fascinating…
i would have thought met market would be substantially higher.. but it looks as though you can shop there reasonably .. as long as you avoid all those high ticket impulse buys:)
Tell me about it, their buy one get one coupons usually end up costing me $80 once I’m in the store because I can’t resist buying all those yummy cheeses.
Hi,
I’d like to see the grocery list and the raw data. Price comparisons are hard to make unless things are compared apples to apples (literally). Did the list say to buy 2 pounds of apples? or did it specify which type of apple to buy: Gala $1.15/lb vs Pink Lady $1.40/lb. I love the idea and have seen generally if I shop at Met Market or Thriftway my bill is higher then if I shop at Safeway. Your survey had those reversed.
The other important factor for me is the quality of the food. I expect to pay more at PCC and receive a better product then that from Safeway.
Thanks for all your efforts in this! It’s great to know how the stores stack up, particularly in our current economy.
Carl Sweetland
I noticed that Morning Star Market at 9th SW & SW Henderson was not included. The owner’s son recently (less than two weeks ago) started a new deli business. He makes grilled sandwiches and cold sandwiches, he has a hot case, and he has vegetables and fruit for sale.
The vegetables are mostly “bok-choi-type” (my term… I am not familiar with many of those vegetables, but I think they are “Chinese-style” vegetables), and the fruits are apples, oranges, and plantains.
He is still experimenting. So far, I have seen a nice-looking salad, and scrumptious-looking green bell peppers stuffed with ground beef and cheese ($2.99).
I buy the sandwiches because they are pretty good (lots of meat, and the grilled onions are tasty) and I want to support his efforts, but I have also bought shrimp egg rolls and chimichangas from the hot case. He has ice cream, too.
I am only a satisfied customer.
Regarding the new deli efforts at 9 SW & SW Henderson: I bought some kimchi yesterday after trying a taste, but so far, I haven’t been bold enough to actually eat it.
I think this definition is best for this kimchi (he says there are a million ways to make kimchi… his mom made the two varieties he has right now):
Kimchi (or kimchee)- The national dish of Korea; an Asian vegetable seasoned with ginger, garlic, and red pepper.
I finally tried the kimchee… I likee. I got the small kimchee with all the “Chinese-style” vegetables. It’s quite “spicy-hot.” It is “spicy-hotter” than five stars at Thai Thai.
It’s a nice, even burn that does not get worse with time. I decided it’s a fun way to eat my vegetables, but it is not for everyone since it is so “spicy-hot.” These vegetables are dark green, so I think they probably have nutritional value.
I was one of the adult volunteers who participated in this experiment. The reason I did was I wanted to meet some teenagers and see what makes kids tick these days. I was impressed. I ended up with 3 girls who refused to be separated and they got a fun ride in my Mini and we went to Burien to go to TJs and Fred Meyers since I was curious and willing to drive that far. Trader Joe’s took so long to get thru we could not complete the entire shopping list at Freddies which is why you don’t see it on the list. TJs sells produce by the item, not by the pound, and they do not even have a scale in the store where a shopper could weigh a pepper or apple or whatever and get a per pound price to be able to make an intelligent decision about shopping there. Also the store does not carry basic staples such as bags of flour and sugar and a bunch of other things which is why there were so many items “missing”. Walking into Freddie’s was a relief and I thought we might almost get thru the list before we ran out of time because everything is grouped together in a logical format with large signs so it is easy to price easily and pick out the cheapest thing.
We consistenlty sought the cheapest thing in the right size – sometimes this is hard to do. But any family on a budget – SERIOUS BUDGET – would shop the same way and consistently shop for the cheapest loaf of bread or can of spaghetti sauce, so this was realistic (quality would not be a factor, other than if the lettuce looked bad this week maybe they wouldn’t buy any). The point, also, is to not learn just where the cheapest frozen food is or the cheapest milk – what one store could you go and spend the least amount of money at the bottom line?
The girls I was with learned a lot from me in the process, too. I shop at the farmers market and PCC and QFC and TJs depending on what I am looking for. I used to serve on the board for P-Patch Trust and have worked on other environmental projects and I was able to dazzle them with lots of little tid bits that are no big deal to you and me but a 17 year old may not know how hummus is made. When they were starving and wanted to buy a snack at TJs and wanted to buy chips I told them absolutely not on my watch and we went and priced out fruit, organic vs. non-organic, and for 20 cents more they bought and shared a 1 lb container of organic strawberries from California. We talked about farm-to-table, how far food has to travel, organic vs ceonventional and which fruits and vegetables are safe to eat conventionally grown. They discovered I watched American Idol and liked David Cook (I gave them the bootleg CD I had of his 2006 album “Analog” out of my car) and I learned they liked all kinds of music, including opera, and had them half asleep by the time we got back from listening to Il Divo.
These girls could be on their own and trying to feed themselves or a family within a year or two and it is important for them to learn to think critically about what they put into their mouths. I am glad I was able to share a little bit with them, and I appreciate what they shared with me, too. It was well-worth the 3 hours that I donated to the project.
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