TheBanyanTree: Will Shop for Food

[Margaret R. Kramer]

On December 28, 2006, The St. Paul Pioneer Press published an article “Urban
Grocery Gap Grows.”  The premise of the article is that there are more
grocery stores per person and within a reasonable driving or traveling
distance to suburbanites than to urban dwellers.  One of the examples was a
person who made a two hour bus trip because of transfers and such to get to
the grocery to buy a few groceries (the amount he could carry) and get home.
Another example was that of a woman who took the bus to the store and then
waited in vain for a cab to take her home.  Her bags ripped in the pouring
rain and she ended up stuffing groceries into her pockets while waiting for
the bus.

Another premise was that a lot of economically challenged folks have to shop
at convenience stores because they are usually close by, but more expensive,
and have less nutritious  food.

I thought about this for a while.  As much as I hate grocery shopping, I do
have a car that will take me anywhere I want to go.  Within a five mile
radius, we have a Rainbow, a Cub, Kowalskis, Lunds, a Super Valu, co-ops,
and a small family-run grocery store, and within this coming year, a Super
Target.  We also have a Super America an easy walking distance two blocks
away.  But we live on the edge of an upscale area of St. Paul.  There are
parts of the city that do not have easy access to a major grocery store.

But, if I didn’t have a car, how would I get my groceries?  Well, there is a
bus route that would take me directly to the Super Valu.  The bus runs
frequently, so time wouldn’t be too much of a factor.  The problem would be
carrying a week’s worth (or more) of stuff home on the bus.  Would I go more
frequently than every other week like I do now?  Yikes – I hate shopping
with a passion.  Or would I be like that woman and call a cab and wait until
he/she comes to get me?

The other stores in my area would involve bus transfers and more time
allocated for the shopping experience along with the problem of getting the
stuff home.

I have faced this grocery store issue in my deep and dark past.  There were
times in my life I didn’t own a car.  Gasp!  The first time is when I did
not live near or have easy access to a store.  I had to use stores on my bus
routes or depend on friends to take me shopping.

Another time is when I lived right across the street from a co-op.  I could
walk over and shop and then I used a wagon to haul my groceries home.

When I lived in another area of Minneapolis, I used the bus to get to the
store and a cab to get home method, which worked pretty well.  I never had a
problem with a cab not showing up.  But that was years ago – maybe it’s
different now.

My ex-mother-in-law didn’t have a car, but she shopped the European way (she
was from Germany), she bought groceries every day.  She went to the
family-run grocery store down the street from her house (the one that’s in
my neighborhood).  She would walk down the street with her little wire mesh
shopping cart and get her food for that day.

In my old St. Paul neighborhood, the nearest bus line was a mile away.  So
if I didn’t have a car, I would have had to walk one mile to the bus stop.
Then take the bus to the store (fortunately on the bus route), and do the
same thing going home.

The article was right about another thing, too, the little family-run stores
are disappearing.  I remember when there were little stores, not convenience
stores, in most city neighborhoods.  I might run down to the store to get
milk, bread, or pick up some meat.  I didn’t do all my shopping there, but I
could use the store to quickly buy something I needed.  The food offerings
in those stores were better than the convenience stores we have today,
although they were still higher priced than a traditional grocery store.

But, no matter how many stores there are in the suburbs, you still need a
car to get to them.  Suburbs = Car.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the
starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and
brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and
unconditional love will have the final word.
~Martin Luther King