4
12 the bollard | portland, maine 13 fall 2007 a token nod with its “Salute to Ameri- ca’s Farmers” displays. Still, the amount of local food avail- able at these chains is minuscule. As one local supplier, echoing the state- ments of many of those interviewed, said, “They’re not doing nearly enough.” The very nature of these mega-mar- kets—with their centralized decision- making and chain-wide policies—often puts small-scale growers and producers at a disadvantage. The chains’ opera- tions mesh more easily with those of mega-growers like Earthbound Farm and Cal-Organic, agribusiness behe- moths that supply the bulk of Whole Foods’ produce under guidelines that stretch the definition of “organic” to the breaking point. When author Michael Pollan took Whole Foods to task for this in his 2006 book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Whole Foods ceo Mackey responded with a forceful defense of the chain’s buying practices and support for small-scale growers. But Mackey also acknowledged that his corporation has to do a better job working with local farmers, and pledged to make improvements. One thing Mackey makes no apologies for is Whole Foods’ aggres- sive merger and expansion strategy, by which it grew from one tiny, struggling natural foods store in Austin in 1978 to the dominant force in the fastest-grow- ing sector of the global supermarket business today. As homegrown, independent retailers continue to get bought out or squeezed out by giants like Whole Foods, small- scale farmers and food producers stand to lose more than they’ve gained. “That’s one of the long-term risks in this situation,” said one vendor. “If Lois’s [Natural Marketplace] and the other small markets go away, that will create a situation that will be very dan- gerous to local producers.” Selling through small, local retailers has some distinct advantages over doing business with Whole Foods, according to most of the suppliers interviewed for this story. Here their products don’t compete against a store brand, and are often priced lower than they are at Whole Foods. “Our product is prominent in their stores. I think they consider it a really valuable item in their lineup,” said one vendor who sells to Micucci Grocery Co. and Aurora Provisions in Portland, and Lois’ Natural Marketplace in Scarborough, in addition to Whole Foods. Some vendors said small, local retail- ers will often put less of a markup on local foods than other items they sell. “We are willing to make a lower margin [because] we feel like [local foods] are a great identification point for our store,” said John Naylor, owner of Rosemont Market and Bakery in Portland. “With Rosemont, I can call and say, ‘I’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes,’ and John will put me on hold and ask the kitchen if they can use them,” another vendor said. “They can make that transaction in 30 seconds. Whole Foods can’t do that.” It’s crucial to have a diversity of buyers, local food producers stressed. Be- coming dependent on one big buyer like Whole Foods is risky. “They can turn it off like a light bulb,” one vendor remarked. How amenable are executives at Whole Foods’ Austin headquar- ters to requests that it carry more local foods and price them more reasonably in Portland? That’s an open question, but Gulino did say the store is eager to “engage cus- tomers and find out: Are we doing a good job?” One surefire way for consumers here to keep Whole Foods on its toes is to be the kind of customer the chain purports to attract: the conscientious shopper who cares not only about price and se- lection, but about the quality and origin of their food, and how their spending decisions impact the community and the environment. If you reflect and act on those values, you may very well find yourself shopping elsewhere, which in turn would only improve Whole Foods. That’s because one thing this chain and its shareholders certainly appreciate is the bottom line. The more vigorous the competition, the more responsive Whole Foods will need to be to farmers and other food producers, and customers. Stacy Mitchell lives in Portland. She is a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and author of Big- Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega- Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses. “Blessed are you who confuse ‘Consumerism’ with ‘Freedom,’ for you shall be delighted to discover the difference … Blessed are city neighborhoods that people have flown from in fear, for your children shall return to illuminate the dark economy.” from “The Beatitudes of Buylessness,” by Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping O n our second date, in an attempt at bourgeois liberation, I took the woman who would one day be my ex-girlfriend to Save-A-Lot. I was trying to wean her off Wild Oats. Her dubiousness turned to disgust when she discovered an open box of cereal that had been resealed with packing tape. “But the bag probably isn’t damaged,” I parried. Some months later, I thought I had another chance to convert her when a critter scuttled across our feet at the meat counter in Wild Oats. “A mouse?” the butcher said. “They’re all over the place here.” To the end, however, neither of us would give in. Shopping at Save-A-Lot is like a trip to an alternate supermarket universe, where the stock room is the sales floor and the products all look familiar, yet somehow different than the brands you know. Cans are displayed in their custom- designed, perforated-front cartons on steel shelves or pallets—employees just rip off the front of the box to stock. This saves the labor cost of removing items from boxes. Further labor savings are realized by not “fronting” cans so customers see the faces of all the labels neatly arrayed. Instead, most product labels have two faces. The produce section is small, limited and seasonal, though they do seem to consistent- ly have tropical staples like mangos, papayas, plantain, and yucca. Save-A-Lot Salvation A guide to an alternate supermarket universe by Zachary Barowitz photos by Mich Ouellette Editor’s note: Both Stacy Mitchell and Bollard editor and pub- lisher Chris Busby are board members of the Portland Independent Business and Com- munity Alliance (pibca), the all-volunteer, non- profit organization that launched the Portland Buy Local campaign last year. pibca had no role in the research, writing or publishing of this ar- ticle. Bollard Publishing is solely responsible for its contents.

