The Lost Art of Grocery Bagging

[annecros]

I have issues with baggers - big issues.

Unloading my cart at the checkout, I compulsively (oh alright, obsessively) place nonedibles (charcoal starter, detergent, etc.) in the front. Then canned goods behind them to set up a "buffer zone." Then refrigerated and frozen so that hopefully they will cozy up to one another and stay cool, then lightweight crushables in the back.

It doesn't work! I always end up with at least one crushed bag of chips, or a pint of ice cream mysteriously melting in with the canned goods, or fabric softerner and deli meat sharing bag space. I too, and thrilled when I can swipe my card real quick and jump on the bagging before the bagger can get to me and do his damage.

I'm paranoid about paper bags. Not only do they harbor roaches in the house, but I suspect they are a primary means of the critters entering my living space as well. Grocery stores are going to have pests - even the cleanest. I just know they hitch a ride on the containers that deliver, then scramble around evading the roach hotels until they can find their way into the stack of paper bags.

I guess I should start carrying my own reusable bags, but I buy in bulk whenever possible - and haven't figured out how to do it. How does one estimate the number of bags to bring with them to the store? I'm not much of a grocery list maker, and I sort of cruise the sale items when meal planning. Then there is that great deal on toilet paper or whatever that I can't resist the temptation to stock up on!

[baroness]

[*]The craft of packing has all but disappeared. I lament this not just as a former bag boy and someone who appreciates craft in an absolute way, but as a consumer. There's a reason to pack things so that weight is well-distributed, so like items go with like items, and so that bags can stand up on their own: it makes the rest of the grocery-shopping experience (getting the bags into the vehicle; arriving home without the contents being redistibuted across an expanse of cargo area; getting them into the kitchen and onto the counter without spillage; and being able to put things away in an orderly manner) not just easier, but nearly pleasurable, in the way that any well-executed plan can be. Grocery stores have let down their end, and I feel betrayed.

What are your grocery-bag issues? Paper or plastic, and why? String bags (how do you handle a week's worth of supplies)? Do you pack you own with pride (I'm secretly thrilled at the absence of a bagger when it's my turn to check out)? Are you running off to set roach traps before posting?

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One place that truly practices the 'Art of Packing' is the NYC Trader Joe's. No matter which cashier I am assigned, the items are compactly and sensibly arranged -- and they even out the weights of the bags, which is so helpful for us pedestrians! Currently, they are offering raffle tickets to those clients who bring their all their own bags (or buy the reasonably priced reusable TJ's bags).

[LB Howes]

[*]The craft of packing has all but disappeared. I lament this not just as a former bag boy and someone who appreciates craft in an absolute way, but as a consumer. There's a reason to pack things so that weight is well-distributed, so like items go with like items, and so that bags can stand up on their own: it makes the rest of the grocery-shopping experience (getting the bags into the vehicle; arriving home without the contents being redistibuted across an expanse of cargo area; getting them into the kitchen and onto the counter without spillage; and being able to put things away in an orderly manner) not just easier, but nearly pleasurable, in the way that any well-executed plan can be. Grocery stores have let down their end, and I feel betrayed.

What are your grocery-bag issues? Paper or plastic, and why? String bags (how do you handle a week's worth of supplies)? Do you pack you own with pride (I'm secretly thrilled at the absence of a bagger when it's my turn to check out)? Are you running off to set roach traps before posting?

←

One place that truly practices the 'Art of Packing' is the NYC Trader Joe's. No matter which cashier I am assigned, the items are compactly and sensibly arranged -- and they even out the weights of the bags, which is so helpful for us pedestrians! Currently, they are offering raffle tickets to those clients who bring their all their own bags (or buy the reasonably priced reusable TJ's bags).

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Here's what I've noticed about grocery bagging where I live out in the suburbs:

Most grocery checkers carelessly put only a few items in each bag and double most all bags. Possible reasons? Both plastic and paper bags are weak and break, especially plastic bags that often have holes in their bottoms by the time they are carried from the cart into the car and from my garage into the kitchen - a total of less than 30 feet. Plastic bag handles cut into one's hands when being carried. Customers don't want to carry heavy bags for above reasons.

I agree that most all TJs checkers are superb grocery packers. My only complaint is that they sometimes want to use too many bags. Perhaps because in the area where where I live over half of the customers at any given time are elderly and need for their bagged groceries to be extra light in weight?

