The aisles were crowded last week as locals filled downtown’s new full-service grocery store, Matherne’s Market. The people have been patiently waiting for a full-service grocery store to open, and now the day has finally come.
Every morning when I wake up, I find myself frantically looking for food to throw together so I can have some type of “lunch” for the day. On average, it is poorly planned and far from a substantial meal. I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this — students without any sort of meal plan do as well.
This exact scenario is one that many students face daily. But with that in mind, there has been one small step made in the right direction.
Downtown Baton Rouge hosts a plethora of students who work or have internships — it’s the hub for all state-governed businesses, financial institutions and law enforcement. And because many of us go to school full-time and work, it can be difficult to think ahead for the day and bring a healthy, well-balanced meal with us.
Fortunately, Matherne’s Market has come to the rescue. It’s a serious game changer because downtown Baton Rouge has been without a full-service grocery store for nearly 50 years. Matherne’s is not just an average grocery store like Albertsons or the processed food capital of the world, commonly referred to as Wal-Mart.
At Matherne’s you can find a variety of food items varying from signature meats, gourmet cheese, fresh produce and even domestic and imported beer, wine and spirits.
But the single best feature I would have to comment on is that it’s a local, family-owned business that has been serving River Parish and the Baton Rouge community exclusively for more than 20 years.
Considering the atmosphere of hospitality at Matherne’s, I may find myself venturing out more often to get my shopping done there rather than at Albertsons or Winn-Dixie.
As a whole, I think we need to take it upon ourselves as students to shop at more local stores that put an incredible amount of time into making sure the shopping experience is a pleasant and simple one.
This is something that may not be the easiest for us as students, but it is definitely worth it.
But some of you will probably ask, “Why does it matter what I eat? Everyone else is eating junk and they are doing fine. Why should I change where I do my grocery shopping when it is already so easy?”
Sorry for the cliché, but it’s true that you are what you eat. Considering what we put into our bodies can affect our thought process, mood and ability to focus.
But shopping at places like Wal-Mart leaves almost no healthy options for us to pick from, and they are certainly not nutritious. Nearly everything there is so genetically modified and processed that you might as well resort to eating ramen noodles every day.
And these large, corporate companies don’t always have the best interest of their employees in mind. Wal-Mart pays its employees the bare minimum, which means the company operates under the assumption that its workers only need to eat once a week. So I guess it makes sense why the service at Wal-Mart sucks — no one there has motivation to do anything, so our experience as consumers falls incredibly short of enjoyable.
Here’s a thought. Most humans need to eat more than once a week, unless you are from some type of space-age supernova that has yet to be released to the world.
The next time you walk into a large corporate chain, just ask yourself, “Do I really want to support these heartless, money-hungry corporations?”
Jen Blate is a 24-year-old sociology junior from Miami, Florida. You can reach her on Twitter @Jblate_TDR.