Grocery Shopping Week 5: Kroger

Kroger scores:
Co-op America's Responsible Shopper: F for ethics and governance, F for health and safety, D for greenwashing

Distance from my apartment: 3.1 miles (8 minutes)

I was surprised to find that Kroger has an extensive organics selection. Not just produce, but dairy, eggs, canned foods, juice, cleaning supplies...pretty much anything you could want. You could do all of your grocery shopping in the organics section and bypass the rest of the store, except that the organics section seemed to contain most of the popular name brand organic and all natural products (Stoneyfield Farms, Annie's, Eden's, Earth's Best, Seventh Generation, etc.) while the regular aisles contained some cheaper store brand organics. No fair trade items in sight, and the bananas were once again wrapped in plastic (but I did buy them this time).

I'm learning through this experiment that there's not a clear cut answer to the question, Where's the best place to grocery shop? If we're strictly talking budget, Kroger seems to be the way to go. On the other hand, I admire Whole Foods as a company and would feel more comfortable giving them my money. Food Lion is closest to my house so I could cut down on car emissions by riding a bike or walking. Capital City Grocery has the advantage of being locally-owned, sustaining my local economy. Which is most important? I think it all comes down to personal opinion. It's impossible to do everything, so what's most important to you?

This week's spending:

organic tofu
organic cheese (3 cups)
juice (2)
organic butter
organic milk
organic applesauce
organic baby food (7 jars)
organic baby cereal (2 boxes)
organic pita chips
cereal (2 boxes)
organic yogurt
organic avocado
organic carrots
organic bananas
mushrooms

Total = $54.68