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Page 1: Save-A-Lot Salvation · 2011. 4. 4. · owns the Save-A-Lot in South Paris. At an average of about 15,000 square feet, Save-A-Lot stores are much smaller than conventional supermarkets

12 the bollard | portland, maine 13fall 2007

a token nod with its “Salute to Ameri-

ca’s Farmers” displays.

Still, the amount of local food avail-

able at these chains is minuscule. As

one local supplier, echoing the state-

ments of many of those interviewed,

said, “They’re not doing nearly enough.”

The very nature of these mega-mar-

kets—with their centralized decision-

making and chain-wide policies—often

puts small-scale growers and producers

at a disadvantage. The chains’ opera-

tions mesh more easily with those of

mega-growers like Earthbound Farm

and Cal-Organic, agribusiness behe-

moths that supply the bulk of Whole

Foods’ produce under guidelines that

stretch the definition of “organic” to the

breaking point.

When author Michael Pollan took

Whole Foods to task for this in his 2006

book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Whole

Foods ceo Mackey responded with a

forceful defense of the chain’s buying

practices and support for small-scale

growers. But Mackey also acknowledged

that his corporation has to do a better

job working with local farmers, and

pledged to make improvements.

One thing Mackey makes no

apologies for is Whole Foods’ aggres-

sive merger and expansion strategy, by

which it grew from one tiny, struggling

natural foods store in Austin in 1978 to

the dominant force in the fastest-grow-

ing sector of the global supermarket

business today.

As homegrown, independent retailers

continue to get bought out or squeezed

out by giants like Whole Foods, small-

scale farmers and food producers stand

to lose more than they’ve gained.

“That’s one of the long-term risks

in this situation,” said one vendor. “If

Lois’s [Natural Marketplace] and the

other small markets go away, that will

create a situation that will be very dan-

gerous to local producers.”

Selling through small, local retailers

has some distinct advantages over doing

business with Whole Foods, according to

most of the suppliers interviewed for this

story. Here their products don’t compete

against a store brand, and are often priced

lower than they are at Whole Foods.

“Our product is prominent in their

stores. I think they consider it a really

valuable item in their lineup,” said one

vendor who sells to Micucci Grocery Co.

and Aurora Provisions in Portland, and

Lois’ Natural Marketplace in Scarborough,

in addition to Whole Foods.

Some vendors said small, local retail-

ers will often put less of a markup on

local foods than other items they sell.

“We are willing to make a lower margin

[because] we feel like [local foods] are a

great identification point for our store,”

said John Naylor, owner of Rosemont

Market and Bakery in Portland.

