Eddie’s Food Frustrations: That Short Shelf Life When You Have Your Groceries Delivered
Having groceries delivered to my home is the best thing this century has brought us. In theory, I never have to set foot inside a supermarket again. And that’s exactly how I like it: doing the grocery shopping in person should be a choice. But of course, I do have one thing to complain about: when the use-by date has practically expired by the time the doorbell rings.
Major problem
It really is an impossible puzzle. If I eat gadogado wraps with finely shredded red cabbage on Monday. A Caesar salad with, tadaaaa, lettuce on Tuesday. Salmon with grilled green asparagus on Wednesday. And vegetarian pumpkin soup on Thursday, which I obviously make myself. Then I have a major, but really major, problem. I say major because it sounds just a little more dramatic than simply big.
All that fresh produce is only good for two (!) days if I’m unlucky. Sometimes I feel forced to eat something by the supermarket, no joke. Sometimes the use-by dates on the asparagus, pumpkin and lettuce all expire at exactly the same minute. And that’s irritating, to put it mildly.
Mathematical puzzle
The mathematical puzzle repeats itself every day of the week. It’s also the time pressure that makes me restless. “What are we eating, darling?” *Runs to the fridge, yanks open the door, starts checking all the use-by dates. Which turns out to be impossible, because they’re always printed somewhere on the packaging where you can’t find them. Runs back to the phone. Checks the date. Has already forgotten in a nanosecond how long the chopped cauliflower florets will keep. Runs back again. Is exhausted from all the running around and orders food, which guarantees that something or other will always end up past its date.
The bag at the back
Look, the more control you hand over, the more of a mess everything apparently becomes. Once, I had only the day of delivery to eat my finely shredded red cabbage. I simply think that’s cutting it a bit too close. Give me at least three days or so. And while you’re at it, give me the illusion that I’m the one deciding what I eat. Call it a minor childhood trauma, but I was finally so happy with the autonomy over what I did—and, especially, did not—eat. Goodbye forever, peas. You get the idea.
But now I can already feel the hot breath of red cabbage on the back of my neck as soon as I take the bag out of the crate. Next time, perhaps I should just take the bag at the back of the shelf in the supermarket myself after all.
Read also:
- 9x foods to eat after their use-by date
- These products keep for 2 weeks in the fridge
- What exactly is fresh about fresh smoked sausage?
