When we lived and worked in SF, we shopped pretty much every day. Bell Market in Noe Valley was just a few blocks from our house, so we’d swing by and decide what we were in the mood for.
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I get most of my produce and meat from a CSA and the farmers market, fill in as necessary at Berkeley Bowl.
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So a few of you like some of the things Sprouts has to offer. That’s great, because we’ll be able to walk to the one opening in my 'hood. Great tips!
One good thing about all this competition, I was reading WFs profit are down, they have closed a bunch of stores and are going to slash prices again and have more sales. This is bad for stockholders, but good for consumers. An analyst was quoted as saying they should scale down the stores to be more like Sprouts and Trader Joe’s. Just hope the quality and availability doesn’t suffer. They’re not perfect (fruit/produce is mediocre for what it should be). But, for home cooks they’re hard to beat when it comes to specialty items. Their prices are better than Gelson’s & Bristol Farms. But Bristol does have some delicious fruit. While not perfect, I like there fair-trade practices and watch dogging. They routinely take things off the shelf when they become aware of farm abuses or unhealthy farmed-fish practices. I like I don’t have to check their labels for red-dye #cancer, etc. And I do 
their health & beauty department. Okay, okay, I’m a Whole Foods consumer! 
. But still, I need to start going to the FMs again. I used to go every week. Now it’s just one of those fun, get out of the house things.
Great @Bookwich!
When I was single, then a hockey widow (dad and boys gone for travel hockey) I did more of those things. And I too liked to go to the market every couple of days. We joked that I had OCD and became antsy if it slipped to 4 days. But I’ve been analyzing why I lost interest in it along the way. It might be an empty nest thing. I’m a little over shopping, cooking and cleaning. Our money is finally our own, so we like to eat out a lot more. Now I just do necessity shopping or if I get an urge to make a certain dish. But I am itching to get back to some of my old routines. This thread helps, even though it wasn’t the original intent. You never know where things are going to go on a FTC thread 
. Thankfully this is a positive diversion.
P.S. Bakery everyday? Also impressive.
Thanks Robert and Bookwich. Good reminder. I had been looking into the CSA boxes and need to pull the trigger. Is it a lot for just two people?
My Sprouts does this too. All the mini cheeses in the basket are $3 or less. It’s great way to try out new-to-me items, or put together small pieces for a little cheese plate.
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Perfect
If you cook a lot what we get is not that much.
http://archives.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/03/23/csa-adventures-box-10
http://archives.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/04/20/csa-adventures-box-14
http://archives.sfweekly.com/foodie/2009/05/05/csa-adventures-box-16
I find WF produce to be so-so, and it seems to vary in quality and selection from store to store. Maybe your local ones ha e better stuff - the Westside stores are poor to mediocre, and the El Segundo store (prob their current flagship) to be good. In fact, I find Bristol Farms produce to be first, Gelson’s second, and WF third in the three rankings around the Westside. Sprouts would come in at a distant fourth.
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Bastards! I’ve held onto my loyalty to WF, because I grew up in a Mrs. Gooch’s household. And I am not as discerning as you and Bookwich, but 365 products are the worst! For store brand items there is the far superior TJ’s. Don’t fall for it Millennials!
365 canned tomatoes are vastly superior to TJs. TJs canned tomatoes are gross. I also prefer 365 tuna, but TJ’s isn’t bad. (I’m Gen X, for the record.)
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I like Whole Foods 365 shampoo and hair conditioner. I’ve tried some other 365 items and wasn’t impressed.
I buy Trader Joe’s house-brand Kalamata oil, toothpaste, deodorant, bar soap, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, and laundry detergent. Their Dijon mustard is pretty good but Amora (which I get relatively cheap from Amazon) is better.
No, this is great. I don’t cook a lot anymore, but want to go back to eating more ruffage.
Delivery is great too. One of the problems for Central-Angelenos right now is all the building and infrastructure stuff going on. Fender benders are a common occurrence. It’s like N.Y.C. now, but without a proper transportation system. Which is, I guess, the reason for all the construction 
. Flitting about is not fun anymore!
But I still my city
Looking forward to walking to Sprouts.
Hi !
[quote=“small_h, post:34, topic:5624, full:true”]
365 canned tomatoes are vastly superior to TJs. TJs canned tomatoes are gross. I also prefer 365 tuna, but TJ’s isn’t bad. (I’m Gen X, for the record.)
[/quote]Okay, thanks for the tip. I’ll check out 365 tuna too. TJ’s is strangely awful. Believe me, I’ve tried to like 365.
Thanks
Related: Can you recommend a TJ’s coffee? I tried two kinds (naturally, I can’t remember what they were) and hated both. I’m not that picky; I usually get whatever these guys have on sale. It would be nice to have another option.
TJ’s Tongol tuna used to be delicious, but I haven’t seen it for a while. I buy tuna at Costco.
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Hi !
I agree (except for the untried Sprouts) How does WF get away with that sh_ _? Yes to Bristol’s fruit 
, and their produce section is better than our WF foods, which is confusing and all over the place.
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