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変わったスーパーマーケット
雅子さんの住まいとニューイングランド音楽学校の近くには、「パンとサーカス」という名の、ちょっと変わったチェーン店のスーパーマーケットがあります。値段は少々高めですが、良質な食料品が豊富で、健康食品やベジタリアンコーナーも充実。ボストンに住む日本人も多く利用しています。
An Unusual Supermarket
By MASAKO YAMADA
On the last day of my chamber music program at the New England Conservatory (NEC), we all performed in a small
recital. The recital had a very laid-back feel, and all of the students were told to bring some munchies so
participants and audience members could eat beforehand, during intermission and after the recital.
While we were setting up the food table, I couldn't help noticing that many of the participants brought food from a
supermarket called Bread and Circus. This hardly surprised me, since I imagined these amateur chamber music players would
perfectly match that store's target clientele.
The supermarket is a successful local chain store that has branches both near where I live and near the New England
Conservatory. It is not really a health foods store, although it has a great selection of organic goods and doesn't sell
products that use bad ingredients like white sugar, MSG, partially hydrogenated oils and artificial flavorings.
One can tell that the stuff isn't necessarily healthy by taking a look at the sweets section: It is crammed with
rich foods such as chocolate cheesecake and Italian gelato. The only thing is that the foods don't contain any of the
taboo ingredients mentioned above.
It is certainly not a vegetarian market, either, although there is a huge selection of prepared vegetarian products
that use tofu, beans and nuts instead of meat. In place of cow's milk, one can get soy milk, rice milk and milk made
from sake lees. A British vegetarian I know was stunned when he first went to Bread and Circus. He'd never seen such a
wide variety of vegetarian products before and he was eager to show the place to his wife, who also is a vegetarian.
The supermarket has a meat section that is even bigger than the vegetarian section, however, so it is clear that the
market does not embrace a moralistic vegetarian stance (some vegetarians are upset by this). The meats don't contain
antibiotics and none of the animals were trapped in cramped factories.
Bread and Circus isn't quite a gourmet shop, although there is a wonderful selection of unusual cheeses, vegetables,
sauces and freshly prepared entrees. The prices are higher than prices in a regular supermarket, but, overall, the kinds
of products that it carries are the same. They are simply bet
ter versions of everyday products.
The emphasis seems to be on providing the best local products, rather than importing exotic things from afar. One might not be able to find things like pickled duck tongues at this market, but one can definitely find fresh peaches
grown without pesticides. I suppose the best term for this market would be a "good foods" store.
The store seems to target people who strive for high quality of life but who are down-to-earth as well. This is why I
wasn't surprised to see that so many of my peers at NEC are customers. Since my chamber music program was for amateurs,
none of the members were starving musicians.
Given the cost required to pursue music as a hobby, I'd even consider most of them rather well-to-do. However, music
also requires a lot of hard work and it's not very glamorous. People came to prac
tice in jeans, not Versace suits. They brought sandwiches for dinner, not caviar and truffles.
Bread and Circus ishighly popular among Japanese living in Boston. Indeed, the store nearest to my home is in the
affluent suburb of Brookline where many Japanese live. I tend to go there only when I feel like spending a little extra
money to buy good food that is good for me. I tend to view this supermarket, like my piano lessons, as one of life's
little pleasures.
I was therefore shocked to see that the market not only accepts Visa and Mastercard, it also accepts EBT cards. EBT
cards are a credit card version of food stamps. They are government subsidized allowances for people with low
incomes.
I guess the rationale is that healthy food is a necessity, not a luxury. Juvenal did say the masses need "bread and circuses" to be content, after all.
On the last day of my chamber music program at the New England Conservatory (NEC), we all performed in a small
recital. The recital had a very laid-back feel, and all of the students were told to bring some munchies so
participants and audience members could eat beforehand, during intermission and after the recital.
While we were setting up the food table, I couldn't help noticing that many of the participants brought food from a
supermarket called Bread and Circus. This hardly surprised me, since I imagined these amateur chamber music players would
perfectly match that store's target clientele.
The supermarket is a successful local chain store that has branches both near where I live and near the New England
Conservatory. It is not really a health foods store, although it has a great selection of organic goods and doesn't sell
products that use bad ingredients like white sugar, MSG, partially hydrogenated oils and artificial flavorings.
One can tell that the stuff isn't necessarily healthy by taking a look at the sweets section: It is crammed with
rich foods such as chocolate cheesecake and Italian gelato. The only thing is that the foods don't contain any of the
taboo ingredients mentioned above.
