Zen and the Art of Grocery Shopping

Everything about grocery shopping is stressful nowadays. On Sampling Day, you have to park your car in the next zip code. You can't find a shopping cart without a sticky handlebar. Checkout lines are too long, but you can't buy beer at the self-checkout. We're flummoxed.

In search of tranquility, Zen and the Art of Grocery Shopping takes us on a rollicking ride through today's supermarket. Topics include:

•    Shopping cart courtesy

•    Grocery delivery by drone

•    Politically-correct shopping

•    The difference between sell-by, eat-by, and bye-bye

•    And more…

What's Zen got to do with it? Plenty. Zen is feeling peaceful and relaxed as we seek answers to the questions that keep us up at night: How should we celebrate National Canned Food Month? Why are some eggs brown? Is non-meat more nutritious than meat meat? And which checkout line is truly the fastest?

To become enlightened today, accept that the best is all around you and sometimes on sale. Stress the lack of stress. Embrace a shopping cart with squeaky wheels. And if your favorite brand of frozen string beans is out of stock, give peas a chance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Karolefski is a professional journalist who has written about supermarkets and food shopping for over 25 years. He has thrilled audiences at grocery conferences and discussed shopping shenanigans on radio (ABC, CBS, BBC) and television (CNN). Karolefski also writes a blog about supermarkets at GroceryStories.com. He has tramped through hundreds of supermarkets around the U.S. and in Europe in search of Zen. The result is this compendium of stories, penetrating analyses, and gripes that hilariously illustrate what all of us must do calmly: shop, eat, and repeat.