“With Rosemont, I can call and say,

‘I’ve got a couple hundred pounds of

tomatoes,’ and John will put me on hold

and ask the kitchen if they can use them,”

another vendor said. “They can make that

transaction in 30 seconds. Whole Foods

can’t do that.”

It’s crucial to have a diversity of buyers,

local food producers stressed. Be-

coming dependent on one big buyer

like Whole Foods is risky. “They

can turn it off like a light bulb,” one

vendor remarked.

How amenable are executives

at Whole Foods’ Austin headquar-

ters to requests that it carry more

local foods and price them more

reasonably in Portland? That’s an

open question, but Gulino did say

the store is eager to “engage cus-

tomers and find out: Are we doing

a good job?”

One surefire way for consumers here

to keep Whole Foods on its toes is to be

the kind of customer the chain purports

to attract: the conscientious shopper

who cares not only about price and se-

lection, but about the quality and origin

of their food, and how their spending

decisions impact the community and

the environment. If you reflect and act

on those values, you may very well find

yourself shopping elsewhere, which in

turn would only improve Whole Foods.

That’s because one thing this chain

and its shareholders certainly appreciate

is the bottom line. The more vigorous

the competition, the more responsive

Whole Foods will need to be to farmers

and other food producers, and customers.

Stacy Mitchell lives in Portland. She

is a senior researcher at the Institute for

Local Self-Reliance and author of Big-

Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-

Retailers and the Fight for America’s

Independent Businesses.

“Blessed are you who confuse ‘Consumerism’ with ‘Freedom,’ for you shall be delighted

to discover the difference … Blessed are city neighborhoods that people have flown from in fear,

for your children shall return to illuminate the dark economy.”

from “The Beatitudes of Buylessness,” by Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

On our second date, in an attempt at bourgeois liberation, I took the woman who would

one day be my ex-girlfriend to Save-A-Lot. I was trying to wean her off Wild Oats. Her

dubiousness turned to disgust when she discovered an open box of cereal that had

been resealed with packing tape. “But the bag probably isn’t damaged,” I parried.

Some months later, I thought I had another chance to convert her when a critter scuttled

across our feet at the meat counter in Wild Oats. “A mouse?” the butcher said. “They’re all over

the place here.”

To the end, however, neither of us would give in.

Shopping at Save-A-Lot is like a trip to an alternate supermarket universe, where the stock

room is the sales floor and the products all look familiar, yet somehow different than the brands

you know.

Cans are displayed in their custom-

designed, perforated-front cartons on steel

shelves or pallets—employees just rip off

the front of the box to stock. This saves the

labor cost of removing items from boxes.

Further labor savings are realized by not

“fronting” cans so customers see the faces of

all the labels neatly arrayed. Instead, most

product labels have two faces.

The produce section is small, limited and

seasonal, though they do seem to consistent-

ly have tropical staples like mangos, papayas,

plantain, and yucca.

Save-A-Lot Salvation A guide to an alternate supermarket universe

by Zachary Barowitz

photos by Mich Ouellette

Editor’s note: Both Stacy Mitchell and Bollard editor and pub-lisher Chris Busby are board members of the Portland Independent Business and Com-munity Alliance (pibca), the all-volunteer, non-profit organization that launched the Portland Buy Local campaign last year. pibca had no role in the research, writing or publishing of this ar-ticle. Bollard Publishing is solely responsible for its contents.

Page 2: Save-A-Lot Salvation · 2011. 4. 4. · owns the Save-A-Lot in South Paris. At an average of about 15,000 square feet, Save-A-Lot stores are much smaller than conventional supermarkets

14 the bollard | portland, maine 15fall 2007

The small store and lack of brand

comparison make shopping at Save-A-

Lot a pretty quick chore. The hundreds

of house brands boost your morale—

you don’t feel like you’re buying generic.

As you walk through the aisles, you tend

to stop noticing that these products are

not major brands, but rather re-workings

of those brands’ package designs, color

schemes and fonts. One might even

choose to stop and admire the award-

winning graphic design on a box of

Harris Farms instant mashed potatoes.