It is certainly not a vegetarian market, either, although there is a huge selection of prepared vegetarian products
that use tofu, beans and nuts instead of meat. In place of cow's milk, one can get soy milk, rice milk and milk made
from sake lees. A British vegetarian I know was stunned when he first went to Bread and Circus. He'd never seen such a
wide variety of vegetarian products before and he was eager to show the place to his wife, who also is a vegetarian.
The supermarket has a meat section that is even bigger than the vegetarian section, however, so it is clear that the
market does not embrace a moralistic vegetarian stance (some vegetarians are upset by this). The meats don't contain
antibiotics and none of the animals were trapped in cramped factories.
Bread and Circus isn't quite a gourmet shop, although there is a wonderful selection of unusual cheeses, vegetables,
sauces and freshly prepared entrees. The prices are higher than prices in a regular supermarket, but, overall, the kinds
of products that it carries are the same. They are simply bet
ter versions of everyday products.
The emphasis seems to be on providing the best local products, rather than importing exotic things from afar. One might not be able to find things like pickled duck tongues at this market, but one can definitely find fresh peaches
grown without pesticides. I suppose the best term for this market would be a "good foods" store.
The store seems to target people who strive for high quality of life but who are down-to-earth as well. This is why I
wasn't surprised to see that so many of my peers at NEC are customers. Since my chamber music program was for amateurs,
none of the members were starving musicians.
Given the cost required to pursue music as a hobby, I'd even consider most of them rather well-to-do. However, music
also requires a lot of hard work and it's not very glamorous. People came to prac
tice in jeans, not Versace suits. They brought sandwiches for dinner, not caviar and truffles.
Bread and Circus ishighly popular among Japanese living in Boston. Indeed, the store nearest to my home is in the
affluent suburb of Brookline where many Japanese live. I tend to go there only when I feel like spending a little extra
money to buy good food that is good for me. I tend to view this supermarket, like my piano lessons, as one of life's
little pleasures.
I was therefore shocked to see that the market not only accepts Visa and Mastercard, it also accepts EBT cards. EBT
cards are a credit card version of food stamps. They are government subsidized allowances for people with low
incomes.
I guess the rationale is that healthy food is a necessity, not a luxury. Juvenal did say the masses need "bread and circuses" to be content, after all.
Shukan ST: Aug. 20, 1999
(C) All rights reserved
- chamber music
- 室内楽
- New England Conservatory
- ニューイングランド音楽学校
- laid-back feel
- 気軽な雰囲気
- munchies
- 軽食、おやつ
- participants
- 参加者
- intermission
- 休憩
- couldn't help noticing 〜
- 〜 に気付かずにはいられなかった
- target clientele
- 対象の顧客層
- branches
- 支店
- organic
- 自然の、有機の
- ingredients
- 成分
- MSG
- (=monosodium glutamate)グルタミン酸ソーダ(化学調味料)
- partially hydrogenated oils
- 半硬化油
- artificial flavorings
- 人工の調味料
- sweets
- 菓子
- is crammed with 〜
- 〜 がぎっしり置かれている
- rich
- こってりした
- gelato
- 空気をあまり含まないイタリアの柔らかいアイスクリーム
- vegetarian
- 菜食主義の
- soy milk
- 豆乳
- sake lees
- 酒かす
- embrace
- 信奉する
- moralistic
- 道徳的な
- stance
- 姿勢
- antibiotics
- 抗生物質
- were trapped
- 捕らわれていた
- cramped
- 窮屈な
- freshly prepared 〜
- 調理したての 〜
- entrees
- おかず
- providing 〜
- 〜 を提供する
- exotic
- 珍しい
- from afar
- 遠くから
- pickled
- 漬けた
- tongues
- 舌
- pesticides
- 農薬
- strive for 〜
- 〜 を求めて励む
- down-to-earth
- 現実的な
- peers
- 仲間
- starving
- 飢えた
- Given the cost required to pursue music as a hobby, I'd even consider most of them rather well-to-do.
- 音楽を趣味として続けるのにかかる費用を考えたら、彼らはむしろ裕福とさえいえる
- glamorous
- 魅力的な
- Versace
- ヴェルサーチブランドの
- caviar
- キャビア
- truffles
- トリュフ
- affluent suburb
- 裕福な郊外
- EBT cards
- (=Electronic Benefits Transfer cards)クレジットカード形式の困窮者用食料切符
- food stamps
- 政府発行の食料切符
- government subsidized allowances for people with low incomes
- 低所得者のための政府補助手当
- rationale
- 理屈
- luxury
- ぜいたく品
- Juvenal
- ローマ帝国の政治・社会を風刺した詩人、ユヴェナリス
- masses
- 大衆
- bread and circuses
- (大衆の気をそらすため政府などが提供する)食物と娯楽