A New Way to Grocery Shop

For a while now, I’ve kept reusable shopping bags in the back of my car—that’s been happening for at least a decade. But I’d say it hasn’t been until the last five years that I’ve regularly remembered to use them.

Before then, I appreciated the bins at places like Kroger, which accept plastic grocery bags after they’ve been used. I collected our bags and dropped them off at these receptacles . . . though I do wonder what happens to them. I haven’t once seen plastic grocery bags at places like Kroger or Publix that look anything other than brand-new, fresh-off-the-production-line unrecycled. But maybe they’re being put to good use.

Because of steadily growing grocery prices and because Aldi’s doesn’t purchase or provide (from what I can tell) plastic grocery bags, I have preferred shopping there as much as possible in the past several years. I still have a special place in my heart for Aldi’s, but recently, I’ve prioritized buying the bulk of my groceries from Misfits Market.

Our most recent Misfits delivery on the porch.

Hear me out: no, you cannot go to this market in person, and yes, some of the items I receive are true “misfits.” But now that I’ve been buying my groceries from them for the past several months, here’s what I’ve come to appreciate:

1. I don’t have to spend gas driving to the grocery store. (Yes, the driver uses gas to deliver the groceries, but he/she also delivers elsewhere. So one person leaving one facility to deliver to multiple places seems to me more gas-efficient than multiple people driving to-and-from multiple markets themselves.)  

2. Not all of the produce items come in their own separate bags or boxes. They are, instead, packaged in one large box, which we can break down and recycle.

   

   What's inside—you can see some things are packaged while others (e.g., lemons, broccoli, bok choy) are not.

3. I have several days to curate my cart, giving me time to plan my meals and my grocery list instead of feeling pressure to buy quickly (because my one-year-old can only handle so much time in a shopping cart).

4. The items I’ve purchased are “misfits,” meaning:

   1. They are a little big or a little small or there was a bumper crop . . . not that they’re bruised or moldy or inedible. (And if anything is in some kind of inedible condition, Misfits Market will refund your money without me having to drive to a store to return the product—I love that.)

   2. They need to find a home, or they will become food waste. (The traditional store will not sell these products.)

5. Misfits Market is willing to pick up and reuse their freezer bags and ice packs and egg containers. So not only am I recycling, but I know the items are being reused (instead of reprocessed).

All this plus the money I’m saving because I’m getting access to organic produce at not-organic prices.

I still shop at Aldi’s about once a month—to pick up milk and canned food and seasonings that I can’t find on the Misfits app. I also continue to use Thrive Market for specialty items (I’ll post about their products and sustainability efforts later). But so far, I have to say I’ve been pleased with this switch. Misfits feels like a great fit for our grocery needs. 💛