Grocery Stores’ Plant-Based Progression
I don’t believe that all grocery stores, supermarkets, and farmers markets are created equal when it comes to their accommodation of vegan and vegetarian clientele. The progression toward vegetarianism is still slow-moving, and many grocery stores have yet to pick up on the need for vegetarian products, or don’t have enough of a demand for them in general (depending on the area). Fortunately, few grocery stores–even in Georgia!–carry no vegan products whatsoever. (Please note that when I say “products”, I am referring only to the products which serve as an alternative to conventionally non-vegan items, such as cheese, meat, yogurt, milk, and processed foods. Of course, a vast amount of what all grocery stores carry is vegan, as whole plant-foods are a significant part of every food market and are the foundation of a vegan diet.) The grocery stores I tend to shop at and will be discussing today are Kroger, The Fresh Market, and Sprouts Farmers Market.
To be fair, all three of the grocery stores I listed seem to make at least some conscious effort to accommodate their vegetarian and vegan clientele. The purpose of this post isn’t to demonize any one grocery store and accuse them of being unethical or insensitive, but to point out the things certain stores do better than others. We will be much more effective as advocates if we emphasize the things businesses are already doing well, rather than everything we feel they are doing wrong.
I’d like to start with Sprouts, perhaps my favorite of the three. If you read my last blog post about vegan ice cream, you won’t be surprised to hear that one of the first things I do when I visit a new grocery store is search the frozen isles for their ice cream novelties section and admire all of their pints (I may love ice cream a bit more than I thought). Stocking nondairy ice cream is an area in which some grocery stores definitely do better than others, and Sprouts has been my greatest find so far. I’ve provided an image of Sprout’s selection versus Kroger’s to serve as a fair comparison of a more commercialized grocery store and a farmers market.
This particular Kroger actually does a better job than others of its kind at carrying nondairy ice creams (you can see that even with the flavors that are out of stock, there are still quite a few remaining), but it still has a bit less to offer than Sprouts. I can’t help but wonder if Sprouts thought they were carrying more nondairy ice creams than they are, due to the common misconception that Arctic Zero is lactose-free, and therefore automatically nondairy. However, all that lactose-free means is that their products are not sweetened with milk sugar; they still contain whey protein (derived from milk) as well as cream and sometimes egg-white powder. I falsely assumed that Arctic Zero was vegan for quite some time, and was surprised when I learned the truth. Let’s debunk this myth right here, once and for all. Since Arctic Zero does contain animal products, I have circled the products below it, all of which are nondairy–So Delicious is a reliable source for vegan products–and egg-free. While you cannot see them in this image, Sprouts also carries the Almond Dream Bites seen in Kroger’s selection. Not only that, but Sprouts also sells bigger tubs of their So Delicious ice-cream, a product that most stores I’ve been to are lacking. Bigger tubs of ice cream are much more practical for consumption over a longer period of time, or for scooping out of as a topping for birthday cake.
Sprouts’ best features don’t stop in the dessert isle though, as they also have a wonderfully expansive display of nondairy cheeses, sour creams, butters, mayonnaise, cool whips, yogurts, soy proteins, seitan, and meat analogues.
They are the first store I’ve found that carries seitan (a plant-based protein made from vital wheat gluten), a victory for me as I will soon be making a recipe requiring this very ingredient. I’m sensing another post may be coming…
Kroger carries some brand of most of Sprouts’ vegan products, which is notable because many commercialized grocery store chains (Kroger, Publix, Ingles, Piggly Wiggly) do not. Many Krogers even have a separate section of the store designated for natural, organic, vegetarian, gluten-free, and nondairy products, which makes it very easy to locate items.
The Fresh Market, despite my misguided assumption that “fresh” was synonymous with “plant-based”, caters more toward fresh animal-based products than anything else. That’s not to say they don’t carry vegan products–they still have a note-worthy supply of the most basic of vegetarian alternatives (vegetarian meats, plant-based milks, etc.)–they just don’t carry as many as Kroger or Sprouts, or perhaps as much as I’d expected. That is to say, they probably don’t carry seitan.
I intend to visit more grocery stores in the future (Aldi is next on my list!), and you can anticipate a review of them as well when I do.
“May our daily choices be a reflection of our deepest values, and may we use our voices to speak for those who need us most, those who have no voice, those who have no choice.” - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
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