Corporate groceries

Megan at upsaid/oolong has put together a summary with links regarding the grocery store employees' strike that just started here in So Cal. She lists the stores in other areas that are affiliated with the So Cal chains if people want to support the strike by boycotting those stores.

I realized I rarely go into the stores that are affected by the strikes. Instead, I buy produce from the Path to Freedom family and the Farmer's Market; other groceries at Trader Joe's and a family-owned Armenian grocery store; and milk from a drive-through dairy, also family-owned. I go to Food 4 Less to buy cat food only.

A while ago I read about the non-unionized contractors who clean the floors and perform other tasks for the major chains. The conditions reported were quite appalling. Since then, I've avoided the chains as much as possible. Besides, so much of the "food" is way over-manufactured and processed for my taste. And the produce does not even begin to compete with the fruit and vegetables I'm fortunate to have access to and enjoy.

Pasadena has restrictions against mega-stores in the city. Other than Target, which moved into an old two-story department store in downtown, you have to go to other towns to shop at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. Again, for me, the box stores (except Target) are not even a temptation.