Silly question right?
After all this is a land of plenty!!
It is, its is, but its also very different than what you might be used to from home.
Considering we are from another 'western' English speaking country the last thing we expected was to find, finding food hard!
I think it was my third visit to the shops that I broke down and cried! I didn't recognize a single brand, I couldn't get things that to us were staples easily. I couldn't work out what was semi healthy. I was tired of spending ages trying to figure out if my chicken was full or hormones and antibiotics... I was tired of eating American!
Okay we can get a lot of the same things... but they are NOT the same things!!
For example baked beans.... yes they sell baked beans, but they are all full of brown sugar or maple syrup! No run of the mill, tomato sauce, fairly healthy baked beans.
Also no back bacon, they have streaky full of fat bacon or Canadian bacon which is more like a slice of ham.
Lots of sausages but all very fatty or they are full or cheese or made from turkey... no Cumberland sausages, no low fat pork sausages.
The cottage cheese is usually small curd and runny and nothing like in the UK.
The Cheddar Cheese is plastic... okay we did find real and very good cheese eventually but it wasn't straight forward.
Even the bread,,,, the whole grain bread is full of sugar, so much so you can taste it... its good... but not good for you!
The soup is ALL too salty (at least to date we can't find a decent tin or soup) and many of the raw meats are pumped full of hormones, antibiotics or flavoring!!! Yes flavoring added to the meat for you.
So from the above, and that list is not exhaustive, you can I hope imagine that shopping the first few times was hard!
Another difference and surprise was that food is NOT cheaper here! Everyone said it would be. Even the Americans keep asking us if we love how cheap food is!! We really do not find this and in some cases its actually more money. For example in the UK own brand items tended to be very very cheap. some cookies, beans, spaghetti hoops etc. could be bought for 15-30 pence which was great for people on a budget! Here even your own brand items are approx double that price. Organic milk in the UK used to set me back about 3 pounds (4 dollars ish) but here for the same amount its around $6 (5 pounds ish). Don't let that put you off though, eating out, some clothing and petrol is generally a bit cheaper, which we think in the long run balances things out a bit. Also coupons are big news here and yes I HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN a woman in line ahead of me take a $500 bill down to zero!!!! I was in awe!!! I have myself knocked off $30 from a shop through coupons. They are available online on apps and in the local paper. It takes time, but if you have to or need to save money... this is a great way to do it.
It took time and we are still learning, but we have discovered some food shops do have 'world food' isles and within them often, beans, tea, hob nobs!! and various other UK items can be found. They do come at a price, but sometimes for a taste of home this is okay!
The main food shops in our area are Jewel Osco, Meijer, Walmart, Aldi and Whole foods.
Whole foods is a completely organic food shop with raw items gluten/sugar/dairy free items every item you can imagine. Its not a little shop and its not just an isle of healthy items. The whole store is dedicated to good healthy food... however its expensive!! At almost double to price of many other stores. If you have the money or feel organic food is a top priority, then this shop you will love!!
Jewel Osco I believe can be compared to Tesco or Sainsbury (although no toy isles). It is a pretty middle of the range food shop which can be found everywhere. Personally I don't like it. I dont think the range of items is very good and while there are big and small stores I often find, I can't find what I want or I know I can get it cheaper elsewhere. However I think for many people this could be a go to shop. They do occasionally discount meat which is soon to run out and this is MUCH better than in the UK, rather than knocking off a few pennies it will be on sale for half the price and sometimes less, we have had some great meat, so look out for it! Also they do great frozen pizza which rivals any take out!
Aldi, is much like Aldi in the UK a lower price store where you need to supply your own bags. I really like Aldi here much more than I did in the UK, maybe partly because it has a European feel to it, but defiantly also because while they are cheaper you can still get some organic and free range items. Like in the UK they usually only have one or two brands of any type of food, but as we didn't recognize any brands here anyhow this was not an issue. Our local store is not that big but I can get most things there and feel it saves a good deal of money.
Walmart is an everything store! Its got all your food, clothing, toys, camping items, tires and even... guns!!! The food section in most is pretty big and you can get some bulk items here. Due to it being an 'everything' shop. I find some food items are limited but overall it has a good range. Some people avoid Walmart as apparently they do not treat workers well. So if this is important to you, you may want to research it before you shop there.
Meijer is a little like Walmart. They have everything!! However I feel, at least for my local store, that the range is better and so are the prices. This along with Aldi is where I do most of my food shopping. I feel there is a good range of healthy products and the prices are better than most places.
You will also find food in places like Target but this is in my experience a limited range and expensive.
Now don't get me wrong, its not all bad, they have some very tasty food. I LOVE pumpkin pie and pecan pie for example. Its just that it is a culture shock and if you are moving here from anywhere and are expecting it to be the same it IS a genuine shock.
Finally if you have guests coming to visit from home I suggest asking them to bring you some favorite items like OXO cubes, Beans, tea, celebrations, quality street etc. or you can visit Canada for some of this... their food is much more like in the UK and you can get beans, oxo, quality street and a few other home foods.
The downside of not knowing the food and finding it full of sugar is that both my husband and myself have gained a lot of weight. Hidden fat and sugar in items we thought healthy has been hard work, but we are sweeping things out and slowly getting there. The main message from this is not to assume that as a western country it will have the same foods.
