The Grocery Store

In every country I visit there is one stop that I am sure to make. A local grocery store. Food (much like children) is a connecting point for people from different cultures and a grocery store is a center place for food. In fact, I would argue that it is a better way to see what food is commonplace than a restaurant is. Therefore, while in Mumbai I visited what I deemed to be a mid sized grocery.

Since you are waiting in such suspense I will share the highlights. The is the allocation of store space is quite telling. Of the food selection roughly 1/3 of the shelf space was dedicated to each of the following: Dry bulk grains (lentils, rice, flours), fresh vegetables and packaged snack foods. From this I deduced the a few points. Meat is really not a daily priority even amongst non-vegetarians. Large scale refrigeration is not widespread as there was very small section for milk products and essentially no freezer section. Food preparation is still done primarily in the home. With very few pre-baked bread products I assumed that daily carbohydrates are prepared at home.

Implications? Not many but is a cultural experience that implies food preparation is timely process that more than likely keeps a large female population out of the labor force. Also, given the sharp rise in diabetes in India I was surprised to see relatively few sweets.