Lack of Independence

So here it comes. The death of the last independent grocery in Sacramento. The locally owned Corti Bros. will be relocating after 38 years. Relocating where? They don't even know. But they will no longer be within walking distance. Damn it. DAMN IT.

To survive mass retailing and the 'efficiencies of scale' as long as they have, they've offered a combination of products and services that chain supermarkets cannot or will not provide.

Now to be sure, they import a lot of specialized products from abroad. Sardines from Portugal. Hot peas from Japan. Cheeses from Ireland. Olive oils from Greece. In general I consciously avoid buying food from afar, so I don't frequent these items...but you will NEVER find these items at Savemart, King Soopers, Safeway, or Von's. Even if these items were/could be produced locally, they'd never be picked up by these chains. Chains operate by ordering sixty tons of block cheese at a crack from Fresno and distributing it via their vaunted efficient distribution networks...not from small, local providers. That you can only get 4 types of cheese, well, you're going to take it because that's all we offer, it's cheap so you're gonna buy it, and if you don't like it, eat shit.

However! Aside from their imported goods, they offer so many other local products that I'll not get elsewhere. Where am I going to find whole wheat pita? I'm not! Where am I going to find unpasteurized orange juice? I'm not! Heirloom tomatoes? Hummus? Haggis? Twenty varieties of California olives, and olive oils? Whole wheat pasta? Lavash bread?

You cannot find whole wheat pitas in chain stores...if you find pitas at all, they're on the bottom shelf, near expiration. And you will never, never! find unpasteurized juices. They don't hold well during trucking to Minnesota, so no one gets them. They are not safe! Bacteria! Fungus! Virus!

In addition to their product line, they offered a full service deli with about as many different types of foods as there are possible, and butchers willing to take your specific order. Try asking your FoodsCo store 'butcher' to cut 2" chops. Yeah, just yell your order through the double swing doors. They would escort you out of the store.

I suppose what I'm really reeling against is the continued loss of our culture -- the continued homogenization of our landscapes, our places of business, and our civic realm. I'll find some damn pita bread elsewhere, I'm sure.