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Recently Manito Elementary School’s Daisy Troop 1592 visited ShopRite for a behind the scenes tour. ShopRite taught them about the bakery, healthy food options, how to check out, provided them with a snack and gave them each a free earth friendly bag. The girls had a great time.
The world has changed a lot since these girls’ parents were young. The reusable tote bag is just one of the new features common to supermarkets around America. It’s another decision, besides finding the best buy, that modern consumers often consider on their shopping expeditions.
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The supermarket tour is another way to help kids reconnect with the food items that sustain us, and learn respect for their nutritional value. Studies have shown that children who are part of the cooking process at home increase both their IQ and EQ, Intelligence and Emotional Quotients. Learning process, procedures, measurements, and how the parts make up the whole are important skills for cooking, building, and almost any job. The same is true on an emotional level as cooking can be part science, part artistry, and part team work.
Supermarket tours also provide some insight into another fairly new phenomenon as the variety of fresh foods available has increased dramatically in recent years. While nothing can compare with fresh Jersey tomatoes or Jersey corn, consumers today have a much wider selection of fruits and vegetables than just one or two generations ago.
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Just as important, a behind the scenes look at the local supermarket opened up a new world for the Daisies to meet the people that make it happen. It was another opportunity of seeing a “team” in action, and how each person plays a role in providing the long list of services and products available at the store. Food just does not appear on store shelves magically, and meeting the folks behind the scenes brings a new value to food, shopping, and responsibilities.
A special thanks to ShopRite for sharing the ins and out of how a supermarket works to Oakland’s youth.
I love reading stories like this one.