To the uninitiated, the checkout

may take you aback. First off, there is

no grocery bagger. Instead, the cashier

leans back and insouciantly grabs an

empty cart in which to deposit the

scanned items. Payment is by cash or

card—no checks. “Bagging,” so called,

is done by the customer at a long table

beyond the checkout.

Most customers eschew the plastic

bags—those of the standard size (and,

I learned, sub-standard strength) cost

two cents; thicker, larger ones cost a

dime each—in favor of the recycled

(and recyclable) cardboard stock boxes

provided for that purpose. There is usu-

ally some heavy brown paper around

that blocks the gap left by the pull-away

front pretty well.

As a grocery store, Save-A-Lot has

a lot going for it. The items it carries

are comparable in taste and quality to

those you’ll find at Hannaford, Shaw’s,

and even Whole Foods (see the graph

on page 17). It’s a franchise, but indi-

vidual stores are locally owned, and its

business practices are more socially

conscious and environmentally friendly

than its chain-grocer competitors’. Most

importantly, it generally has the lowest

prices in town.

So why aren’t you shopping there? If

it isn’t the food and it isn’t the prices or

even the company’s relationship with

Gaia, what’s keeping you away?

Save-A-Lot was founded in 1977

by grocer Bill Moran, who ran it

on the dual premise that a.) Poor

people buy food, and b.) There are not

enough supermarkets in poor neighbor-

hoods. The target customers are people

who “either need or want to save money

on their grocery bills”—44 percent of the

population, by the company’s reckoning.

Save-A-Lot’s strategy is to open

stores in sub-prime (low-rent) locations

near high concentrations of low-to-

middle-income families—underserved

neighborhoods where other chains have

pulled out in favor of sprawling suburbs

with wealthier demographics.

In 1993, Save-A-Lot became a subsid-

iary of the supermarket conglomerate

Supervalu (which also owns Shaw’s),

though Moran stayed on as president

and ceo until last year, and is still an ad-

visor to the company. There are over 1,150

stores nationwide, most concentrated in

Appalachia and around the Great Lakes,

with a big cluster in Florida.

Save-A-Lot is what’s known in

industry jargon as a “hard discounter,”

or, in their own corporate terminology,

an “extreme value, edited assortment”

grocery chain. The company runs

bare-bones, no-frills operations to keep

prices low, and stocks only the most

popular products (and sizes of those

products), including over 400 different

house brands.

The idea is to provide a decent stan-

dard of basic foods—as opposed to local,

gourmet or artisanal offerings—cheaply.

Save-A-Lot boasts that it can save you

up to 40 percent on your grocery bill.

Research for this article compared the

unit price of 26 house and national

brands of dairy products, canned goods,

meat, produce, and frozen foods, and

found Save-A-Lot to be 29 percent

cheaper than Hannaford.

The company claims their house

brands are as good or better than their

competitors’. “We have buyers in the

fields,” said John Hammontree, owner

of the Save-A-Lot in Portland’s Union

Station Plaza on St. John Street. “We

only sell grade A vegetables in our

canned goods—many supermarket

house brands sell grade B.”

Hammontree was a marketing director

for Supervalu before he decided to open his

own Save-A-Lot in 2000. The city of Port-

land encouraged this by giving him a loan for

the Union Station store. Hammontree also

owns the Save-A-Lot in South Paris.

At an average of about 15,000 square feet,

Save-A-Lot stores are much smaller than

conventional supermarkets and miniscule

compared to big-box retailers like Wal-Mart.

The stores stock about 1,250 items (compared

to 30,000 at a typical supermarket), which

are all delivered on one truck from one of 16

national distribution centers (the Portland

store is supplied out of Coxsackie, N.Y., a

town south of Albany). “We have virtually

no storage, so everything is out on the floor,”

Hammontree told me.

Running smaller stores reduces overhead

expenses: lower rent, lower heating and air

conditioning costs, a smaller staff with flex-

ible responsibilities. There are no labor- and

equipment-intensive departments like phar-

macies, floral departments, bakeries, or delis.

