The Key Food across the street is not a farmer's market. The produce is wrapped in plastic; sometimes the lemons are moldy. The chickens are mostly Perdue, though I'm lucky they also carry Belle & Evans and D'Artagnan. The lines can be long, though self-checkout is helping. It's hard to find a wagon inside; and once you go inside, it's hard to get back outside when you realize there are no wagons to be had. But there are baskets, and that's usually what I take.
I'm not going to lie: I love the Key Food across the street. I know that's a guilty secret for a modern day food lover who reads Michael Pollan and has a desire for all peoples to support farmer's markets, to reject the industrialization of food. But the Key Food is convenient; and, more than that, it's a fascinating microcosm, a hodgepodge of personalities, a living experiment in class, gender and race. And they play GREAT music.
Seriously: it's difficult not to sing along. Do you know Linda Ronstadt's "Different Drum"? I didn't know that that's what that song was called, but I came home and typed the lyrics into Google and, once I discovered what it was, I downloaded it so I could blast it and sing along and pretend I'm still shopping at Key Food. Is it crazy that a major motivating factor in where I shop is the music they play?
I also take great pride in making extraordinary dinners from the ordinary ingredients I find at Key Food: canned beans, perfectly acceptable garlic and onions, tomato paste, canned tomatoes (so what if the San Marzano are really canned in New Jersey?), canned chilis in adobo. The olive oil selection is decent, the vinegar selection isn't; the mustards are grainy or creamy, your choice. For cheese, I go elsewhere; for meat, I go elsewhere; for fish, oh Lord, I couldn't even imagine TOUCHING one of those fillets they have wrapped in plastic in the back. And, of course, for the freshest produce, it's the farmer's market. And I do go to the farmer's market and I enjoy it; but more often than not, it's Key Food.
I go for the food, sure, but I also go for the people. The personalities! The Greek mustached owner, who stomps around and never looks happy; who jokes with his employees but also addresses them sternly. The woman who monitors the self-checkout who chased me out of the store one night, I didn't know she was chasing me, and I was across the street and I heard a voice calling "sir! sir!" I finally turned around (I thought there must be another "sir") and she said, "You forgot your deli meat." She tried to pass me a package of deli meat. "I didn't buy any deli meat," I said as kindly as I could because it was a cold, drizzly night and she'd ran all the way. "Oh," she laughed. "Are you sure?" "I'm sure."
Outside is a coin-operated motorcycle and helicopter that both play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Standing nearby is a guard; he too never looks happy, but neither would you if you had to hear "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all day.
There's a Coinstar machine inside and various vending machines; there's a healthy amount of cooking equipment and cleaning equipment and a surprising amount of beer. Once I tried to buy a single bottle of beer out of a six-pack because it was for a recipe, and we weren't drinking beer that night, but they wouldn't let me.
Why am I telling you all this? I'm not trying to make the point that shopping at Key Food is superior to shopping at a farmer's market or, for that matter, a high end grocery store with organic produce and non-synthetic cereals that are so healthy they come with their own self-inflating spas and nutritionists. I'm merely explaining away my own behavior; behavior, however, that is significant and important since the large majority of shoppers echo my behavior and they do so without self-consciousness; in fact, they do it with gratitude. Big grocery stores are a relief for most people; a relief and, strangely, a source of comfort. All the elements I describe--the music, the people, the gently rocking coin-operated motorcycle--have a power, an allure that may be significant in considering how to change the way Americans shop for food.
When I go to a farmer's market, I am overwhelmed. On a nice day, I enjoy wandering around and admiring the multi-colored chard, the impossibly thick carrots, the stands bursting with flowers. But on a cold, windy day when I'm hungry? Or when I have only a few minutes to spare?
We can't all be angels all the time. Even if we are angels, it's difficult to find everything you need at a farmer's market to make dinner. You can buy the broccoli rabe, but you still need the box of dried pasta to make it a meal, right? The red pepper flakes to add to add to the sizzling pan? The Parmesan to grate on top?
Perhaps the answer lies not in bringing the people to the farmers, but in bringing the farmers to the people? Maybe one day I'll walk into the Key Food across the street and see a sign, a sign that I noticed at the fancier gourmet food store on Union Street above a basket of tomatoes: "LOCAL."
Already, I see "Organic"; why shouldn't "local" be next?
Either way, as long as they're playing Linda Ronsdadt and The Beach Boys, as long as the Greek owner is pacing back and forth holding his walkie talkie, as long as my "deli meat" woman is there waiting for me at the self-checkout, I'll be there. Call me crazy, call me uncultivated, call me a traitor to my cause but just don't call me dispassionate: I love the Key Food across the street.
