Keep Focused!

I’m having a hard time focusing this morning. I’ve been skipping here and there, all around the net, looking for something that really stands out as being ‘important stuff to know’. So far, no luck. Sure, there’s a lot to read, but I’m not easily satisfied this morning. 30 years ago, having access to this amount of information was unheard of. Now I’m a news snob.

As I was snooping the headlines, I was looking for a story on food prices, but I couldn’t find a good one for the local scene. I did find a good blog article that gave a personal touch to the cost of food. And our own experiences at shopping are not at all representative of what a family of 4 or 5 has to face each time they go to the store.

We shop around a lot, going to Food Maxx primarily and then Trader Joe’s, Raley’s and WinCo. Plus an occasional trip to Costco. We do our best to avoid Safeway in Chico and the local market here on the Planet Orland as they are both far too bold in their price gouging. And I noticed that during the past few weeks, there have been two clerks busy changing prices in the aisles of Food Maxx. That’s at least 3 trips to the market in those two weeks and each time I saw them changing prices.

Speaking of the local market; I had to pick up some fresh cilantro the other day and so I went in. As usual, the small baskets, useful for small purchases were not to be found. (They really want you to use a BIG cart) I finally located one at an empty checkstand and began my quest. Sure, I know where the cilantro is but I always like to look around and see if there’s anything else to buy. That’s when I spotted the half loaves of bread. There was a big sign to advertise the fact that half loaves were ‘finally available’. At $2.94 each. Being somewhat paranoid, I saw this as an attempt to grab dollars from elders. Families of 4 aren’t going to need a half loaf; that’s one lunch!

Using the knowledge from our limited exposure to the new prices, it looks like Food Maxx, Winco and Trader Joe are where we will be shopping. For now. There might come a time when it would be smart to gather up shopping lists from elders here and do some bulk shopping for those who cannot get in to Chico. A once a week experience. That’s sort of rattling around in my head and I have no plan for it. But…I also know that shopping locally is also a social event for many elders. Sometimes it’s the highlight of their day and what is that worth? Priceless.