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Do you find ethnic sections of the grocery store problematic?
- Thread starter Nida
- Start date
I didn't say it's "just organization"; I said the food being organized is convenient. The labels are problematic.
And it's convenient because when you want to make an Italian dish all the fixings are in the same aisle, same as when you want to make an Asian dish.
What's weak is taking my post and boiling it down to "it's just organization." I didn't say that, it wasn't my "argument" at all.
As a white dude married to a half-Filipino, half-Pakistani woman I also can vouch for the amazing-ness of the big Asian grocery. Giant bags of rice. All day.
Except here in america the "Italian aisle" is just the noodle and sauce aisle. Is going from spaghetti to ramen noddles that big of a problem? Or from tomato to fish sauce? Or Ketchup to Gochjang?
It's never called anything like 'ethnic' here in Germany, rather something like 'international kitchen'. And I'm totally fine with that. Obviously food that is eaten very regularly here but originates from somewhere else like pasta, greek joghurt etc. are in the regular sections. But some ingredients that aren't that commonly used in the german kitchen like premade tikka masala paste is often found in the international section. In some markets the international section constantly changes its products so it is obviously meant for things people usually buy very rarely. In these cases tikka masala would be somewhere in the regular aisle for sauce.
Oh and food from big ethnic minority groups in Germany are also all in the regular sections, like turkish sausages or ayran drinks, or polish specialties.
Oh and food from big ethnic minority groups in Germany are also all in the regular sections, like turkish sausages or ayran drinks, or polish specialties.
It's not really a weak argument. Grocery stores tend to group things together where they can for convenience. What are you putting on pasta? Probably tomato sauce. Tomato sauce and pasta are near each other. Who's putting tomato sauce on rice noodles? Who's eating pasta with soy sauce? Nobody.
It's more like that with Hispanic cuisine in places like South Texas where they pull Hispanic food out of the International aisle into it's own massive thing. They'll typically also have expanded Hispanic oriented offerings in the meat, bakery, and produce sections as well.
So I think they'll integrate the products more if the local demographics support a massive storewide change like that as opposed to putting it into one particular aisle.
There's also a massive, massive amount of science and statistics that goes into which products get placed where in each store that I'm pretty confident there isn't a problematic situation happening (for instance those security cameras aren't just for security and they're literally watching you scan your eyes up and down the shelves). Not that people aren't racist as fuck in other situations so much as in this particular case corporate greed is outweighing any bigotry.
That was literally the point I made in my post that I don't think you read.
My argument was "If they called the pasta aisle the Italian aisle it would make the other aisles less problematic."
This is silly. Nobody puts fish sauce on their spaghetti. Why do you want those things together?
No. Maybe I forgot to buy soy sauce at the Asian supermarket and don't want to think too hard about where it might be found.
Exactly. It's only convenient if you're going to a supermarket expressly for one recipe, in which case, people are better off going to a specialty store. But then that gets into demographics, markets, and availability.
I'm glad era responded mostly that this is not a big deal. I'm Hispanic and I use the Hispanic aisle when I need to cook my region's cuisine, simple as that.
sometimes this site gets close to parodying its own left wing outrage a little too on-the-nose
sometimes this site gets close to parodying its own left wing outrage a little too on-the-nose
Exactly, stores always put similar things by similar things, it isn't that hard to understand
They do put the sliced cheese and the deli meats next to each other at just about every store I've ever gone to.
And the bread is usually as close as possible too..the nearest non-refrigerated aisle.
It's a mix of generic placement and non-generic placement depending on the ingredient. Vegetables get their own area so can't really be organized by dish, but things like "put the dips next to the chips" or "put the marinara next to the pasta" are common. Same with grouping ingredients regionally.
Yeah I think that carries less problematic connotations than "ethnic". Good solution.
I mean I think it most supermarkets it largely
Is integrated with other similar foods. You still get the small "World Foods" section which tends to have the niche, specific ingredients for certain dishes which is quite handy I guess though there isn't really a reason these also can't be integrated too.
I've never really thought about it that way actually, it's a good point.
Is integrated with other similar foods. You still get the small "World Foods" section which tends to have the niche, specific ingredients for certain dishes which is quite handy I guess though there isn't really a reason these also can't be integrated too.
I've never really thought about it that way actually, it's a good point.
No. Really only specialty type products not seen in North America normally are in the international aisle. There is other products that are ethnic in the other aisle's.
It...doesn't bother me? Speaking as an Indian, I was just checking to make sure you knew (and also attempting to just make a joke). People need clarification when you say sourdough, not so much when you say naan because the word "naan" literally means bread.
I'll leave you to it, I guess.
I got gluten-free soy sauce from one of these. I didn't even know the regular ones had the glutens, so thanks, ethnic aisle!
Also, is funny to go to the American aisle at Asian grocery stores and see, like, ketchup and Doritos.
Also, is funny to go to the American aisle at Asian grocery stores and see, like, ketchup and Doritos.
The most offensive thing in this thread is that some of y'all think Italian food is jarred "spaghetti sauce."
SMH.
Dried herbs and spices aren't in the same aisle as pastas, nevermind fresh ones. And... I don't want to eat any ground sausage that isn't at least in the meat department being safely refrigerated.
