From Moderate to Expansive

By: Jane Zheng

Essay #2: Project Space

Every Monday and Friday morning, a farmer from Chile shows up in the small parking lot downstairs my apartment on time, with a truck full of vegetables and fruits and some eggs. He usually starts selling at 9:00, and leaves at 10:00. Sometimes I wake up a little bit late, I will open my window ask him “ Would you please wait for me for a moment?” He always smiles and waves his large and rough hands, asking me go downstairs. He sells fresh and seasonal vegetables and fruits. And the price is really low. Take the things I bought today as an example: eight apples, a cabbage, two avocados, an onion, seven bananas, three pears, some fresh kidney beans and tomatoes. Total cost, eight dollars and sixty cents. 

I enjoy buying vegetables and fruits from him, not only because of the low price and fresh produce but also the warm feeling I gain from him. We talk during my shopping. He tells me the building, which the small parking lot belongs to, is a retirement home. There are a lot of poor old people live inside who are hard to afford the food in supermarket and it is inconvenient for them to drive to farmers’ market and Costco. These people are his main customers. He is a friendly guy. After last winter break, I came back from China, he said to me, “ Long time no see. Did you go to China for winter vacation?”

However, he also does advertisement. He usually gave me some fruit for free after my purchase, and tells me it is really sweet. “ You try it this time, you will buy it next time,” he says every time with a confident smile.

My roommates and me registered for a Costco card this year, as we heard that Costco sells really cheap stuffs and the fifty dollars annual fee is really worthwhile. The first time I went to Costco, it was a really different shopping experience I had never had. It is all white, grey, and black around you, thousands high shelves meet my eyes on the every side, which are three times my height or more! Costco do not have colorful posts on the walls as other supermarkets do, like Vons and Ralphs. I thought I was in the warehouse of IKEA rather than a supermarket when I was in Costco.

At Costco tons of processed foods fill rows of high shelves, which are all supersized. It makes you feel cheap, when you spend a little more money than you did in common market but get twice the amount of groceries. You can buy 30 bottles of drink water for less than $4 here.

We always have doubts that why Costco requires an annual membership card for being able to shop there. From my own experience, after spending the annual membership fee I persuade myself to shop more often in Costco, otherwise, I feel that I have wasted the fifty dollars. I think it is also the original purpose of Costco. It pushes you to spend more money in Costco while making you feel that the more purchase you do here, the more bargains you gain.

Supersize, low prices, these are acknowledged labels of Costco. Obviously, Costco using low prices and supersize advocates expansive consumption model. It encourage people buy more, use more, on the other hand waste more. Take bottle water as an example. I was used to buying bottle water from Costco until I attend a biology lecture last month. I bought bottle water from Costco because I heard that tap water is bad for our health, which will cause hair loss and other problems; and as I mentioned bottle water in Costco is really cheap. However, I quit drinking bottle water as I learnt in biology class the danger of using bottle water, not only for our health but also for our environment. Here are some information I got from my biology lecture: “ The plastic material of bottles contains Bisphenol-A which promote the growth of cancer causing cells,” and “People consume 28,000,000,000 liter bottle water per year. 17,000,000 barrels of oil was used to produce those plastic bottles. An addition of 2,500,000 tons of CO2 produced in the manufacturing of the plastic bottle which pollutes the air”(Harwell, Gentile, 204-46). Many car owners like to store a whole box of bottle water in the trunk while ignoring the danger of this behavior: the heat in car causes the cancer causing chemicals to leach out from the plastic of bottles. Which is healthier, tap water or bottle water? There is still no overwhelming evidence. But I am sure that drinking tap water does better for our environment. What if Costco does not sale drink water in such low prices, is there still so many people drink such a huge amount of bottle water?

Last but not least, do we really save money from Costco? For a family with 3 to 4 people, do we really need an annual membership in Costco? The unit price of stuff is really cheap in Costco, while the waste caused by the expansive consumption model also costs.

In contrast, the farmer individual selling model seems encourage the customers being moderate. Take my own experience as an example. I plan what to buy before the farmer’s show-up day. The purchase should include everyday apple and other fruit for each person and two meals daily. We just buy needful food every time, twice a week. Naturally, the regular eating habit is also shaped simultaneously. I mentioned at the beginning, this selling model not only serves inexpensive produce but also makes people feel warmth, relaxed and comfortable. We are able to know our food and the seller of our food in this way. In the other word, our food is more transparent and trustable. On the contrary, Costco pushes you to consume something you do not really need by membership card, supersize packaging and low prices.

Because of the development of economy and industry, people’s life style changes from moderate to expansive. The expansive consumption model advocated by Costco and other thousands of companies is an essential part of our modern world. We are used this life style, our economy also depends on it. But the farmer selling downstairs my window provokes me thinking whether we should return to the moderate life style.

 Works Cited

Harwell, Mark A., and John H. Gentile. "Ecological Significance of Residual Exposures and Effects from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill." Integr Environ Assess Manag Volume: 2, Issue: 3, Pages: 204-46. July 2006. Web.