It’s becoming obvious that these two discussion topics are rapidly becoming mixed bags because there are no subtopic labels. One post might be about dried fruit, the next about chocolate or a follow-up post about dried fruit with no way to quickly pick out the ones of interest.
Perhaps there could be a category called something like “Market Watch” so posts would start as labeled topics like “Peaches at Alemany Market” or “Chocolate at Trader Joes” and threads could develop around them as appropriate.
I agree that the posts get mixed a bit here. I do have a concern though, which is that since the site is starting out and the user base is still developing, will we run into a situation where we have boards but too few users in any one of them?
IMO, farmers’ markets threads belong on regional boards, since their relevance is solely local. Grocery stores, which are most often chains, are suitable for the Chains board as it used to be on Chowhound before management overhauled the site. As a broader category, Chains can include family/fast food restaurants as well as places like Costco or Target, which do sell food but are far from “grocery stores”.
You could start with a generic food shopping venues board, then see if it organically grows toward Costco, chains, Trader Joes, etc. Or you could start those since most of the folks from there are now here, and clearly there was a need. But if you don’t want empty boards, why not just food shopping and finds, and open the regional local source boards as constituencies get big enough to request them?
I like Market Watch . I don’t think it has to be broken down into regions . I don’t mind reading what’s good out of state . Maybe something near you . I’ m sure you can weed through the posts pretty quickly . In over a week or two most of the good stuff is gone or changed . Keep it simple .
I rarely pipe up, but is Grocery Outlet a valid topic-for everywhere?
We weren’t allowed to chime in on the bay area topic on CH because they insisted it was a local store. @$$#;_!!
There are GO’s in 5 states, though they are headquartered in the East Bay.
It made no sense to me because TJ’s was always a national topic, but they insisted on
GO being a local topic and told me to post on my local board-PNW, which was dead.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
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Farmers markets, farm shops and speciality non-chain shops belong on regional boards, to my mind.
I see the point of a single collection point for discussing , say, national supermarket “finds”. But then, I wonder about finds in my national supermarkets - seeing as my nation isnt the same as most members of the forum - and conclude that maybe they’d also be better off on the regional board. So, I’m all for an American “finds” board, so long as you don’t drag me and the other foreigners into it.
I agree, the topic makes more sense at a local level. It’s not relevant outside of Western Washington what is on special at Metropolitan market, what kind of mushrooms Foraged & Found has, when the rhubarb switches from hothouse to field, that u-pick strawberries start this weekend in Monroe, or that the SLU Saturday market has moved a few blocks west from Terry to 9th but doesn’t have any actual farmers yet. For example …