It's nice that all the Asian seasonings are in one section in white American supermarkets, but I'm afraid to know what y'all consider "Asian" food if you can get all your ingredients for a dish in one aisle.
Yeah my Asian husband really likes the international section too. Shit's totes whack.
SMH.
Dried herbs and spices aren't in the same aisle as pastas, nevermind fresh ones. And... I don't want to eat any ground sausage that isn't at least in the meat department being safely refrigerated.
It's nice that all the Asian seasonings are in one section in white American supermarkets, but I'm afraid to know what y'all consider "Asian" food if you can get all your ingredients for a dish in one aisle.
Yeah my Asian husband really likes the international section too. Shit's totes whack.
Whether or not you consider the specialized isles racist, "it's ok because it's profitable" seems like a weak excuse.
How dare this Finnish store not have all of those American products spread out across the store?Not really no.
This reminds me, we have "American food" shelves here in Finland.
Also, when I shop at a global food grocery store, the aisles are organized by country (with some fuzziness) instead of by type of food. It's great and helps people find what they're looking for. Hell, the Asian grocery store has different aisles for Chinese noodles, Japanese noodles, and Korean noodles. It's helpful.
Holy shit...what you quoted...
That is a gem of a post.
I *especially* like the explanation of pho noodles and marinara sauce.
Wild RICE NOODLE appears.
RICE NOODLE uses Confusion!
It's super effective!
KAREN is confused.
KAREN forgets marinara sauce in her confusion!
KAREN runs away!
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This doesn't only happen with food
All big supermarkets here in Southern Africa clearly separate Ethnic/Black hair care and skin care from everything else
The reality is just that its much more convenient for the consumer
Also, these companies spend hundreds of millions of $ on ensuring their stores are convenient, but also force the customer to walk through every isle, so this will never go away
All big supermarkets here in Southern Africa clearly separate Ethnic/Black hair care and skin care from everything else
The reality is just that its much more convenient for the consumer
Also, these companies spend hundreds of millions of $ on ensuring their stores are convenient, but also force the customer to walk through every isle, so this will never go away
Source: I work in buying for a retail chain and have to deal with all of Dunnhumbys BS on a weekly baisis
Yeah, that looks American to me.Not really no.
This reminds me, we have "American food" shelves here in Finland.
The term "regional" would be better suited than the term "ethnic", but aside from vocabulary, there's nothing wrong with the practice itself. Different parts of the world use different and sometimes exclusive ingredients.
For example, take decent pita bread which is usually hard to find in lots of American grocery stores. Putting pita in a strictly Middle Eastern section or Greek section would be inconvenient and inefficient because it's consumed significantly in the entire shared region. A section that encompasses the Mediterranean region just make more sense.
For example, take decent pita bread which is usually hard to find in lots of American grocery stores. Putting pita in a strictly Middle Eastern section or Greek section would be inconvenient and inefficient because it's consumed significantly in the entire shared region. A section that encompasses the Mediterranean region just make more sense.
Abuela can't even reach this.As a Mexican, I never understood the candles in the Mexican aisle:
AFAIK grocery stores are not a high profit margin business, so providing a good customer experience can be an existential issue. And based on many responses in this thread, a lot of people like specialized isles and find them convenient. Even if one believes they are racist, I think it helps to understand the practical and financial reasons these things exist, if you want to actually convince anyone else that there's a problem or propose solutions.
No. As a minority, they're convenient as hell.
Why is this even an issue? I swear it feels like in America there's a demographic who just find things to complain about.
Why is this even an issue? I swear it feels like in America there's a demographic who just find things to complain about.
If anything I wish there were more sections like that. I have a local grocer nearby specializing in Eastern European imports, and they've got all kinds of meats, dairy products, conserves, condiments, canned vegetables and spreads that just aren't sold even at "nicer" supermarkets like Wegmans.
The Food City by me has them on the bottom shelf. I'd be lying if I said I didn't buy any.
How the fuck do you guys have more sriracha varieties than we do???Not really no.
This reminds me, we have "American food" shelves here in Finland.
All I see is sugar. And what's with the off-brand Sriracha label? Did they change it and I missed it? Wait, what's with the Nintendo products?! How is that American? At least you don't get the dregs of our peanut butter.Not really no.
This reminds me, we have "American food" shelves here in Finland.
The point wasn't that it's super authentic Italian food though.
It's not a coincidence though that pasta + what Americans consider Italian sauces + shitty Parmesan cheese (with sawdust!) are generally all in the same aisle. It's how your average American sees "Italian" food. My point was it's kinda of lame that we don't just label it as such, as it would be more consistent (authentic or not.)
But yeah.. meat is in another part of the store. That goes for any dish you are trying to create; I don't think anyone is saying they LITERALLY can get everything in one aisle. Unless people are cooking without meat and vegetables.
The only seasonings worth a damn are found in the International aisle. America could really stand a bit more separation in grocery stores. There's amazing American cuisine all around America - minus California - but we can't even get a Creole section.
What do you have against Pop-Tarts?Over here you Americans are in the ethnic isle;
