They Sell Beef at SPAR!

Sorta. It’s ground buffalo. Apparently you get to call that beef. I’m not really asking questions, though, because this was pretty exciting. Ground meat opens up many routes for non-veg meals. So far that's been spotty.

I know what you’re asking: why did I just now, two months into this trip, discover that there’s ground beef at SPAR, the great Dutch grocery store I’d been to many times? Ground meat isn’t the most popular item in the store, and they don’t stock heaps of it like they do in the States. If it sells out, it sells out. Even major products run out sometimes, too, and at all stores, not just SPAR. SPAR, for example, had no skim milk, forcing me to go to Spencer’s. Last week, Spencer’s was out of skim, as well as Nutella. Both are currently out of Diet Pepsi, even in small bottles (bastards). The supply of honey at both, as well as the Big Bazaar, was spotty, with an inconsistent array of brands and sizes.

This isn’t because any of these products are esoteric here. Honey and Nutella are quite common. Skim milk isn’t the most popular, but it seems to get pretty wide consumption. Nobody drinks Diet Pepsi, but that’s just because no one stocks it. That one’s a poor example. If Pepsi and Coke would JUST GIVE IT A CHANCE.... anyway. They’re out of stock simply because it doesn’t make sense to keep huge quantities of perishable items on hand, nor does it make sense to have constant, flexible shipping to account for uncontrollable spikes in demand. In India, what makes sense is just dealing with the fact that you might have to wait for Nutella, or buy a small jar of honey, or go with regular milk.

Compare this to the US. There it’s virtually unheard of for a grocery store to be out of anything approaching a staple. It’d be weird to be sold out any particular cut of beef, or any particular size of Nutella, much less the whole shebang. I remember once when the Hyde Park Co-op had no bread, but that was because it was going bankrupt and hadn’t paid the bread supplier, sparking the comment "What is this, Russia?" from one of my friends. I think a lot of this is due to our more efficient supply chains–US suppliers can ensure a constant supply of any food, and can deliver extra when demand unexpectedly spikes. This is sort of a waste of money, but thanks to Wal-Mart we do it as efficiently as possible. The main thing, though, is that we’re willing to pay for it. With meat and produce in India, Indians just learn to deal with the fact that supply isn't as consistent, and that it changing that would result in a lot of spoiled meat and produce. In the US, we have meat coming in daily, and when the seasons prohibit a particular vegetable from being available, we just import it. What do you do if you need avocados for your Labor Day party in September? Import them from Chile! What do you do if you need raspberries in March? Import them from Guatemala!

I’m not saying the Indian system is better–far from it. This is one of those American luxuries that’s worth the cost, as opposed to daily lattes or the Chevy Suburban. I’ll adjust, no doubt, but begrudgingly. I can deal with honey shortages and avocado blackouts. It’s only when you cut off my protein and diet pop that you’re playing with fire.