Comments (36)
What? No pictures?
Posted by cheng | October 30, 2008 4:27 AM
I left NYC and I miss my local key food. Particularly that it was 24 hours.
Posted by mm | October 30, 2008 6:06 AM
Convenience is not a bad thing to be grateful for!
Posted by LisaInCT | October 30, 2008 7:48 AM
didn't mike nesmith write different drum for dolly parton?
there's also the lemonheads version.
great song.
i ain't sayin'
you ain't pretty
all i'm sayin's
i'm not ready
Posted by Anonymous | October 30, 2008 7:58 AM
I love my local supermarket; I've got such great memories there. Shopping with my mom, buying oranges and string cheese with my dad, planning out weekly meals with my sister when we got a $40 budget for the week and that was it. I spend so much time in the grocery store these days "just picking up a few things for dinner tonight" that it's sort of ridiculous, but it's a happy place.
Posted by Jen | October 30, 2008 8:25 AM
Because I live in a hippie town in Western Mass, even the Stop n' Shop and Big Y have started adding little "local" signs to the produce section.
Then again, the grocery store across the street from me is, in fact, a farm market, but of the variety that actually does sell everything you need to make dinner.
Posted by Kari | October 30, 2008 8:27 AM
Reading this makes me feel WAY less guilty about shopping at my local chain grocer. I'm somewhat of a "amateur foodie". I LOVE cooking, inventing recipes, dining out etc. but unfortunately I'm on a budget. While Melbourne is lucky enough to have amazing (and cheap) markets, I find it very hard to get to them (besides weekends when they're PACKED, not to mention the boyfriend HATES grocery shopping with a passion equal to his hatred of tofu). So while I do try to go once a month or so, I by no means buy all or even most of my food there.
Furthermore, our local 24hr grocery is actually CHEAPER than the produce store down the street...
If the amateur gourmet, in the middle of NYC, can still shop at a regular grocery store, well I'll feel way less guilty about it too...
Posted by Caz | October 30, 2008 8:32 AM
We just moved to Virginia and found the local grocery store here: UCrops. They buy and advertise as much local produce as they can (Local Route, they call it). It was so wonderful to be able to choose apples or tomatoes grown in the same county, and to do so at the convenient grocery store where I can also buy red pepper flakes and cat food.
Maybe we should all ask for local stuff at our grocery store-if more people ask for it, it's more likely they'll try to get it. You never know. (although it sounds like they'd be improving if they even just started with fresh produce, much less local.)
Posted by Beth | October 30, 2008 8:41 AM
We just moved to Virginia and found the local grocery store here: UCrops. They buy and advertise as much local produce as they can (Local Route, they call it). It was so wonderful to be able to choose apples or tomatoes grown in the same county, and to do so at the convenient grocery store where I can also buy red pepper flakes and cat food.
Maybe we should all ask for local stuff at our grocery store-if more people ask for it, it's more likely they'll try to get it. You never know. (although it sounds like they'd be improving if they even just started with fresh produce, much less local.)
Posted by Beth | October 30, 2008 8:41 AM
You're lucky you live across the *better* key food. I'm stuck with the one on 7th Ave and Carroll St, where wilted and sad looking vegetables depress me no end, making me wonder how this store could stay in business, and their self-checkout machines have this loud annoying voice that scares my child every time. Because of that, I have a routine of going to the farmers market every Saturday to stock up on the green veggies for the coming week. I fear disintegrating greens so much.
However, I do make it out to *your* key food sometimes, which is a lot nicer, and I really enjoyed reading this post.
Posted by Brooklyncat | October 30, 2008 8:41 AM
I'd probably love your Key Foods too. It has personality. Just don't call me an elitist for preferring our awesome coop over our enormous grocery store full of overweight midwesterners. ;-)
Posted by lee | October 30, 2008 8:47 AM
I'd probably love your Key Foods too. It has personality. Just don't call me an elitist for preferring our awesome coop over our enormous grocery store full of overweight midwesterners. ;-)
Posted by lee | October 30, 2008 8:48 AM
I'd probably love your Key Foods too. It has personality. Just don't call me an elitist for preferring our awesome coop over our enormous grocery store full of overweight midwesterners. ;-)
Posted by lee | October 30, 2008 8:49 AM
Oops! Sorry about the multiple posting.
