Tonight I wanted pita with hummus, cucumber, balsamic and lettuce. I went to my local Grade A on Newfield since it's so much faster than Super Stop and Shop. Even though Mrs. Green's up on High Ridge has far superior produce, I didn't feel like driving that far. I figured Grade A would be good enough.
Wrong, wrong, WRONG.
1. All 100 cucumbers in the cuc section were rotten. Soft, mottled, rotten.
2. Almost all of the grapes in bags were old and smushy. I thought the plastic containers looked like they had fresher ones, but when I got home, the bottom half of the container was full of the crappy loose grapes that fall off the stem because they're starting to rot.
3. The tomatoes on the vine were OK, but I swear they put the labels over some rotten spots.
Do NOT sell me rotten produce. That makes me angry. If I get up the energy to actually plan to eat healthy food, then get motivated enough to go buy the food, don't thwart that super-human effort. F you. That's right. A big Stamford Talk "F you" to today's produce section of my Grade A.
See? See all those loose grapes? RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Not that many institutions get the official "F you" from Stamford Talk. I think only Trump has ever gotten it from me, for endangering my life and the lives of those around me.
Well, the good news is, the pita was satisfactory despite the lack of crunchy cuc, I made a big batch of Tuscan white bean soup for my lunches this week, and I also made turkey meat loaf so I can make sure I'm getting enough protein.
That's right, get the hell out of my way when I decide to eat healthy. Unfortunately, I also ate 1/2 a box of Cheezits today. What can I say. I love Cheezits.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Rotten Produce at My Grocery Store- Rrr!
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24 comments:
I assume you mean the Grade A, not the A&P. It's also the closest for me, but I tend to avoid their vegetables.
Thanks Irene I just changed it. Don't our little discount cards say A and P? No, I just checked it says Shop Rite... I am confused.
Grade A's produce on Newfield is notoriously bad. The Grade A in Shippan is much better and the produce is really fresh, but the place is always mobbed!!
I agree - they shouldn't put bad produce out. But I've found really bad stuff at Mrs. Greens also, until someone told me to go on Tuesdays, because they've just restocked. The good day to go to GradeA is Wednesday. It's hit or miss as you get further away from those days, which is disappointing. In my opinion, I'd rather have nothing on the shelves than rotten produce!
Oh, and since you were craving pita, hummus, etc, you should have just gone an extra mile to Layla's on High Ridge - yum!!!!
I was their yesterday and I can confirm that there produce was particularly bad yesterday. Not sure what there deal is. And I have to disagree with the other comment about the Shippan produce. If your not carefull at that grocery store, you'll end up with a bag of lettuce that is past its sell by date. And forget about finding a bell pepper that isn't spotted. Stick to Stop & Shop for decent produce. I've yet to try Green's, but will do so next weekend.
The Grade A vs. Shop Rite logos have caused a few arguments in our household. The big sign outside says Grade A, but all the store products, bags and discount cards say Shop Rite. So I assume it's a former Grade A that was bought by Shop Rite.
Either way the produce sucks. We still get it anyway, because it's local.
But when we can load up on Costco produce we love it. You still spot rotten stuff there. But the general quality if you skip to the good stuff is superb. I hate the idea of warehouse stores, but we love their produce.
Grade A’s butcher and seafood seems alright though, and they’re getting more organic stuff in.
(sorry to re-post, realized I screwed up my spelling)
I usually shop at the Ridgeway Stop & Shop, and I don't understand why they bother leaving rotten produce out. I'll go to find a red pepper, and all that's there are about thirty mushy, crummy peppers that even a billy goat wouldn't eat. Why not just get rid of them?? Does an empty produce rack look any worse than one full of crap??
I'm also convinced that lettuce is just God's cruel joke on us. You buy what looks like a nice green head of Romaine. After the ten-minute drive home, the entire outer half of the head is now brown. You're left with maybe ten crispy green leaves. Aaargh!!!
Stamford's supermarkets are generally pretty bad, and always have been. I'm sure there are complicated political/personal reasons for keeping clean, well-stocked grocery stores out of the community. The Stop and Shop in Ridgeway is about as close as we've come. The Grade A on Newfield has always felt a little creepy to me, and the produce is generally pretty awful. Still, it's sometimes the best easy-in, easy-out option.
I bought some onions from Grade A in Newfield this summer and my house with plagued with small black flies. It took me for ever to get rid of them.
I've always had good luck at the Shaws supermarket in the Goodwives Shopping Center in Darien. Yes, it's not in Stamford, but it's relatively close and the drive and the general shopping experience at Shaws are much less stressful than dealing with the Stamford supermarkets.