Security costs are low. “We don’t sell liquor

and cigarettes,” Hammontree said, “so there

is nothing worth the risk of stealing.”

The “edited assortment” of products

means that, for example, there are two

brands of ketchup, two kinds of mustard,

and one kind of mayonnaise—all available

in just one size. “We keep it simple,” said

Hammontree. “We don’t have sales or loss

leaders [products priced extremely low to

lure customers into the store in the expecta-

tion they’ll buy other, more expensive items].

Our prices are consistent and sometimes go

down due to greater buying power.”

All this economizing (small stores, super-

streamlined supply chain, urban locations)

saves not only money, but energy, making

Save-A-Lot a relatively “green” enterprise. On

the other hand, the cost-cutting also extends

to using non-union labor, though according

to their Web site, Save-A-Lot has hired over

4,000 people formerly on public assistance.

Save-A-Lot carries the types of non-

food items one expects to find at a

conventional grocery store (dish soap,

toilet paper, etc.), and these are generally of

passable quality. When food shopping there,

I usually stick to the basics, like pasta, meat,

fresh and frozen vegetables, and canned

goods from the large Goya section. Beyond

the staples, Save-A-Lot sells a downright

depressing assortment of canned, frozen,

microwavable, nitrate-rich prison meats, and

the kind of instant foods one expects to find

on a hotplate in an SRO.

For this guide, I’ll mostly stick to the

highlights.

grocery The milk, apple juice, tomato-vegetable juice,

olive oil, frozen beef liver ($.99/lb.), eggs

and parmesan cheese are all fine, if unre-

markable. Likewise, I’ve never been disap-

pointed with the meats, though the fresh

chicken legs lacked flavor, even for chicken.

The pork is generally as good or better than

my local butcher’s, and the turkey wings

are quite good when boiled in a flavorful

broth—e.g., soy sauce and Worcestershire,

or Old Bay seasoning (which Save-A-Lot

stocks, but I could not find at Wild Oats

or Hannaford).

I’m not sure how it made it onto the list of

the 1,250 most popular items, but the Tropi-

cal brand frying cheese (just slice and fry, no

need to bread it) was very good.

The Krrrrisp Kraut sauerkraut sold here is

real sauerkraut, which means it is fermented,

not pickled. Fermented foods preserve the

vitamins and have health benefits similar

to yogurt. According to the Weston A. Price

Foundation, eating sauerkraut will cure acne.

I found a bottle of Autocrat coffee

syrup—a rarity outside the Ocean State. In

Rhode Island they drink coffee milk like

people in other states drink chocolate milk.

Page 3: Save-A-Lot Salvation · 2011. 4. 4. · owns the Save-A-Lot in South Paris. At an average of about 15,000 square feet, Save-A-Lot stores are much smaller than conventional supermarkets

16 the bollard | portland, maine 17fall 2007

Apart from being sweetened by corn

syrup, this stuff is good, especially

when added to the end of the milk in

the carton and shaken ’til frothy.

I compared Save-A-Lot chocolate syr-

up, cling peaches, Triscuit-style crackers,

and cream cheese to well-known brands

and detected no distinct difference,

except in the case of the crackers, which

were unpleasantly oily. Neither choco-

late syrup was as tasty or flavorful as the

coffee syrup.

The breads at Save-A-Lot are pretty

mushy and corn-syrupy, but the English

muffins are ok.

I once saw a classy-looking woman

in one of those expensive quilted hunt-

ing coats stocking up on $.49 Banquet

chicken pot-pies. Unfortunately, I

found them to be a good source of

saturated fats and not much else—

especially not chicken.

For some reason, Save-A-lot aban-

dons its limited-selection strategy when

it comes to smoked, cured, and nitrate-

rich meats, offering many varieties of

bacon, packaged cold cuts, kielbasa, and

hot dogs. The best item among these

is the 8 oz. package of Armour hard

salami for $1.99, followed by the liver-

wurst ($1.50/1 lb. package), bacon, and

salt pork.

