Over the last few months, I’ve been complaining about the state of conventional grapes in the local grocery stores. Grapes are one of the foods that are most widely found with pesticide traces.
My family loves grapes. My husband and children have been known to go through 2-3 bunches of grapes a day. I would buy them organic grapes all the time but 1) they’re hard to find, and 2) when I do find them, they’re awfully expensive.
When I bravely suggested saving grapes as an occasional treat, I was shot down pretty quickly. So finally, a month ago, I headed to my local Kroger and wrote a note to the produce manager. In it I brought up how conventional grapes are loaded with pesticides, and I felt that we as customers deserved better, so would he please try to provide us with organic grapes at an affordable price? (I stressed the affordable part.)
I went home and forgot about the note. Honestly? I didn’t think much would come of it, since I have *never* seen affordable organic grapes anywhere.
Last Sunday, I ran to Kroger for some groceries, and lo and behold, what do I see but a whole section of organic grapes, priced at 30 cents/lb cheaper than the conventional ones right next to them! I could have hugged the Kroger produce manager. Instead, I proceeded to buy 6 bags of those organic grapes, and then I wrote him a thank you note.
So next time you’re at your friendly neighborhood grocery store, make the effort to write the manager a note… you may be surprised at the results!
Maybe you’re overweight, suffering blood sugar problems, can’t sleep at night, have difficulty concentrating… You know that drinking pop, eating lots of toast or even wolfing down baked goods from the health food store is not the answer. Read more » |
{ 7 comments }
Sarah, that is awesome! Your Kroger dude rocks. Isn’t it wonderful to know that your little note made such a huge difference? (I hope you didn’t buy ALL of the grapes so a couple of other folks could reap the benefits… haha!)
Ironically last week I was actually going to complain about some fruit I got at my local Krogers… I bought about 5 red delicious apples and 3 peaches that looked yummy. But when I got them home and tried them, YUCK! The peaches were mealy and dry. The apple were red but definitely not delicious. I wondered what kind of mad science they were using to make the fruit look so good and yet taste so crappy. (I might have been better off just getting some wax fruit. Might have tasted better.)
Thank goodness for the local farmer’s market! Each week I totally stock up and go broke all at once. I just paid $4 for 5 peaches… but these are scrumptious and worth every penny. I guess it’s like Seinfeld said, “Fruit’s a gamble.”
I had no idea on how they grow grapes and am amazed. There are not a lot of place to go organic so what would you recommend.
Hi, I would recommend doing what I did – writing a note to your local grocer requesting organic grapes at a reasonable price. :) Worked for me!
There are pesticides in all types of foods these days. I buy my fruits from the local farmers market. Its fresh and grown locally.
Rahul
http://www.gladwinmedical.com
That is too cool! I am about to head to the grocery in a few minutes. I will see what I can find.
I totally agree, nice to see someone that shares my passion about nutrition. Im absolutely obsessed with making sure everything is organic, I shop at local food stands as much as possible as a result.
Kudos to you, Sarah, for speaking up! And it’s heartwarming to see that our produce guys are really listening to us!
Re. grapes–I like them too, in fact I like all kinds of fruit. I don’t eat too many grapes tho because they’re super high in sugar and I’d rather minimized that–even from natural sources.
For people who don’t have local access to organics, there’s a wonderful organic website that I’ve recently discovered for buying fruits, nuts and seeds, even hard to get items like dried wolfberries, mulberries (both are low in sugar), chia and hempseeds (no these won’t get you high!): http://www.sunorganic.com
Dried fruit can be easily reconstituted just by soaking in water to cover (use a non-metal bowl or container and put a cover on it). Let them stand overnight to plump up, then refrigerate.
Comments on this entry are closed.