{"id":15027,"date":"2020-02-27T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T15:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=15027"},"modified":"2020-02-13T10:54:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T15:54:15","slug":"the-best-aisle-in-the-store-bulk-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/02\/27\/the-best-aisle-in-the-store-bulk-food\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Aisle in the Store \u2013 Bulk Food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Sunday mornings you\u2019ll find me shopping for groceries\nfor the coming week. One of my favorite parts of the store is the bulk foods\naisle. Actually, the store where I usually shop has several aisles with bins of\ndried beans, nuts, spices, teas, grains, and more, giving me lots of\nopportunities for joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best parts of shopping in the bulk foods section\nis the opportunity to get as much or as little as I need. That means no packages\nof quinoa flakes where I only needed a couple of spoonfuls but had to buy the\n2-pound package. And, if I want to try a new spice or other product, I can get\na small amount to test without ending up with a large package of something that\nI didn\u2019t care for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, bulk foods shopping isn\u2019t for everyone. If you\nare preparing food for someone with a food allergy, the bulk food aisle is\nfilled with opportunities for cross-contamination and is probably a section\nthat you should avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bulk food shopping allows me to cut down on packaging. I try\nto bring empty jars and clean bags to the store and to reuse them a number of\ntimes. Note that some stores don\u2019t let you bring your own containers so check\nbefore your visit. When I get to the store, I ask the cashier to weigh my jars\nso that I don\u2019t have to pay for the weight of the jar. It makes it simpler if I\neither bring a permanent marker or have masking tape on the jar to write the\njar\u2019s weight on. If jars or plastic bags have a bar code on them, either remove\nthe code or cover it with masking tape or marker. Cashiers have told me that\ntheir scanners will pick up bar codes and that it\u2019s easier for them if\ncustomers remove them or cover them up before getting to the register. Tape or\na marker also allows me to write the PLU code on the package and to indicate\nwhat the product is that I\u2019m buying. It\u2019s amazing how alike two spices can look\nand how challenging it can be to tell which is which when you get them home if\nyou forget to label them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bulk food etiquette is focused on food safety. Use a\nseparate scoop for each product. The store provides scoops and should have a\nplace for used scoops. Don\u2019t use your hands to reach into bins. If you can\u2019t\nretrieve a product with a scoop, use disposable gloves or a clean plastic bag\nover your hands to pick up product. If you inadvertently get too much, let an\nemployee know. Once you\u2019ve put food in your jar or bag, don\u2019t put it back in\nthe bin. For the cashiers\u2019 sake, write clearly. If you spill something, let an\nemployee know so they can clean it up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bulk food aisles can be found in many co-ops and natural\nfoods stores as well as in traditional groceries. I hope that you\u2019ll enjoy\nexploring these aisles as much as I do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD Most Sunday mornings you\u2019ll find me shopping for groceries for the coming week. One of my favorite parts of the store is the bulk foods aisle. Actually, the store where I usually shop has several aisles with bins of dried beans, nuts, spices, teas, grains, and more, giving me lots […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15029,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027\/revisions\/15029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}