An editorial on the blog Portland Foodie by Jean Ann Van Krevelen recently asked that very question. Can you survive without a grocery store? Hmm….
Convenience is hard to give up. I think I could survive with less “grocery store” in my life, but I don’t think I could give it up entirely. I think it’s important to take a step back from agri-business and reconnect with food and where it comes from. My mother always talks about the giant victory garden her grandfather had at his house. I remember the garden my grandmother tended to every day in our backyard. Do younger generations have similar memories? Maybe not. I get how the grocery store monolith has created a wedge between people and the where/how of our food. For our health and the health of the younger generation we need to reconnect. However rediscovering a connection to food and nature doesn’t have to mean cutting the grocery store out completely, but it does mean relying on it a lot less.
What about you? Can you survive without the grocery store?