The kielbasa was adequate when

cooked, but not palatable out of the

package like real kielbasa (any self-

respecting kielbasa-eater will find their

way to Medeo European Food & Deli,

in Westbrook). About the best thing I

could say about the sliced turkey breast

is this: it was so salty that if I closed my

eyes, I would have thought I was eating

ham. This is not my favorite section, but

the mixed meats and sauerkraut make a

decent quick-and-dirty choucroute garnie.

I’m not a big wine drinker, but for $4

a bottle, the Corq Dorq, which comes in

a choice of colors, is not bad. (The new

$4 Summerfield wine at Whole Foods is

better, if less distinctive.) The Crocodile

Rock Aussie chardonnay tastes like

someone dumped a cup of sugar into

a bottle of bad wine.

frozen foodsFish & Meat

Save-A-Lot has a large selection of

frozen, uncooked/unbreaded fish fillets,

including whiting, tilapia, salmon, or-

ange roughy, ocean perch, and pollock.

Nearly all of these are products of China.

Aside from general concerns about the

safety of food from the People’s Repub-

lic, the frozen fish is excellent, though

I find the ocean perch somewhat bland.

Save-A-Lot also has quarter-pound pack-

ages of Chilean salmon that’s smoked

in the USA. The flavor is mild, and

at $14/lb., the price is good, though I

prefer the grab-bag of sinewy lox trim-

mings sold in other stores for $9/lb.

Save-A-Lot carries Mississippi catfish

nuggets (fish pieces lightly battered and

coated in corn flour) that are great fried,

though I usually microwave or boil

them. The frozen, pre-cooked shrimp,

a product of Thailand, are decent.

In the freezer case, near the ice

cream (which, along with the fudge

bars, friends tell me is excellent), you’ll

find ground turkey meat at $1/lb. in

tubes similar to sausage casings. This

is good for chili, Bolognese (especially

with canned roast beef mashed in; more

on that later), or as Thai meatballs with

a can of red curry mixed into them.

Prepared FoodsPotato-and-cheese-filled pierogi (Pol-

ish dumplings) are the gateway item I

use to convert friends to Save-A-Lot. The

product price healthiness flavor

frozen broccoli

wf: $1.99/1 lb. bagsal: $.99/1 lb. bag

Both are 100 percent frozen broccoli; the sal brand is a product of Guatamala, the 365 is a product of Ecuador

Both items were placed in the microwave at the same time for the same duration. 365 was slightly fresher

tasting; sal a little watery.

canned green beans

wf: $.99/14.5 oz.sal: $.47/14.5 oz.

Both are products of the usa. The 365 has no salt, whereas sal is high in sodium (see flavor). Since this much salt is not healthy in a normal diet,

we’ll give a big nod to Whole Foods. Plus, there was a voluntary recall as a precaution against botulism by the company that supplies

sal and other brands.

The no-salt 365 beans were boarding-school bad. sal was much better. The sodium differential made it an unfair comparison, but in the end, does anyone

actually like canned green beans anyway?

cannedtomatoes

wf: $1.29/28 oz.sal: $.49/14.5 oz.

Equal sodium. The nutritional information is about equal. Interestingly, though both have the same amount of dietary fiber, Whole Foods lists it as a higher percentage of daily value. Both brands list calcium chloride

(chalk, used as a thickening agent, which can cause stomach upset or heart irregularities) in the ingredients, although sal lists it lower

(according to quantity) in the ingredients list than 365.

Most tasters found the 365 tomatoes firmer and better, though my sample had a large, unpleasant core. On the other hand, the juice from sal was richer and better-tasting, which implies that it

was cooked longer.

mac ’n’ cheese wf: $.89/7.25 oz. boxsal: $.34/7.25 oz. box

365 has more natural ingredients, whereas sal is made with bleached flour, food additives, and artificial color.

