{"id":6815,"date":"2011-08-08T09:14:51","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T13:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/2011\/08\/08\/what-makes-a-good-grocery-store\/"},"modified":"2021-02-12T13:02:45","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T18:02:45","slug":"what-makes-a-good-grocery-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ahealthysliceoflife.com\/what-makes-a-good-grocery-store\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Good Grocery Store?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was an exciting day in the life of a prego.  Without the energy or physical ability to do too much nowadays, my fun comes in different forms\u2026 like spending a solid few hours playing in the kitchen, getting laundry done and checking out a new grocery store in town.<\/p>\n

How many people did I just scare away from ever becoming pregnant? \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Anyways, big news in Lake Norman country\u2026 a new Earth Fare just opened up in Huntersville!<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/a><\/p>\n

I was anxious to check it out, though a but nervous because my grocery list this week was better fitted for a conventional grocery store, due to needing items like soap and tissues.<\/p>\n

A friend of Hubbs has a huge garden and had given me a big supply of sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes and corn, so I already had a lot of produce to work with for the week.<\/p>\n

\"grocery<\/a><\/p>\n

I arrived in the 95+ degree heat and the parking lot was PACKED.  I couldn\u2019t find a parking spot for quite a while, then kicked myself for missing this little gem as I was finally walking inside:<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/p>\n

To my disappointment, inside was just as packed as the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/p>\n

I get it- Sunday afternoon, new store, it\u2019s going to be busy, but it was incredibly frustrating to try and navigate the aisles with a 9 month pregnant belly and a cart. It slowed down my shopping and stressed me out.  Kids were running around, people were clogging aisles and I kept knocking into displays as I tried to navigate the store.<\/p>\n

However, there were some positives:<\/p>\n

I liked the presence of local produce:<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/p>\n

I even saw my first REAL apricot (is that weird?)<\/p>\n

\"Apricot\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They do have a bulk section.  It\u2019s not as extensive as some others, like at Healthy Home Market in Davidson, or the Whole Foods I used to visit in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/a><\/p>\n

What I think Earth Fare does best is their prepared foods,<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/a><\/p>\n

and lunch options, including sushi, pizza, juice bar, fresh salad bar, etc. YUM<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"EarthFare<\/a><\/p>\n

I ended up getting most of my list at Earth Fare, but also stopped at Food Lion on the way home to pick up some items I knew I could get for less. Example: I love Cabot cheese, but Earth Fare didn\u2019t have it and their least expensive cheese option was $1 more expensive than the Cabot cheese I usually get at the regular grocery store.<\/p>\n

My overall take on Earth Fare was that I like it, but I\u2019m much more likely to stop by for a delicious lunch than to buy my groceries there all the time.  However, I could see me working it into my grocery store rotation if I happen to be in the area.<\/p>\n

The Earth Fare trip got me thinking about what would be in my perfect grocery store\u2026<\/p>\n