The Art of Grocery Shopping

Tiffany Sun

September 9, 2025

Lazily half-slung over the metal shopping cart, my eyes drink in the wall of products before me. Dark green ceremonial matcha powder to my left, multi-grain Cheerios to my right, and wafts of cold air seeping through the shelves from the produce section just around the corner. I’ve walked through numerous of these narrow aisles, yet I never get bored. Like a zig-zagging maze, I traipse past the shelves, exploring every corner and tidbit; the rice crackers propped just out of arm's reach on the top, the mango mochi tucked right at the bottom, and the salt and vinegar chips right in the middle.

Coming out of the array of aisles, I enter the produce region, where waist-high crates brim with fresh fruits and vegetables; bok choy still gleaming with water droplets, rough yams stacked precariously in a mountain, and crates of fresh grapes, both green and purple, lie out gloriously before me. To the right, tall refrigerators stocked chock-full with frozen pancakes, raw drumsticks, microwavable meals, and little dumplings line the produce area.

And of course, you can’t forget the baked goods and pastry section tucked neatly in a corner. However hidden it may be, the mouthwatering aroma of warm, fluffy bread, cooked sesame atop pastries, and buttery cookies is all the GPS I need.

The moment I enter the supermarket, I know I’m not coming out without a couple of hours spent meandering through the glistening array of foods. But what makes grocery shopping so fun?

Grocery shopping is a multisensory experience: your eyes soak in every color imaginable from the unending assortment of products; your nose smells the buttery aroma of bread fresh from the oven or the fresh, somewhat earthy smell of ripe produce; your ears pick up the rustling of chip packages, the thud of large refrigerator doors swinging shut, and the murmuring of casual conversation.

It’s a slow experience, so at odds with the hustling, bustling life we’re used to nowadays. You allow your senses to drink in all your surroundings, and you let yourself take time in careful deliberation and selection of products.

When grocery shopping, you’re entirely in control. There are the items you must pick up: a certain brand of low-fat milk and the familiar pack of Greek yogurt. Then there are the new foods you can try out. The new cookie dough and brownie ice cream on sale, or the mochi egg tart from the bakery section. You can buy the cool snack that caught your eye. You can buy both the flat and thin noodles because you couldn’t decide between them. You can reward yourself with a fresh-baked blueberry muffin because you survived the week. There are no expectations attached, no supervisor, boss, teacher, or parent to reprimand you about your choices; you are completely in control. That’s the beauty of grocery shopping.

In an age of maximizing efficiency and meeting others’ expectations, grocery shopping is one of the few times people get to spend time by themselves, both enjoying the process and being productive. Grocery shopping is slow, grocery shopping is multisensory, and grocery shopping is when you’re in complete control, something that, surprisingly, people rarely feel in life.