this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2024
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Work Reform
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- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
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I know I'm in the minority likely, but Trader Joes is shit it isn't because it can't survive unionization. Just because your chips are organic doesn't make buying it from overly outgoing cashiers any healthier. Prepackaged junk food is prepackaged junk food and they sell a ton of it. Frozen dinners are still sodium bombs even though they don't have "preservatives". That said, fuck these two anti-union shitstains of companies.
They can survive it. Every company can survive it. They just don't want to give up their dictatorship.
I shop at union grocery stores. The boutique chains see this as a something to exploit instead of a feature. Many union chains are local too, most boutique ones are national.
"WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN?!"
I don't understand the trader Joe's love. It's a grocery store with a poor selection of fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats. They have a decent wine and beer selection. It's basically half frozen stuff, it's maybe higher quality than other places, but it's just frozen shit.
I was so disappointed the first time I went to Trader Joe's. It had been so hyped up and people made it sound like a mini Jungle Jim's. Then it opened and it was just a more expensive Aldi.
Edited to remove a mistyped word.
For those that don't live near Cincinnati, Jungle Jim's is an international grocery store that's amazing for foodies. It's massive, and it has everything from international meats and cheeses to alcohol to fruits to sweets to hot sauces. It's really a unique experience when it comes to grocery shopping.
It was better back in the early 2000s, in my opinion for two main reasons. First, the prices and quality were better. Second, and biggest of all, they carried a wide variety of products that had a limited presence in many American supermarkets, namely vegan/vegetarian meals, organic crap, and eclectic snacks. Most major grocers have caught up with demand and now they don't stand out all that much.
The hype is definitely not worth it.
It's usually just cheaper groceries but with a smaller selection
It wasn't cheaper in my experience, kroger and meijer managed to be the same or cheaper on all the things I commonly bought.
I haven't been to a TJs in a while, but I remember I would go there for maybe one or two specific things that I couldn't get anywhere else. They were delicious.
But you know what? I don't even remember what they were anymore, that's how important TJs is over any other grocery store.
Fuck them for being anti union. Guess they'll continue not getting my money.
Cheap vegan and vegetarian junk food that actually tastes good
I mean they make good cookie butter
But that's about it imo
Come on, the quality of food at Trader Joe's is FAR better than the brands you find at a Safeway.
Most of the food at Trader Joe's is just white label with fancy packaging. It's the same food you find at a Safeway.
There are a few specific items that Trader Joe's is notable for... but ditto for Safeway, Hannaford's, Food Lion, Star, Superstore, and SaveOn - I think two decades ago Trader Joe's was a trailblazer in high quality offerings but they've slowly compromised for profits and competitors have realized that high quality offerings are valued by consumers - not just price.
That's exactly my experience. We loved Trader Joe's in the early 2000s. Now there isn't much there we can't find elsewhere, and the quality isn't as good as what it once was. What IS exclusive to them is often artificially scarce to drive up price and demand. Looking at you, ube mochi pancake mix.
I have to admit to experiencing the same. I have fond memories from my undergrad years when I lived a few blocks from one and basically based my diet around them. Maybe they’re not the same anymore.
Interesting. Maybe I’m holding on to nostalgia.
It's absolutely not, and it's almost certainly grown, picked, packed, and shipped by the same slave labor.
The no preservatives label needs better regulation. Every food that has it is loaded with either salt or sugar. The reason that they are loaded with salt and/or sugar is because salt and sugar are two of the oldest and most used preservatives. And that's my soapbox, thanks for listening.
The other one that pisses me off is no added nitrates (except for all the nitrates in the additives we added). Just be honest, companies. It's really not hard to not be total shitbags.
The anti-unionization stuff makes me sad. They're really the only ones around here who carry vegetarian/vegan options. If I go to the chain store next door the prices are quite a bit more expensive, and all they have is a small corner of the refrigerated section of vegetarian options of questionable expiration.
They have a lot of prepackaged junk but they do have good prices on bananas, blueberries and nuts. They also have a decent super high fiber, low sugar bran cereal.
I forgot to mention the little Persian cucumbers. They don’t always have them in stock at the co-op.
But going forward, I’ll get my fruit from more ethical stores
Dont tell anyone but you can just pull them off trees and its free, nature wont even stop you.
I get as much as I can from the farmer’s market but where I live there will never be a banana season
I'm also of the opinion that produce is seasonal and should be treated that way. Some times of the year we shouldn't have bananas, blueberries, etc. They don't care where we get the good priced fruits from. Could be Peru or Vietnam, they don't care as long as they are on the shelves for consumers to buy. That ain't how we survive a climate crisis.