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European Markets Are So Much Better Than US Grocery Stores

March 16, 2013 •

Just back from Europe, I find myself wish­ing that US super­mar­ket chains pri­or­i­tized fresh­ness, taste and qual­ity over the finan­cial mar­gins. Com­pared to almost any local Euro­pean mar­ket, Amer­i­can pro­duce is pretty but bland. It’s sad that the chains have pushed the grow­ers to evolve their crops to sur­vive long trans­ports and sup­ply chains, rather than the con­sumer’s expe­ri­ence.

Take straw­ber­ries, for exam­ple. When they arrive on gro­cery shelves, Amer­i­can straw­ber­ries are hard, rather than burst­ing with juice; have almost no smell, and taste like card­board. At the farmer’s mar­ket in Nice, the straw­ber­ries were tan­ta­liz­ingly ripe.

The only way to expe­ri­ence straw­ber­ries as they should be is to shop at a farm­ers’ mar­ket where grow­ers sell berries picked that morn­ing — old-fash­ioned straw­ber­ries ripened all the way through. That’s a lux­ury I’ll have to wait until late June to savor.

Peo­ple liv­ing in the south of France have already begun to enjoy local let­tuce and early aspara­gus — two months before local greens will reach farm­ers’ mar­kets here in Seat­tle. The Niçoise salad ingre­di­ents were so fresh, so full of fla­vor, that I could have hap­pily eaten noth­ing but salad while vis­it­ing friends who live in Nice.

kempten-marketAfter a week­end in France, I flew to south­ern Ger­many for busi­ness. On Wednes­day my client brought a small group of us to the local farm­ers’ mar­ket where we could shop for lunch.

This mar­ket is a twice weekly insti­tu­tion in Kempten, even dur­ing snowy win­ter months like early March. The ice and snow were melt­ing on the side­walk as we strolled to this mar­ket, only to be greeted with vibrant col­ors and pun­gent aro­mas.

kempten-cheese-market

The mar­ket spe­cial­izes in local pro­duce, cheeses and other dairy prod­ucts, honey and beeswax can­dles, Ger­man noo­dles, and processed meats (sausages and so on).

Unlike what you’d find in the US at this time of year, every­thing was very fresh. Kempten is in the All­gäu region, near the Alps, an area that prides itself on the qual­ity of its cheeses and other dairy prod­ucts.

Before vis­it­ing Kempten, I used to think that Ger­man food was some­thing for oth­ers to enjoy, but now I’m find­ing it has its own spe­cial charms — espe­cially the cheese.

After enjoy­ing what Euro­pean farm­ers’ mar­kets have to offer, it’s tough to set­tle for what QFC (my local Kroger chain) has on its shelves. And the local farm­ers’ mar­ket won’t open up here for another 3.5 months…

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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