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I went to The Fresh Market yesterday for lunch. They had a variety of premade, "take it home and cook it" meals, but at what they were charging, I'd just go for take-out.
I love Fresh Market, despite the prices. It’s such a lovely place to shop. I only go for certain things that I can’t get anywhere else, like the rosemary sea salt rolls, and chicken sausages with kale. I wouldn’t get my everyday groceries there.
I moved out of NYC to SW TN. Previously I had lived in other parts of the northeast; always a choice in supermarkets. That's a big word: super markets. I am surprised that NE TN has limited availability of fresh produce.
I had some concerns about our planned move concerning grocery shopping and medical care. Both of those concerns have proved valid as our local 34-bed hospital was recently shut down and there is now no emergency care within an hours' drive and the same with doctors - the only 2 left when the hospital was closed (and now torn down altogether).
Our supermarkets: 1 is the 1-door Walmart - Walmarts size determines the number of doors - and the grocery area is quite limited. The only other option locally is an even smaller grocery store - or market. To find a supermarket, I have to drive 1 hour north to a large Kroger - which is a pretty decent store, even by northern standards. There is another in MS, also an hour's drive but it is old and still just a small-town type store.
There are several products I cannot get here - Wise products and Tuttorosso to name only 2. I don't like Lays. And my pasta sauce/gravy must be made with Tuttorosso tomato products - Old gold (the parent company) is very different. I have solved one issue - when we head north for visits, I stock up with cases (last time was 12 cases) of Tuttorosso. Most other items can now be found in the one Kroger north of us - or I can do a work-around.
Medical care is far more important and is becoming an issue as we age. The nearest VA hospital/medical facility is 2 hours from here in Memphis. In the last 6 years since we moved here, my husband has only needed the main facility about 15 times. At least it's a nice drive along a well-maintained, low-volume highway for 80% of the drive.
We take the good with the bad - we love living here for the most part. I like that our COL is relatively low and we are not living check to check. We are comfortable and I have a small garden for tomatoes. If I had a do-over, I would have remained a lot more concerned about the small hospital and would have checked out the doctor availability a lot more. But it is what it is and we have learned how to deal with it.
I don't need specific stores, but I wouldn't choose to live in an isolated location where I had to travel a significant distance to be able to do routine shopping.
By preference, I've always lived in a city ever since I started college. I might consider a smaller city than where I am now but it won't ever be one that is so small that all the amenities aren't available within a reasonable distance. For me, reasonable means 5 minutes max to a supermarket and gas station with other stores, restaurants, movie theater within 10 to 15 minutes, doctor and hospital within 15 to 20 minutes, and other cultural and entertainment venues no more than 30 minutes. All of this is what I have now, and also what I had before I moved to Denver and lived in Boston.
I could also see possibly moving to a college town that provided a lot of these things through the campus, but I'd still want to be in the "downtown" area of a place like that.
We visited our local farmers' market the first Saturday we moved to Vancouver, WA over 6 years ago. I was over the moon, and it is pretty small compared with what they have in Portland. It was not a reason to move here, but it was a big plus. We go often, even now, and I love the energy and selection of produce. Most of the produce comes from the Yakima Valley in WA. Some of it comes from OR.
I would not have stayed in Van if we hadn't had a Whole Foods, and other good grocers, as well as the Farmers' Market. We are really suburban Portland, so we do have a good selection of stores.
One of my big disappointments in where I used to live in St. Louis County was the paltry farmers' markets. There are some longstanding ones, but they were not convenient to where I lived, and they did not reliably stock local produce. There were a few local growers just starting to sell in some outlying markets, and there were other truck garden resources around as well.
I think that farmers' markets are a great addition to a community. I also think that having great retail markets is a plus. I loved Dierbergs in St. Louis. Here I visit two markets every week: WINCO and Whole Foods. And we also buy from Costco. I think having food choices is something most of us like and want these days. If a community did not have good markets, I don't think I would want to live there.
I love Fresh Market, despite the prices. It’s such a lovely place to shop. I only go for certain things that I can’t get anywhere else, like the rosemary sea salt rolls, and chicken sausages with kale. I wouldn’t get my everyday groceries there.
We usually hit Fresh Market about once a month and know just what we want when we walk in. Or usually know anyway. Love their sausages, nut breads, some of their wines and a few other things. We got some chicken/blue cheese sausage there just last Sat. Yes, it is pricey but we try to watch their specials so it isn't all that bad. I would never be able to do all our shopping there. Oh, I do buy their meats on occasion and some seafood. The only thing we were disappointed in was about 6 months ago. We purchased a beef tenderloin. It had absolutely no flavor and was so tender it was almost mushy. Of course loin isn't always the most tasty beef anyway.
We all seem to like our farmers markets, some more than others. Living in a somewhat rural area we have one in just about every city. I am on my way to my favorites small one in about an hour. They only have 1/2 dozen vendors but they are all small, local farmers with great fresh produce. I have gotten green beans there that have lasted for weeks,compared to one of our large farmers markets where I got some 2 weeks ago that were spoiled in about 5 days. So, though as I said a couple days ago, proximity to grocery shopping would never be a consideration when planning a move, I sure do like knowing I can get what I want within a decent drive. Now, when we lived in the city a decent drive was about 5 or 10 minute, now it i 20 min to 30.
We move to where the job takes SO and buy a house considering his daily commute. He goes to work almost every day. I go grocery shopping every week or less. Do the math considering time alone.
We buy very few prefab items - hollow pasta, tomatoe, tortillas, tuna and occasionally pizza. As long as we get decent meat and fresh vegetables/ fruits in season we are doing well. The tiny garden keeps us in herbs and supplemental vegetables almost year round. I do not want to see another Armenian cucumber until October!
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