Shaws is a much nicer place to shop...but it's also a lot more expensive. I detest most of the supermarkets in our area; they suck compared to the supermarkets I used to shop at in England (Tescos, Safeways, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer). You could get all you needed in one store and some great ready-made meals. When we do our weekly shop here we have to go to Grade A, Stop & Shop and Palmers to get everything we want. The fruit and veg is awful quality and Palmers is the only one of the three that sells decent bread.
For me, the drive into Norwalk to Stew's is the best bet. They seem to be trying to bring in more CT grown produce.
I find that the A&P on Hope is also a rotten-produce seller. I think that was even one of my first blogs, back in the day. It never ceases to piss me off that THEY never cease to pass off the rotten stuff. I even got screwed by Costco on my grape tomatoes this past weekend.
Don't you think the F U is a little extreme? I'm sure if you complained to the store manager they would replace your produce with something fresher or give you your money back. Just asking because I think it's unfair to trash a business like this without at least discussing the problem with them first. Everyone I've dealt with at Grade A has always been very kind and helpful.
I have to agree with the FU...do you know how frustrating it is to go into a supermarket and not be able to find an edible onion or tomato? It’s not like we are looking for off season strawberries.
Seriously, if you want your nearby crappy grocer to shift into high gear, you have to get comfortable with the idea of taking shit back to the store and showing them how unacceptable it is. I mean, don't be rude about it, but you need to tell them. If they want a loyal and repeat customer base, they should rectify the situation by allowing you to repick your produce or get a refund. If enough people would do this, a store will get the message.
My mother is from a long line of unembarrassable shoppers. (It helps that she is in her golden years. Old people do not get embarrassed!) She once bought and consumed some Super Stop and Shop packaged sushi, and then realized that her humble veggie roll had been mis-labeled and mis-priced, and that she had actually paid for the expensive tuna/salmon/yellowtail variety. Well, she took that empty container back to S&S and even though the sushi was all gone, customer service took her word for it and refunded her the entire amount she'd paid. Free veggie roll! Go mom.
I would have stopped on the way out, but I had ice cream by then and was not going to sacrifice my ice cream!
And, would have stopped while shopping, but was approaching hunger point. It just was not convenient for me to complain, and I felt like I'd already been inconvenienced and irritated enough.
I was kind of in a stressed out mood last weekend, so that, combined with being hungry, made me not feeling like trying to track down a manager.
I also figured, you know what, this produce is so bad, maybe someone else will complain, because I can't deal with this right now.
ShopRite/Grade A Shippan is the way to go..I've been here 8yrs and seen all the stores. Nothing beats Grade A Shippan and always reasonably priced.
Everyone has different experiences..I have seen both Grade A on Shippan and Commerce Park throw out rotten stuff. I have had been experience at Stop and Shop Ridge way and the A&P on High Ridge with both attitude and rotten produce.
The reality if you can get bad produce every where, but I would agree with the Newfield evaluation of Grade A - except the plants.
The issue about Grade A vs Shoprite has to do with Singari linking with Shop Rite before Stop & shop went crazy in the area. The difference between the stores is square footage, the Newfield store does not have enough square footage to be a ShopRite, The other stores do. They removed the liquor store to make it have enough square footage in Shippan. They all use the same stuff and produce and some make do to make money.
www.peapod.com is the sh*t!!!! Always pristine produce in my experience anyways!
My SIL, a mom of four little boys w/a demanding job, swears by Peapod.
I don't often make time to check up on Stamford Talk but I am delighted to see you take on the crappy supermarket produce. I bought a few baseball sized nectarines at Commerce Park Shoprite (which I like for most items because of selection and price) and put them in my Debby Meyers Green Bag (a very sound investment if you are on a budget or a child of the '60's who feels guilty about throwing away food when there are starving children in Indochina) and they never got soft but did get rotten.
Can I tell you how crazy it makes me when I buy a peach or nectarine and it finally gets soft enough to eat, but it's a mouthful of sweetened instant mashed potatoes?
Years ago I asked a cousin who was a caterer and a food stylist where she got her premium produce for parties. She also complained about the dearth of high quality fruits and vegetables and said she paid the higher price at Korean greengrocers.
BTW, I agree w/Layla's as the choice when you're jonesing for hummus and pita with salad. I like Trader Joes for just about everything these days.
Here's something I'd love to see: a local blog like this with a weekly consumer's guide to food, etc. Sort of like an Angie's List for local shopping, particularly food and beverage. But free.
Sad, but Stamford has close to 3rd world quality produce. It is amazing that I can get better produce in the country of Alabama, than in Stamford, CT. True.
Just moved to Stamford a few months ago and I couldn't agree more about the Grade A's on Newfield and Hope Streets as well as the S&S in Ridgeway. The produce is GROSS! I drive to Shaw's in Darien or to Stew Leonards....it is kind of a pain though.
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