We have all the mixed feelz about TJ’s opening on a new location in Miami Beach recently.. But in *essence*….
• We are v jazzed that y’all are willing to wait in line for vegetables. #mischiefmanaged. Also pumped that TJs, famous for puzzingly cheap produce, is open in this nice middle ground between Pinecrest (throw it down for Monica’s hometown) + Broward.
• And while you’ll def find magical things we love like pre-made salads, great fruits, all manners of nuts, seeds and their respective unsweetened nut + seed butters, cheese , plain yogurts, kefirs, unsweetened plant-based dairy, plain nut butters, almond + oat + chickpea flours, spices, great grains, legumes, fun soups, and all sorts of frozen pre-cut + cooked veg + starches (we would honestly pay MORE for the convenience of pre-cut + cooked squash/sweet potato/rhubarb/beets/quinoa/plain oats), you’ll also find a massive amount of HEALTH HALO MARKETING.
• Like, cauliflower gnocchi is cool and all — but why don’t people fall over themselves for just buying cauliflower, roasting it, and putting pesto/spices on it? I’m def not as plastic-conscious as I should be — but it’s a little silly to go gaga over products you could easily make from scratch with less waste / less potential for added ingredients you don’t need in your life.
• But TJ’s also has that allure no one likes to admit — the tantalizing taste of clever branding. Prodigious aisles of cacao covered goji, raisins, crystallized ginger, acai, every nut and seed under the sun.. Cereals. Flavored yogurts, flavored kombuchas, maple pumpkin spice nut butters. And BECAUSE it’s the TJ brand — you assume it’s healthy / “better for you.” Plenty of candy at TJs that is still.. candy. Waffles + pancake mixes with white flours and added sugars. Soups w/added sugars. 60 types of crackers and chips still made with white flour or potato starch / hydrolyzed proteins. Their cookie butter may be “artisanal” – but it’s still a butter made of cookies (and still delicious). To be clear – not knocking specific foods as OMG NEVER EAT THIS – knocking the attitudes that may falsely deify certain foods — which is a form of diet culture.
• What’s next? Cacao covered collagen-injected cauliflower pasta?
• Nobody needs to eat frozen chicken pot pie. Nobody. Doesn’t matter if it’s made with organic white flour.
• Get excited that TJs is an affordable way to creatively inject your intake with nutrient-dense (and fun) foods. You’ll prob catch Essence dietitians there hoarding the pre-cooked frozen oats and pre-made salads. But over our broken butterfly wings would we pay 7 dollars for a ginger miso turmeric dressing when olive oil + lemon + vinegar suits us just fine.
• Remember that most nutrition concepts aren’t black and white — there’s usually pro’s and cons to to things. We’re just here to make you think deeply and eat consciously. We are also here for the snacks.
Essentially Yours,
Monica, Michele, Eliane, Michelle, and Dani