Ah, grocery day. In months-gone-by when I was slightly more employed, I was a total scavenger, kicking down five bucks here for a burrito, ten bucks there for the veggie sandwich and chips, etc. Now, I'm all about the Rainbow/FoodsCo two-fer.
Lucky for me, I live about a block and a half from a famously kick-ass organic/vegetarian co-op, the aforementioned Rainbow Grocery. Now, don't get me wrong--Rainbow is huge, has a massive selection, and is generally about the coolest place around to buy food, but the joint is none too cheap. So, I limit my spending there to the stuff that's just hard to find anywhere else, at least without having to destroy an ecosystem or local economy to get it. I'm talking the not-dogs, the spinach lasagna "organic TV dinners," the Boca Chicken-style patties, the organic juice...
Then, with my backpack full of Rainbow bounty, I jaunt across the street to complete the rest of my shopping at the Yin to Rainbow's Yang, FoodsCo. It's a huge, cement-floored lo-fi supermarket, with a meat section that probably has its own ZIP code. Not being a carnivore, I dodge that scene and pick up the rest of my non-organic victuals: the frozen veggies, the microwave popcorn, the cartons of orange juice, the 2-liter of Coke...
It's all about finding that balance, right?