Organic/healthy/natural food-seekers: do you even ever go to Giant or Safeway anymore?

[Anonymous]

I was in Giant today and just looking around at all of the unhealthy, processed, artificial, unsustainably-produced crap made me wonder how I ever managed to go there regularly. It used to me "my" grocery store until I started getting educated about organic foods, etc. I typically go to WholeFoods, but it's far, and today I took the easy way out and went to the Giant down the street.

Healthy food-seekers, what is your go-to grocery store? I love WholeFoods, but it's expensive, and even so it doesn't seem to have great chicken (someone told me that their air-chilled chicken breasts aren't responsibly produced). So, also, where do you buy chicken?

[Anonymous]

So there's nothing you would consider buying at Giant or Safeway? They do have organic dairy, produce and I assume meat (don't buy it so I don't know). I go to Whole Foods too, but I go to Safeway more. I can't afford doi all of k shopping at WF.

[Anonymous]

This is true. There ARE some healthy foods @ Safeway/ Giant. Likewise- there are also healthy AND not-so-healthy food @ WF.

[Anonymous]

Op here. No, there are definitely things that I would buy (and DO buy) at Giant or Safeway, but I feel like I am getting a lesser product. For example, they don't offer any eggs from free-range chickens. I think the only milk brand that I'd consider buying is Stonyfield. They have a really poor selection of organic vegetables and fruits....and almost everything Giant has that's "organic" is the company's own "Nature's Promise" brand, which I've heard is a joke.

I sometimes feel like when it comes to food in this country, we are all mostly locked in to places like Giant and Safeway, because of cost, proximity, etc.

[Anonymous]

I go to WF for the specialty foods (i.e. daiya or flax milk). I would buy basics- fruits, veg, etc besns from SW but I dont because I think quality is sub par.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure I buy free range eggs at Safeway, and I think they also carry more than one brand of organic milk. I usually get the store brand of organic mik, but they do have Stonyfield and maybe Horizon? I buy organic produce there as well, but I agree there is not much choice. Although sometimes I feel the organic fruit choice is sometimes better than at WF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. No, there are definitely things that I would buy (and DO buy) at Giant or Safeway, but I feel like I am getting a lesser product. For example, they don't offer any eggs from free-range chickens. I think the only milk brand that I'd consider buying is Stonyfield. They have a really poor selection of organic vegetables and fruits....and almost everything Giant has that's "organic" is the company's own "Nature's Promise" brand, which I've heard is a joke.

I sometimes feel like when it comes to food in this country, we are all mostly locked in to places like Giant and Safeway, because of cost, proximity, etc.

Just be glad you have ready access to food. Millions of people, including other Americans, don't. Make wise choices at the regular grocery stores and ignore the rest. This is really the definition of a first world problem.

And BTW, did you read the recent studies about organic produce?

[Anonymous]

I almost exclusively shop at Giant. They have a decent selection of organic produce and it seems like they keep adding to their organic lineup.

My take on food is that I get what I can find organic, but my main focus is that the food we eat is home made, from scratch, minimally processed, using ingredients that I recognize. Yes, we eat some processed foods and I definitely take some shortcuts. But the few times I have made the very inconvenient trek to WF I was underwhelmed with their selection of organic produce (yes, the conventional stuff looked very nice, but that was not the reason I made the trip). And the 365-brand shampoo I got there a few weeks ago was by far the worst product to touch my hair ever.

So back to Giant we go for out of season produce I can't get at the farmers market (mostly organic), for organic eggs and milk, for seafood and other basics. Meat we buy at Costco (organic chicken, for example), plus they also have a ton of organic products with more being added every day. Could it be better? Of course. Could it be better with the amount of time and money I can allocate to grocery shopping? Doubtful.

[Anonymous]

The whole organic thing is confusing. Today I was at the store and had to choose between conventional eggs (the cheapest), brown cage free eggs with no pesticides or hormones added, "natural" eggs that were cage free, and organic eggs. The main difference I saw was price. Pretty sure I should stay away from hormones and antibiotics, Is cage free different than free range (assume it is)?

Like I said, pretty confusing. How do you really know what you're paying for anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. No, there are definitely things that I would buy (and DO buy) at Giant or Safeway, but I feel like I am getting a lesser product. For example, they don't offer any eggs from free-range chickens. I think the only milk brand that I'd consider buying is Stonyfield. They have a really poor selection of organic vegetables and fruits....and almost everything Giant has that's "organic" is the company's own "Nature's Promise" brand, which I've heard is a joke.

I sometimes feel like when it comes to food in this country, we are all mostly locked in to places like Giant and Safeway, because of cost, proximity, etc.

Just be glad you have ready access to food. Millions of people, including other Americans, don't. Make wise choices at the regular grocery stores and ignore the rest. This is really the definition of a first world problem.

And BTW, did you read the recent studies about organic produce?

You mean the one where it said they're no more nutritious? Yes, we all saw it. I can't speak for OP, but that's not why I buy organic. I buy organic to avoid eating pesticide residue, to prevent more of the same from entering the water and air, and to prevent farm workers from being exposed to these chemicals, which are fine in their place, but if foods can be grown without them, good.

[Anonymous]

I shop mostly at Harris Teeter, which seems to have a decent selection of organic and natural foods. I usually make it to WF every other weekend for produce and a few miscellaneous items, but I also buy some produce at HT.

[Anonymous]

I shop primarily at Safeway and don't have the time to get to WF nearly as much as I like. WF is also like Target, you can't get out of there for less than $150 even if you try!!

Produce, milk, cheese, meats. Sure, a grocery store has tons and tons of crap but you shop the perimeter and make smart choices.

[Anonymous]

I never set foot in Giant or Safeway anymore unless I need something like straws or foil for our home, OR, I am signed up to bring crap to a school/camp/block party function.

Like 72 hot dogs or a crate of juice boxes.

I live equally close to WF, Giant and SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The whole organic thing is confusing. Today I was at the store and had to choose between conventional eggs (the cheapest), brown cage free eggs with no pesticides or hormones added, "natural" eggs that were cage free, and organic eggs. The main difference I saw was price. Pretty sure I should stay away from hormones and antibiotics, Is cage free different than free range (assume it is)?

Like I said, pretty confusing. How do you really know what you're paying for anyway?

Yes, the eggs thing is confusing to me, too. I was told that "cage-free" usually doesn't mean anything good -- all it means is that the hens aren't in cages, but are probably packed really tightly into warehouses with no space to move. That's why free-range is what you should look for. I've never seen free-range at Giant or Safeway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. No, there are definitely things that I would buy (and DO buy) at Giant or Safeway, but I feel like I am getting a lesser product. For example, they don't offer any eggs from free-range chickens. I think the only milk brand that I'd consider buying is Stonyfield. They have a really poor selection of organic vegetables and fruits....and almost everything Giant has that's "organic" is the company's own "Nature's Promise" brand, which I've heard is a joke.

I sometimes feel like when it comes to food in this country, we are all mostly locked in to places like Giant and Safeway, because of cost, proximity, etc.

Just be glad you have ready access to food. Millions of people, including other Americans, don't. Make wise choices at the regular grocery stores and ignore the rest. This is really the definition of a first world problem.

And BTW, did you read the recent studies about organic produce?

OP here. Yes, I am grateful to have access to food.

Yes, this is a "first-world problem."

Yes, I read that other thread - but at no time have I ever thought that organic produce might be more nutritious than conventional. That isn't why I seek organic. I seek organic to avoid feeding the pesticides to my kids as much as I can.