I spent some time today at the Stop & Shop on Whalley Avenue in New Haven. It's the grocery store I usually shop at, about once a week. I also use my rewards points to pay for my gas. I feel like I'm part of the community at this Stop & Shop. Some of the employees know me, and I know them too. These are some things I noticed today.
Seagulls
There is a prominent wildlife presence in the Stop and Shop parking lot: the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). On my walk into the store, I counted at least two dozen seagulls. In fact, there was hardly a streetlight that did not have a gull perched on it. Gulls lined the top of the three-story building. This is peculiar because the parking lot was devoid of any passable wildlife habitat—it is entirely concrete, without even a small island with trees or vegetation. There must be a significant source of anthropogenic food for these birds that is available to them consistently. Perhaps the store disposes of past-expiry date food, and this practice has attracted a large gull population. Maybe people drop enough food while loading it into their cars to support a transient gull population.
I haven’t observed seagulls at this density anywhere else but the sea, riverways, or estuary ecosystems. Further study is needed.
Surveillance
In the process of watching seagulls, I noticed the surveillance cameras in the parking lot. Every light post has a camera. The top edge of the building had at least 10 cameras of varying sizes. The entryways to the stores had cameras with a screen that made clear the intention of the cameras: someone is watching; don’t steal anything. Inside the store, the entire perimeter featured a camera every 30 feet or so. There aren’t any cameras monitoring the interior aisles, save for a very visible camera and screen near the cough and cold medicine. This must also be to discourage theft. At each self-checkout, there is a camera on each kiosk. I was surprised at the extent of the surveillance once I started looking for cameras. There could be over 100 cameras on the property—far too many for any employee to manually watch. Is this an effective tool to prevent theft, or only to retroactively prosecute theft? How does the extent of surveillance change based on the demographic of the neighborhood the store serves? Is the number of cameras linked to local crime rates? Does the high density of cameras create a positive feedback loop in which more crimes can be prosecuted, so more cameras are installed?
How things are grouped
The grouping of like things is one of the defining organizational characteristics of the modern American grocery store. Here are the main grouping types:
Type: Fresh produce is in one section of the store. The meat is stored together. As are dairy, eggs, alcohol, etc.
Function: The store sells more than food. There are aisles for office supplies, medicine, cleaning, the written word (cards and books), etc. These aisles are all organized by what the products contained within them enable people to accomplish.
Temperature: Cold things are stored together. Frozen foods, regardless of type, are in the same aisle. This organization is largely pragmatic, but it highlights the role of electricity use and thermodynamics in the modern grocery store model.
Naturalness: One particular aisle caught my eye. It’s labeled “natural foods.” What is meant by natural is unclear in most contexts. In fact, “natural” is one of the most ambiguous words in the English language. It has a multiplicity of meanings that is largely dependent on the cultural context in which the word is used. The ‘natural’ foods aisle was exclusively boxed and packaged products. But a commonality among all of the products was the USDA organic certification and labeling. There was a recurring motif of agrarianism and farming. Another interesting phenomenon was the ubiquity of animal iconography in the ‘natural’ aisle. List of animals in the “natural foods” aisle: raccoon, panda, rhino, puffin, rabbit, dinosaur, cattle, honey bee, heron, chicken, sparrow, alligator, and donkey.
The animals in the ‘natural’ aisle were almost all depicted close to the form they take in their ecosystems, i.e., there was little artistic embellishment. The only other aisle with a similar density of animals was the cereal aisle. But nearly all of these animals were caricatures with human-like features and expressive faces, targeting children. What draws adults to animal iconography?
Ethnicity, Nationality, and Geography: Categories of place, culture, and nationality have their own sections within the store. There is a Kosher section, which has foods that adhere to Jewish dietary laws. There is an Italian section, a Thai section, and an Asian section. Additionally, there are the curiously labeled “International Beans," “International Rice," and “International Beverage.” What is an international bean? Further sociological study of the blurred lines between culture, nationality, place, and the labeled identity of the beans and rice themselves is warranted.
Intercom
The intercom is an organizational tool within the store. Many different pieces of information were conveyed through the storewide speakers while I shopped. These communications were targeted at both store employees and the shoppers themselves. For the customers, the store shared promotional deals on products. For employees, certain departments were informed of phone calls or given directions.
At one point during my shopping, I heard “cleanup needed in the produce section.” I ignored this and continued on. Then, a few minutes later, I heard the call for cleanup again. Interesting. I continued on. The third time I heard this call for help, I decided to cross the store to investigate the mess for myself. When I arrived at the produce section, I gave it a thorough look but could not find any mess. What is the meaning of this subterfuge?
Thoughts on Cheese
Cheese is the only food in the store that is closely tied to its place of origin. Each cheese had a provenance. There was Irish cheese, Vermont cheese, New York cheese, and cheese “produced in the La Mancha region of Spain for hundreds of years from the milk of manchega sheep.”