Posted by lee | October 30, 2008 8:53 AM
I interned this summer in NYC, and lived in Astoria with a friend. There was a Key Food right at our subway stop, and I have to say that as horrible as it was, it was horribly awesome. I love my Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Farmers Markets, but Key Foods was right there, on the way home, and easy to access. You're so not alone with the Key Foods love!
Posted by Emily | October 30, 2008 9:29 AM
My morning just got so much happier because you mentioned 'Different Drum.' That song has so much bizarre special meaning in my life and the life of my sister and cousins. Somehow, in the aftermath of my grandmother's death, we found a Linda Rondstadt CD among the few that my grandparents had in the house, and for about three days of miscellaneous shiva just ignored everything that was going on and played that song obsessively and giggled. It may have saved our lives. My dear and remarkable friend Carrie also adores it, and she is the ultimate arbiter of perfect taste. I'd go to any Key Food that gave that one a fair shot.
(and I know what you mean, there are some songs that are just made for grocery stores and Duane Reades, that feel perfect there and don't really belong anywhere else..."Whenever, Wherever", anyone?)
Rock on, Linda and Adam at the supermarket.
Posted by Katya | October 30, 2008 9:30 AM
adam, that's not the park slope key foods... is it?
Posted by sm | October 30, 2008 9:49 AM
There is a book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingslover that might be of interest to you about this very topic.
In it she talks about how she and her family did in fact change from shopping at the big box grocery stores and started eating nothing but locally grown and produced foods.
It brings up some interesting facts about foods and people's perceptions of food and where it actually comes from since in days past, not so long ago, if it wasn't in season locally, you didn't ever see it in the store until it was... Since I am also guilty of shopping at our local big box store, it did make me think twice before picking up items that I know the farmers in the area couldn't possibly be growing or harvesting at the moment...
Posted by Tim | October 30, 2008 9:54 AM
right on! being realistic, i am not eating potatoes and squash only all winter. i love organic and local, but i also love the supermarket. (mine, in addition to the quarter merri-go-round, has a manager who reminds me of denzel washington, *sigh*).
Posted by Lainey | October 30, 2008 11:04 AM
I used to date a boy who lived near a key foods and I adored it! It was the only place where I could actually get things the rest of America has (ritz chips!) rather than the overwhelming amounts of things the rest of America doesn't have that most NYC markets seem to be filled with. Yes I like my eighteen different asian/african/mexican hot sauces and adore that every nyc store has them, but sometimes you just want to be able to see the entire line of pillsberry cake mixes. Ever try shopping for baking products at Fairway? Not easy! And sometimes a girl just wants to make some funfetti cupcakes. Key Food had all that stuff.
Posted by td | October 30, 2008 11:26 AM
I bet that you didn't know that had you been in France you could have bought that one bottle of beer. Also you could take one bottle out of a six pack of milk. I don't think it's fair to make you buy the whole thing if you don't need it.
Posted by Linda | October 30, 2008 11:27 AM
I used to date a boy who lived near a key foods and I adored it! It was the only place where I could actually get things the rest of America has (ritz chips!) rather than the overwhelming amounts of things the rest of America doesn't have that most NYC markets seem to be filled with. Yes I like my eighteen different asian/african/mexican hot sauces and adore that every nyc store has them, but sometimes you just want to be able to see the entire line of pillsberry cake mixes. Ever try shopping for baking products at Fairway? Not easy! And sometimes a girl just wants to make some funfetti cupcakes. Key Food had all that stuff.
Posted by td | October 30, 2008 11:28 AM
Is that the Key Foods on 5th? Too bad Steve's C-Town on 9th St @ 5th isn't your local. I love that place. The teenage check out women (and they are predominantly female) are hilarious. They conduct their entire social lives from inside that store. The produce is generally pretty good. Although I wouldn't touch their fish with a ten foot pole either!
Posted by jessica | October 30, 2008 12:01 PM
My boyfriend used to live near this awesome little grocery store in Montreal. The price tags were hand-written, and the check-outs were just wood counters--no fancy moving counters for this little grocery store! And while the selection could sometimes be very limited and questionable, it was also the place where you just might find that strange, exotic ingredient that the big grocery chain doesn't carry. The place sure had character.
So, yes, for when the farmer's market is too far away, or when the high end supermarket doesn't fit the budget, or when you just want the comfort of a well-known place, let's hear it for the little grocery store across the street!
Posted by MontrealJess | October 30, 2008 1:09 PM
I go to the Key Foods on 7th/Carrol and have to open the packaging of any meat I buy there and give it the sniff test. I've been burned 3 times, buying chicken that had gone bad. In fact I have a package of chicken in the fridge right now that I was in too much of a rush to check out - it's rotten. :/
Do you ever have that problem at you Key Foods?
