How Americans go shopping and what they cook at home
'23.03.2019'
Source: Maintain Economy
Every trip to the store for Americans is a whole event, ending with an uncontrolled selection of products from the sale. Families are buying for future use, trying to save money on various promotions. About how much a regular grocery set costs in the USA - in the material of Maria Iskusnova.
American supermarkets are overwhelmed with a huge amount of products. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours to get around the whole store. The most necessary products, as usual, are located in the most remote corners of the store. And the products on the sale attracts with bright signs. Everything is done to ensure that the buyer, who came for milk, collected as much as possible unnecessary goods. There are practically no small grocery stores in Russia, but for now you’ll get around this grocery airfield, you won’t notice how the cart will be full, Maria writes for Maintain Economy.
Unlike manufactured goods, food in America is expensive. Half a gallon of milk (1,8 liters) costs $ 3, butter - $ 4 for a 200-gram pack, bread - $ 3-4 per loaf. Sour cream will cost $ 3-4 per can, eggs - $ 3 for 12 pieces. Chicken is sold for $ 2-3 per pound, meat from $ 3,99 to $ 15 for half a kilogram. If you buy organic products, feel free to multiply all these prices by 2.
Usually, Americans go shopping once a week on weekends. Huge not just carts, but carts of food, are being taken out of the stores in order to stretch it over the next week. Sometimes they visit 2-3 in different places to buy various products, including at a bargain price. Shops arrange competitions among themselves, making discounts for customers as attractive as possible.
Perhaps the most attractive promotion is buy 2 items for the price of one. And then American families buy 2 times more food than they need. Two loaves of bread for the price of one, 2 packs of cookies, 2 gallons of milk, and this is for a minute, almost 8 liters, 2 pizzas, 2 packs of eggs (24 pieces). And it all folds into a cart. There are also promotions from the Buy 2 series - the third item is a gift, or buy one, the second item will be at half price. As a result, the average grocery bill for a week is about $ 200-400 (depending on the size of the family). We can't spend less than $ 250 a week for three of us.
American women in general do not like to spend a lot of time at the stove. Therefore, 80% of grocery stores are inundated with semi-finished products of various types. Unhealthy food looks extremely attractive. And beautiful boxes just ask for a cart to the buyer. Frozen lasagna - $ 7 per serving, pizza - $ 5, ravioli - $ 5, cherry pie - $ 7 are in the greatest demand among Americans. You just put the semi-finished product in the oven for 30 minutes and the food is ready. Such products cannot be called healthy, they are expensive, but with a frantic pace of life they are very helpful, especially on weekends, when the whole family is at home and it is necessary to constantly cook.
A separate conversation is the quality of products; expiration dates raise many questions. For example, organic milk is stored in the refrigerator open and does not spoil for 40 days. Eggs - a month. Sour cream, even if the can is already unpacked, - 2 months. Kefir - 1,5 months, bread may well be stored for 2 weeks and not mold. Sauces and so on - up to six months open.
By the way, meat in the States is treated with carbon monoxide, and it has an unnatural red color. Chickens are pumped with water to increase weight, and hormones are also used. Over the 17 years of living in the States, I was practically accustomed to the periodic table in local food and to its questionable taste.
Now in every large grocery store in America there are self-service cash registers, where the customer independently scans every single item. After that, he puts everything in packages and pays the bill. An employee may be present nearby, and if something is not clear, it will always help to figure it out ... But at the exit, no one checks the checks and does not look at the packages. All on the conscience of the buyer. Supermarkets here trust customers.
Convenient stores where you can pay for purchases directly on the phone by scanning their products. Visitors save a lot of time, since they do not have to stand in line, and stores save on cashiers ’salaries. In addition, it allows you to maintain a positive attitude and friendly relations between people.
The queue is a place of conflict of interests. Local residents have a fundamentally negative attitude towards those who try to pass without having defended their due. This is considered the height of indecency and disrespect for others. The only surprise is that once a year, on Black Friday, Americans start to have a split personality, and tolerant principles fall asleep exactly during the wild sales. Normal, well-mannered people turn into monsters who are ready to break each other for a discount.
Usually shelves are bursting not only in stores, but also in home refrigerators. And the Americans are ready to share them. An interesting detail is that local schools and kindergartens regularly hold rallies to collect food for the poor. Something similar happened in the USSR, when schoolchildren collected waste paper or scrap metal.
Food for the poor is also weighed, and which class will collect more - that one wins the competition. The prize for these guys is usually a party. Thus, children in America are taught from a very early age to help the poor.
