Busy day today! My car will go in the shop on Thursday, so after a morning catching up with your lovely pictures on 365, I had to do the food shopping (which provided me with an opportunity to over expose Aisle #1 at the supermarket). Then after running the groceries home, I went to a friend's house for dinner and then on to a gathering at church to celebrate special friendships with other ladies in our church. After I brought Debbie back to her house, I headed towards home but suddenly realized I needed gas! So I drove back to Milford, filled up the car, and headed home once more. By the time I got home I was too tired to process and post my photos and turned in. Tomorrow is another day!
On a more somber note, it strikes and unnerves me every time I walk down this aisle that even on the weeks I have to buy just the bare minimum to get by because money is tight, I am buying more food and walking past more food than some people will see in their lifetime. I do what I can to support our church's ecumenical food pantry (that means you do not have to be a member of our church to use it if you need it) but sometimes the problem seems overwhelming when I think of it in global terms. But the local food pantry is still a good place to start.
I like the overexposure. It gives the mundane store aisle an other-wordly feeling. More importantly, I am glad you include your second comment. Many are spoiled by the ability to get anything they want at any time. My experiences in the Philippines as well as in some areas right here in this country illuminate the dichotomy of not having in the midst of having. Kudos to you and others who support the efforts to do something about this imbalance. And the local food pantry is indeed a good place to start.
@dakotaburns Thanks Donald! I think everyone can help at least a little here- even supermarkets are collecting food for food pantries now- and you can always afford to buy a jar of spaghetti sauce and a box of pasta or pj &j!
The overexposure works very well Ann, and yes, it hurts a lot when you go shopping now days. I do not know how families of 3, 4 or 5 kids can do it week after week. Then you have the gas prices, and everything else. It is a tough time.
great angle and great lighting to over-expose. i hear you on this food shopping. partner is always on the lookout for sales. actually we buy our food cheap and sometimes when we sit down and eat, we feel blessed that we eat good food and better food than those with more money to spend. we see this when we go grocery shopping...people who drive expensive SUV's with their carts full of groceries yet most of them are so unhealthy. when i send a box to the old country, we make sure they are food that we also eat so i know i'm sending them good food.
Wow! What a busy day!!! That's a well stocked store. Nice shot! It looks like a security camera shot. I do have to agree with what you say about the store having more food than they can keep in stock. Did you know that they toss out anything that is past the expiration date? Why wait until the expiration date? If it's due to expire say a month from then, give it to a food shelf instead of tossing it a month later. I had to use the food shelf a couple of times and everything on their shelves were more than 2 months expired. The only thing fresh was the bread. It's quite sad that people don't help if they can and stores waste so much money. Anyway, this a nice shot. Well done, Ann.
Love the way the shelves seem to go on forever.. it illustrates your point. I don't think we have food-pantries here, although long-life groceries are always welcomed at harvest time so there must be a need for one. Our dustmen (waste collection) now collect left-over food waste which is recycled to make electricity etc - it's shocking how much unwanted food is thrown away each week. (Peelings and egg-shells from my house, I should add...!)
Great shot, Ann and how wonderful that your church has a food pantry. So necessary these days with so many out of work and prices so high. I swear by BOGOs and coupons, too.
@kerristephens Thank you Kerri! I think it's the most "photogenic" aisle in our store- lol.
@digitalrn Thanks Rick! Yes, I'd have to agree with you. There are many people who truly deserve and need the help. I have also been angered to see people taking advantage of the system too. There is a women who lives in our community who is perfectly capable of working- but thanks to all the gov. assistance doesn't have to- she owns a Cadillac Escapade, wears all designer clothes and jewelry, has the latest iPhone (I have seen her using it at the mailboxes) and I wonder how I'll be able to save enough to go visit my grandchildren. There is something terribly wrong with this! And then I know of families who really could use the help and they don't qualify because of one reason or another. Oh, sorry to get on the soap box! In the end, I like supporting the benevolence fund in the church when I can because I know it directly goes to someone who needs it. @summerfield Thanks Vikki- things are definitely not monitored well here. I too have seen people really taking advantage of the system. I stood behind a mother one day- two small kids- all dressed in top brand clothes, she's on a cell phone with all the bells and whistles, obviously has been to a good hair dresser recently, the cart filled to the top with soda and cookies, and she pays for it all with food stamps! It makes me want to scream. Maybe I should apply for food stamps. I might actually be able to get a hair cut at a salon instead of standing in front of my mirror with a pair of scissors going, "that looks straight".