While sal tasted like regular mac ’n’ cheese, the 365 was unpopular with the tasters, who called it “bland,”

“salty,” “crunchy,” and reminiscent of “Tang.”

marinara sauce

wf: $1.99/32 oz.sal: $1.79/32 oz.

$.99/32 oz.

Both 365 and sal brand Ferrato’s, the more expensive sal entry, have good ingredients. The cheaper sal brand contains corn syrup. This

category is pretty even, but the richer ingredients give 365 the edge.

The 365 sauce tasted like someone made an effort to make decent sauce: “spicy and complex.” sal

sells two varieties of basic tomato sauce. The more expensive one with the better ingredients was

palatable, but not much better than spiced tomato paste, while the cheaper one was just sweet.

bacon wf: $4.99/12 oz.sal: $2.99/16 oz.

Bacon is not a health food. The 365 brand says it’s “uncured,” though it contains pork, water, sea salt, and “evaporated cane sugar,” which presumably is the same as evaporated cane juice. The sal brand is

cured with sugar, but contains harmful sodium nitrate.

The tasters all preferred the sal bacon for a bigger up-front flavor, being less “Save-A-Lotty,” and having

a better texture.

cola wf: $2.29/6 packsal: $.63/2 lt. bottle

Have we really gotten to the point where “pure cane sugar” is considered healthy? The 365 brand boasts on the can that it uses non-gmo sugar in place of corn syrup. For the record, refined white sugar is harmful. Still, it’s healthier than Bubba Cola, which is made with corn

syrup. Both contain food additives.

While some tasters preferred Bubba’s weak cola taste (“seltzer-y,” “like rc”), confirmed Coke drinkers

liked 365. Neither was very good.

strawberry jam

wf: $1.59/10 oz.sal: $1.99/32 oz.

The 365 fruit spread is made with concentrated white grape juice and strawberries. sal’s brand lists strawberries first among the ingredients,

but then lists both corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. In either case, strawberries are among the foods most contaminated by pesticides.

The sal strawberry preserve was very fruity, not too sweet, and had large chunks of fruit, whereas the 365

version was drippy and undistinguished.

tomato juice wf: $1.99/46 oz.sal: $1.99/64 oz.

Both offerings are from concentrate. The sal brand is a vegetable juice (like V-8) including carrot, beet, parsley, lettuce, celery, watercress, and

spinach; the 365 is just tomato. Both are high in sodium.

The 365 was watery; sal was a bit richer, but not as bold as V-8.

chocolate crème cookies

(oreo-oids)

wf: $2.99/20 oz.sal: $.99/16 oz.

The 365 has much lower sodium, no corn sugars, and no saturated fat; the sal brand has 2.5 grams of saturated fat in three cookies.

The sal cookies had a better chocolate flavor and a better-tasting, fluff-like crème. The 365 cookies were too sweet and had a lumpy, lard-y, translucent crème.

At a recent dinner party, a focus group blind-tasted similar foods from Whole Foods Market’s in-house brand, 365, and

Save-A-Lot (sal) house brands. The taste comparisons were, of course, subjective; the healthiness metric is based on listed

ingredients, nutritional information, and information from A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, by Ruth Winter, with

nitrates and corn syrup constituting red flags. sal scored overwhelmingly better in price, and somewhat better in taste. Whole

Foods was moderately better on healthiness.—Z.B.whole foods (wf)

save-a-lot (sal)

slight advantage

advantage

big advantage

even

bubba vs. 365

Ω continued on page 33

158

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Page 4: Save-A-Lot Salvation · 2011. 4. 4. · owns the Save-A-Lot in South Paris. At an average of about 15,000 square feet, Save-A-Lot stores are much smaller than conventional supermarkets

32 the bollard | portland, maine 33fall 2007

Save-A-Lot Salvation

flavor is essentially potato; the cheese

adds richness. I prefer boiling to fry-

ing. Add frozen peas (or shrimp or other

vegetables) to the water and serve with a

sauce containing one or all of the follow-

ing: butter, olive oil, caramelized onions,

anchovies, ricotta cheese, feta, and salami.