After all this is a land of plenty!!
It is, its is, but its also very different than what you might be used to from home.
Considering we are from another 'western' English speaking country the last thing we expected was to find, finding food hard!
I think it was my third visit to the shops that I broke down and cried! I didn't recognize a single brand, I couldn't get things that to us were staples easily. I couldn't work out what was semi healthy. I was tired of spending ages trying to figure out if my chicken was full or hormones and antibiotics... I was tired of eating American!
Okay we can get a lot of the same things... but they are NOT the same things!!
For example baked beans.... yes they sell baked beans, but they are all full of brown sugar or maple syrup! No run of the mill, tomato sauce, fairly healthy baked beans.
Also no back bacon, they have streaky full of fat bacon or Canadian bacon which is more like a slice of ham.
Lots of sausages but all very fatty or they are full or cheese or made from turkey... no Cumberland sausages, no low fat pork sausages.
The cottage cheese is usually small curd and runny and nothing like in the UK.
The Cheddar Cheese is plastic... okay we did find real and very good cheese eventually but it wasn't straight forward.
Even the bread,,,, the whole grain bread is full of sugar, so much so you can taste it... its good... but not good for you!
The soup is ALL too salty (at least to date we can't find a decent tin or soup) and many of the raw meats are pumped full of hormones, antibiotics or flavoring!!! Yes flavoring added to the meat for you.
So from the above, and that list is not exhaustive, you can I hope imagine that shopping the first few times was hard!
Another difference and surprise was that food is NOT cheaper here! Everyone said it would be. Even the Americans keep asking us if we love how cheap food is!! We really do not find this and in some cases its actually more money. For example in the UK own brand items tended to be very very cheap. some cookies, beans, spaghetti hoops etc. could be bought for 15-30 pence which was great for people on a budget! Here even your own brand items are approx double that price. Organic milk in the UK used to set me back about 3 pounds (4 dollars ish) but here for the same amount its around $6 (5 pounds ish). Don't let that put you off though, eating out, some clothing and petrol is generally a bit cheaper, which we think in the long run balances things out a bit. Also coupons are big news here and yes I HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN a woman in line ahead of me take a $500 bill down to zero!!!! I was in awe!!! I have myself knocked off $30 from a shop through coupons. They are available online on apps and in the local paper. It takes time, but if you have to or need to save money... this is a great way to do it.
It took time and we are still learning, but we have discovered some food shops do have 'world food' isles and within them often, beans, tea, hob nobs!! and various other UK items can be found. They do come at a price, but sometimes for a taste of home this is okay!
The main food shops in our area are Jewel Osco, Meijer, Walmart, Aldi and Whole foods.
Whole foods is a completely organic food shop with raw items gluten/sugar/dairy free items every item you can imagine. Its not a little shop and its not just an isle of healthy items. The whole store is dedicated to good healthy food... however its expensive!! At almost double to price of many other stores. If you have the money or feel organic food is a top priority, then this shop you will love!!
Jewel Osco I believe can be compared to Tesco or Sainsbury (although no toy isles). It is a pretty middle of the range food shop which can be found everywhere. Personally I don't like it. I dont think the range of items is very good and while there are big and small stores I often find, I can't find what I want or I know I can get it cheaper elsewhere. However I think for many people this could be a go to shop. They do occasionally discount meat which is soon to run out and this is MUCH better than in the UK, rather than knocking off a few pennies it will be on sale for half the price and sometimes less, we have had some great meat, so look out for it! Also they do great frozen pizza which rivals any take out!
Aldi, is much like Aldi in the UK a lower price store where you need to supply your own bags. I really like Aldi here much more than I did in the UK, maybe partly because it has a European feel to it, but defiantly also because while they are cheaper you can still get some organic and free range items. Like in the UK they usually only have one or two brands of any type of food, but as we didn't recognize any brands here anyhow this was not an issue. Our local store is not that big but I can get most things there and feel it saves a good deal of money.
Walmart is an everything store! Its got all your food, clothing, toys, camping items, tires and even... guns!!! The food section in most is pretty big and you can get some bulk items here. Due to it being an 'everything' shop. I find some food items are limited but overall it has a good range. Some people avoid Walmart as apparently they do not treat workers well. So if this is important to you, you may want to research it before you shop there.
Meijer is a little like Walmart. They have everything!! However I feel, at least for my local store, that the range is better and so are the prices. This along with Aldi is where I do most of my food shopping. I feel there is a good range of healthy products and the prices are better than most places.
You will also find food in places like Target but this is in my experience a limited range and expensive.
Now don't get me wrong, its not all bad, they have some very tasty food. I LOVE pumpkin pie and pecan pie for example. Its just that it is a culture shock and if you are moving here from anywhere and are expecting it to be the same it IS a genuine shock.
Finally if you have guests coming to visit from home I suggest asking them to bring you some favorite items like OXO cubes, Beans, tea, celebrations, quality street etc. or you can visit Canada for some of this... their food is much more like in the UK and you can get beans, oxo, quality street and a few other home foods.
The downside of not knowing the food and finding it full of sugar is that both my husband and myself have gained a lot of weight. Hidden fat and sugar in items we thought healthy has been hard work, but we are sweeping things out and slowly getting there. The main message from this is not to assume that as a western country it will have the same foods.
