On another thread there was discussion about how milk was once
delivered to your doorstep and bread was wrapped in waxed paper.
I remember visiting my grandparents in the early 60's. My grandmother
never learned to drive. But in the neighborhood within a few blocks,
was a butcher shop, a bakery, a produce stand and a small general
grocery. (may have been a candlestick maker as well, but I don't
remember that...)
Each day, my grandmother would walk to the butcher and select a meat
(whatever looked the freshest or best quality that day), then visit
the bakery, the produce stand and finally the grocery (where I could
choose a treat from the penny candy counter) to pick up all the fresh
items for that evening's meal.
This seemed to be the daily routine - visiting the shops and selecting
the ingredients for dinner. She would do this each and every day.
Gradually the small shops closed down, replaced by more distant, large
"supermarkets." She then had to ride the bus to shop and began the
process most of us are used to of buying groceries for several days at
a time.
She would always lament the loss of the local grocers and how the
quality of the supermarket food was lacking.
40 years later, I look back at how old fashioned this seemed, but
realize that comparatively, it is similar to the way a chef shops
daily for ingredients for his restaurant.
I think if I lived in a big city that had an ethnic district with
small specialty markets that were in fairly close proximity, I would
stop each day on my way home from work to shop and choose the freshest
ingredients for the evening meal. Not every day but perhaps a few
times a week.
Tom