At 18 pierogi for $1.20, this works out to

about 40 cents for a meal-sized portion.

The cheese ravioli ($2/lb.) is of much

the same quality and taste—just thicker

and minus the potato filling.

The frozen burritos are not bad, but

they benefit from being served enchilada-

style. Whip up a sauce from canned toma-

toes, canned chipotle peppers (available in

the Goya section) and melted cheese.

Of the assortment of microwavable

sandwiches, the White Castle hamburg-

ers and Marketfare Deli Pride fish and

breaded-chicken sandwiches are the most

distinguished. (Avoid the composite sub-

stance called “Barbeque Rib.”)

VegetablesFrozen veggies generally go for $1 per

1 lb. bag. All are good. The collard greens,

pepper mix, and Asian vegetables (broc-

coli, peppers, water chestnuts, etc.) are

my favorites. Try the collards mixed with

caramelized onions and water-packed feta

from Micucci’s.

produceThe papayas, at $.89/lb., are of pretty

consistent quality, but they can take up to

two weeks to ripen—like many tropical

fruits, they should be eaten only after they

turn truly ugly.

The grapefruit, at $5/5 lb. bag, are

also of consistently high quality, juicy

and sweet. As with all citrus, find the

heaviest ones.

Among the potatoes, both the super-

enormous bakers and the Green Giant

boilers with the red skin and yellow flesh

($3/5 lb. bag) are of above-average qual-

ity. The celery is good, as are the Hacky

Sack–sized avocados. At press time, red

peppers were at $1.59/lb.; they can go as

low as $.79/lb.

canned foodA 14.5 oz. can of Diane’s Garden toma-

toes ($.54/lb. unit price) is cheaper than

the same size can at Hannaford, but Han-

naford’s 28 oz. can was less by unit price

(I did not compare quality). Buy the whole

tomatoes, since the diced-with-peppers

variety comes with added sugar.

Among the other canned goods, I

usually stock up on sardines. Aside from

being packed in soybean oil, these are

about the best fish you can buy in terms of

being cheap, sustainably harvested, high

in Omega-3’s and, due to their small size,

low in toxins. Serve on buttered toast or

in a sandwich with cabbage, mayo, and

vinegar-miso-molasses sauce.

A curious item is the canned roast beef

(stew meat, really) in thick gravy. This is a

product of Brazil. Although it can be used

in a pinch for a quick stew, try mashing

it up in a heavy skillet, then add canned

tomatoes and tomato paste for “spaghetti

and gravy.”

The canned octopus ($.99) is good

and firm, and can be eaten as a salad with

chopped celery, peppers and onions, or

skewered on a toothpick with an olive, a

pimento, a pickled carrot and a caper. By

contrast, the canned smoked oysters are

typically mushy.

At Save-A-Lot, you don’t pay extra

for an attractive environment, at-

tentive staff, or the convenience of

one-stop shopping. That said, the lack of

variety and specialty foods are drawbacks.

Save-A-Lot works best as a complement

to the offerings of local butchers, bakers,

specialty and ethnic shops, and seasonal

farmers’ markets—all of which have their

own advantages over the large chains.

Other big grocers hype up their

environmental credentials and worldli-

ness (or, alternately, localness), but carbon

atom for carbon atom, none are greener

than Save-A-Lot. As for being worldly or

local, consider that it’s not uncommon to

find the Union Station Save-A-Lot entirely

filled with customers from the neighbor-

hood wearing native dress or speaking a

foreign tongue. Seen that crowd at Whole

Foods lately?

Though Save-A-Lot is firmly en-

trenched in the logic of capitalism and sits

at the anus of the Big Food-chain, there is

nevertheless hope for liberation within the

system. To borrow from Marx:

The abolition of [the grocery shopping

experience] as the illusory happiness of

the people is the demand for their real

happiness. To call on them to give up

their illusions about their condition is

to call on them to give up a condition

that requires illusions.

In other words, eat a pierogi.an erotic boutique

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