 "Photo: Lucy Moore | Student Life")
As college students, most of us living on a budget, it can be annoying—and sometimes downright painful—to shell out the dough necessary to eat off the meal plan. It’s why we attack the free food. Hey, the phrase “starving college student” had to come from somewhere.
But what are the options? The most obvious and convenient option is Schnucks on Clayton Road. It’s within walking distance of campus, and lucky students might even catch the bus to the supermarket. But there are other options, like the organic Whole Foods and the discount grocery store, Aldi. The biggest differences between the three options boil down to two things: price and selection.
Whole Foods has, admittedly, a reputation. With its “I am not a plastic bag” campaign during the summer of 2006, and the fact that it calls itself a “Market,” Whole Foods appears to view itself as more than just a grocery store.
The store’s Web site, www.wholefoodsmarket.com, describes its mission as to “seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture.” When you walk into the store, it shows.
Brands I’d never heard of stocked all the shelves, blaring their organic nature, and—unfortunately—their organic prices. At times, this was a bit overwhelming. I was utterly lost as to why the apples from Minnesota were two dollars more expensive than the apples from Michigan. The sign on the apples claimed that “Flavor is the main element that drives our produce buying.” Are Minnesotans that much better at producing yummy apples?
Overall, Whole Foods tended to be about 50 cents more expensive than Schnucks, sometimes for the exact same product. For example, one pound of Driscoll’s Strawberries was $3.99 at Whole Foods. At Schnucks, the same strawberries cost $3.50. On the other hand, Whole Foods had foods you weren’t going to find other places, like delicious biscuits and amazing broccoli cheddar soup—basically, the things you would expect to buy from a cafeteria instead of a grocery store. These ready-made foods are worth the trip. But again, buying ready-made food kind of takes away the point of going to the grocery store.
A short ways away from Whole Foods is Aldi, the discount grocery store on Manchester, about two blocks west of Big Bend at 7725 Manchester Rd. In the words of the Web site, “Welcome to a place where quality reigns and low prices rule.”
The first thing that strikes shoppers about Aldi is the security deposit required to use a cart—25 cents to unlock the cart from its fellows in the corral. Clearly, Aldi isn’t taking any chances.
Looking at the prices inside the store, it’s easy to see why. The store literally can’t afford to lose things like carts at the prices they charge. As opposed to $3.99 at Whole Foods and $3.18 at Schnucks, a gallon of skim milk cost $2.68 at Aldi. Eggs were $1.29 instead of Schnucks’ $1.78. Basically, everything was about one to two dollars cheaper than usual prices.
But there was a catch. None of the food was a brand I had ever heard of before. Aldi apparently understood this apprehension, as their Web site,www.aldifoods.com/index_ENU_HTML.htm, states that, “first-time shoppers tend to gingerly pick out three or four items to try,” and then instructs shoppers to “throw caution to the wind.” After trying the non-brand-name food, I can personally attest that it tastes just as good as anything I would have bought with a label I recognized.
The other big catch for Aldi is its inconvenience. Utter inconvenience. In fact, unless you have a car or can borrow a car, the cheap food is basically out of your reach. But hey, if you do have a car it’s worth it. And on the bright side, you can take advantage of the $1.99 gas at the Shell next door while you’re at it.