-Grace
www.fearlesscooking.tv
Posted by Grace Piper | October 30, 2008 1:35 PM
I used to shop at this Key Foods and can attest to the brilliance of the music selections there. I now shop at the C-Town mentioned by Jessica and love it.
Posted by blim | October 30, 2008 1:57 PM
I know you are getting to be really famous, so I don't know if you really read all your comments; but I will comment anyway.
I have been a little mad at you since the big picture of the roach from the sushi post. I'm sorry this happened to you, but I have a real phobia of those bugs; and I've been holding it against you that I happily checked your blog and was faced with that picture and no warning. But I still read--just slightly grudgingly lately.
This post, though, motivated me to comment. I have to say: Hallelujah. All the fancy foodies on TV and in the blogosphere want us to turn out backs on supermarkets completely, but you make excellent points! I mean, the name of the place is KEY foods: dried pasta, red pepper flakes, canned beans. They are key when making dinners, and they need to be readily available. Farmers Markets and gourmet groceries rule, but you can't shop there exclusively or you'll go broke. Also, real people work at those stores, and they need jobs too--esp in this economy.
In short, I'm forgiving you for the roach photo b/c I like your writing and your recipes and because I think you are more relevant than many of the arbiters of foodieness out there. :> Keep up the good work, honey. Just no more gross bug shots without warning, PLEASE!
Posted by Margaret | October 30, 2008 2:05 PM
I know the food co-op is controversial (and crowded), and you probably even have a post here about why you're not a member, but it gives me warm and fuzzy feelings like you expressed above. Whenever I consider moving out of the area, I decide against it mostly because of the co-op and the park.
Posted by jane | October 30, 2008 2:27 PM
I guess my shopping experience has been quite fortunate. Near where we used to live in San Francisco, there is a major Safeway store, whose produce is beautiful, and which also carries organic products. In fact, Safeway has created a certified organic line of products called "O."
Even here in the Sierra foothills of California, we have several good local stores and the chain stores as well....Sav-Mart and Safeway, which sell fresh seafood. A local general store sells local meat and fruits and veggies, and one other store, Angels Market in Angels Camp is almost like a Trader Joe's without the chain-store characteristics. They even have wonderful cheeses.
Joel
Posted by Joel Springer | October 30, 2008 6:41 PM
Do all New Yorkers call grocery carts "wagons," or is that unique to you? Either way, I love it! A "wagon" sounds way more fun.
Posted by Wendy | October 30, 2008 8:23 PM
Well, I just love the fact that you aren't too fancypants t0 go to a "regular" groc. I, too love my farmers market, coop,Wholefoods,Trader Joe's; but where I live in the summers, it's just a little IGA in the middle of nowhere. They do an amazing job of offering some nice cheese (manchego,brie!) some good olive oils, vinagers, greek yogurt, great wine/beer selections. The last time I was there, the sound track was Dancin in the Streets followed by Bowie's Rebel, Rebel. This in Indiana! So...ya never know.
Posted by Jan | October 30, 2008 11:01 PM
Key Food sells D`artagnan and plays the beach boys!! Sounds much more entertaining that stuffy ol wegmans!
Posted by Elizabeth | October 30, 2008 11:27 PM
I'm so glad to read this post! I feel the same way about my C-Town up here in the Bronx. Sometimes the Union Square green market is just SO far, and the Columbus Circle Whole Foods makes me a little twitchy. Plus, I can practice my Spanish chatting with the nice woman who bags groceries at the C-town.
Posted by Karen | October 31, 2008 4:28 PM
Your Key Food is certainly better than the one out in Kings Park. At least it sounds better.
I could never get used to the cramped confines of NYC grocery stores. Looking back on it I think Marshal in How I Met Your Mother was right, I felt like a monster in those stores.
Posted by Steve | November 3, 2008 2:15 AM
When I was visiting my cousin on a small island in Greece, she took me shopping at the nearby supermarket. IT was a Key Food! I was so flabbergasted, I couldn't believe that there was a Key Food in another country. When I asked my cousin how did it come to this island near Turkey, apparently, someone who came over from New York decided to open up a chain of supermarkets and called them Key Food. It seems they are not part of the NY chain, but they do have the key emblem on the neon sign. There are 4 Key Foods located in Chios!
Posted by Maria | November 3, 2008 4:34 PM
Key Foods rocks.
Posted by Holly | November 5, 2008 10:20 AM