Letter from Boston

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.

Shukan ST: Aug. 20, 1999

(C) All rights reserved