The Freebie Project

The Freebie Project, me sampling what each supermarket feeds its customers, began today with a whimper. I went to a local health food store, er, collective where I'm not a regular. My lack of patronage has nothing to do with ideology or classism, although it very well could. Rather, it has everything to do with living a five-minute walk from a Harris Teeter.

Back to the independent food store. I arrived purposefully in the 5 to 6 p.m. shopping prime time and began looking around. My quick-scanning eyes were drawing blanks. The usually bountiful produce area was barren. The deli counter, so often the savior of my eye-feast-induced hunger, had nothing. The bakery had bupkis, only figuratively, unfortuantely.

By the time I turned down the last aisle I was hyperventilating at the polarizing prospect of writing about a store that bagels its customers. But that last aisle held a toothpick of dignity for the area's organic epicenter. There, hiding behind an open refrigerator of brie and camembert, was--ahhh!-- a tray of "doublecream" gouda.

Too bad it was bland.

Well, I guess you get what you pay for...