Wil-Mart

Not doing too much cooking this week cause I'm in sunny San Diego for a work meeting [not to say I haven't been eating, though. Much posting about San Diego restaurants to ensue] I did stumble across this article on the Newsweek website that I found interesting.

As America changes, so does the store where America shops. In Dearborn this week, the world's largest retailer opens a store like no other among its 3,500 U.S. outlets. Walk through the front door of the 200,000-square-foot supercenter and instead of rows of checkout counters, you find a scene akin to a farmers market in Beirut. Twenty-two tables are stacked high with fresh produce like kusa and batenjan, squash and eggplant used in Middle Eastern dishes. Rimming the produce department are shelves filled with Arab favorites like mango juice from Egypt and vine leaves from Turkey used to make mehshi, or stuffed grape leaves.

My extended family loves Wal-Mart, much to my dads chagrin. My Aunt Sana's broken english is the subject of many of our family jokes, and calls it Wil-Mart. We crack up every time.

Believe you me, if Wal-Mart sold fresh fava beans or green almonds in Philly, I would be there in a minute. But rest assured, Wal-Mart and this article are full of bullshit. There is no shortage of kusa in Dearborn. Every corner is either an arabic bakery or produce vendor...their schpiel about not wanting to put out the small businesses is complete crap. Its also nice that they are hiring Arabs at $5.50/hr to stock shelves. Its like saying that Taco Bell is hiring Mexicans to make soft tacos...great!