@prttblues Thanks Bev! Yes, I briefly worked in a bakery department of a local store. You can blame over regulation on some of those practices. You can also blame the legal system- if someone eats an "expired" food substance they received from someone and gets sick, they sue and the lawyer makes millions and the person never has to go to the food pantry again because of their settlement! I remember in the bakery we had to get rid of things even though they might still be edible because the law required it. Also, the store is not willing to toss it until its unsaleable- after all they do exist to make a profit. So it's a catch 22 as they say. One thing we did though (which was kind of neat) was to salvage some of the freshly baked goods for a fellow who fed it to the wildlife on his property. We'd bag up all the stuff and put it in a bin which he came and cleared out everyday. So that was kind of nice- it was something he'd arranged privately with the owners of the store. But basically stores have to comply to the government regulations otherwise the gov. will shut them down. @filsie65 Thanks Phil! That sounds pretty interesting- I think things are slowly changing towards that here. As it becomes more profitable to recycle and reuse, more and more companies are looking into it. We need to- we can't keep dumping garbage endlessly. @sangwann Thanks Dione! @cimes1 Thanks Carole- me too- I especially love the bogo sales in the meat department!
@automaticslim Thank you Andy! And thanks so much for the fav! I liked the way they'd stacked the vegetables at the beginning of the aisle and I thought it would provide a nice line in the picture to make one side straight and the other jagged. I also liked that the bank of windows in the front of the store combined with the overhead lights naturally brightened the focal point of the picture. The rest was just a matter of turning up the dial on the exposure compensation so that the camera wouldn't automatically balance the lighting. Of course you probably figured that out!
@olivetreeann - goodness! don't get me started on food stamps. my family in chicago tells me a lot of stories about people who have large expensive homes and how they get hold of food stamps is beyond belief. it's the same here in canada. in fact in one of the law firms i've worked in in the past, there was a lawyer who admitted he goes to the 'soup kitchens' and the food banks because 'it's free and the food isn't bad'. i know of some people who are claiming unemployment insurance but go on cruises or vacationing in europe. but i've learned long ago that there is no fair justice.
We DO have so much...and some have so little. This aisle of food alone seems to go on for days....you are doing well with the over exposed challenge. I am sure it is a difficult one!
@digitalrn Thanks Rick! Yes, I'd have to agree with you. There are many people who truly deserve and need the help. I have also been angered to see people taking advantage of the system too. There is a women who lives in our community who is perfectly capable of working- but thanks to all the gov. assistance doesn't have to- she owns a Cadillac Escapade, wears all designer clothes and jewelry, has the latest iPhone (I have seen her using it at the mailboxes) and I wonder how I'll be able to save enough to go visit my grandchildren. There is something terribly wrong with this! And then I know of families who really could use the help and they don't qualify because of one reason or another. Oh, sorry to get on the soap box! In the end, I like supporting the benevolence fund in the church when I can because I know it directly goes to someone who needs it.
@summerfield Thanks Vikki- things are definitely not monitored well here. I too have seen people really taking advantage of the system. I stood behind a mother one day- two small kids- all dressed in top brand clothes, she's on a cell phone with all the bells and whistles, obviously has been to a good hair dresser recently, the cart filled to the top with soda and cookies, and she pays for it all with food stamps! It makes me want to scream. Maybe I should apply for food stamps. I might actually be able to get a hair cut at a salon instead of standing in front of my mirror with a pair of scissors going, "that looks straight".
@prttblues Thanks Bev! Yes, I briefly worked in a bakery department of a local store. You can blame over regulation on some of those practices. You can also blame the legal system- if someone eats an "expired" food substance they received from someone and gets sick, they sue and the lawyer makes millions and the person never has to go to the food pantry again because of their settlement! I remember in the bakery we had to get rid of things even though they might still be edible because the law required it. Also, the store is not willing to toss it until its unsaleable- after all they do exist to make a profit. So it's a catch 22 as they say. One thing we did though (which was kind of neat) was to salvage some of the freshly baked goods for a fellow who fed it to the wildlife on his property. We'd bag up all the stuff and put it in a bin which he came and cleared out everyday. So that was kind of nice- it was something he'd arranged privately with the owners of the store. But basically stores have to comply to the government regulations otherwise the gov. will shut them down.
@filsie65 Thanks Phil! That sounds pretty interesting- I think things are slowly changing towards that here. As it becomes more profitable to recycle and reuse, more and more companies are looking into it. We need to- we can't keep dumping garbage endlessly.
@sangwann Thanks Dione!
@cimes1 Thanks Carole- me too- I especially love the bogo sales in the meat department!
@jesperani thank you Jennifer!
@henrir thank you Henri!
@daisy thank you Kathryn!