Although grocery baggers at other stores may know how to distribute groceries evenly by weight, at times they'll thoughtlessly pack something squishable in with something non-squishable every time. My all time favorite was tinned tomatoes and ripe peaches. I often use the self checking registers so I can bag my own groceries for this very reason.

I re-use both paper and plastic bags in limited amounts. So, use re-usable cloth, woven or cold-keeper bags for most purchases. I have 3 large cloth promotional product tote bags that my husband has gotten at trade shows and two cold-keeper bags that I use. Even so, I often end up with too many of those darned plastic bags.

[Trishiad]

I too am irritated by the way my local baggers bag groceries. As I shop, I fill my cart in segments based on edible, cold, boxed, etc and lay it all out on the conveyor belt the same way. Why? Because it's easier to put away when I get home. Sometimes, I'm in a rush and don't have time to put it all away and it's great to know all the cold stuff is in one bag and be able to focus on that one bag.

Those plastic bags are the worst. They're sloppy for packing and they slosh around in the back of the car. When I get home, I often have groceries spilled and strawberries tumbling.

I recently did a little shopping research on reusable bags. So many cute ones but not so cheap. When you may need 7 bags at once you don't want to buy them at $30 a pop. I was so please when I saw the $1 bags at TJ's . I now have quite a collection of them. I keep 4 or 5 in the car and a bunch more in the house. Very useful, well shaped, and they seem to be pretty durable for an item priced at a buck.

[Pierogi]

Ditto on the opinion about TJ's baggers. They rock ! And also ditto on the opinons about "normal" grocery store baggers. They most certainly do NOT rock.

I usually get the plastic......and use them for my kitchen garbage can liners. Its only me, and I dump it each night so that the fur children don't get ideas, so that size is about perfect for a day's worth of refuse. Unless I'm doing a big entertaining meal, and then I have a stash of larger plastic bags from places like Target, K-Mart, Lowe's, etc. that I save for that purpose.

I reuse the TJs paper bags, they live in the back of my car.....*most* times I even remember to take them in with me ! They have the raffle thing as an incentive in SoCal as well.

And shamefully, I must admit, that after many many years of agreeing that I would NEVER pay money for trash bags..........I finally broke down and bought Hefty/Glad bags for my recycling. My city doesn't require you separate stuff, it all goes in the same bin, and having a 15-or so gallon container just makes life easier. I rationalize it by thinking the Hefty/Glad bags are themselves, recyclable. If they're not, please don't burst my little bubble !

[Chris Amirault]

I won't repeat the complaints about bagging here, but suffice it to say that I've a reputation for staring smileless into adolescent faces and declaring, "Do. Not. Touch. My. Stuff."

As for bags: We recently got three of these titanic Ikea sacks that are made of some recycled blue plastic somethingorother, and the trio can hold an entire overflowing cart of goods in them. Being the lazy-man's load champion (a pathetic title, I know), I appreciate them deeply.

[Chris Amirault]

As I have been keeping count, I can say with confidence that, today, I said for the one thousandth time in my life, "No, thanks, really. I'll bag." Sometimes I say it in a friendly, "let me do that for you way," but sometimes I'm just nasty about it. Frankly, one thousand times is one thousand times too often.

Bagging groceries is a lost art. Poor arrangement, no accounting for fragility, and fear of lawsuit from overloaded bags are my three biggest pet peeves. Anyone with me, or am I just a grocery bag dinosaur?

[David A. Goldfarb]

Heh. Whenever I shop, I carry a Trader Joe's cooler bag that holds about two grocery bags worth, and an extra canvas bag if I need more space, and I usually pack them myself. I hate the accumulation of plastic bags and the inane way they are usually packed, considering that, like most New Yorkers, I'm going to go home on foot or by public transportation.

Edited June 30, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Fat Guy]

I'm totally with you. In the "million bags" topic we discussed a related sub-peeve: using too many bags.

Occasionally I come across a great old-school bagger, but it's rare. Usually, I do a much better job, and I'm not even that good at it.

In general, the skill sets of retail employees have declined dramatically over the past few decades. Cashiers are often barely literate, so instead of numbers cash registers in fast-food restaurants have a picture of a hamburger on one button, a picture of french fries on another, and in most other retail establishments they use scanners. Not that scanners are bad -- they're great for inventory -- but the people who program the scanners aren't terribly competent either so scanners turn out to make plenty of mistakes too.

[Chris Amirault]

Yes, some basic concepts related to density, fragility, and geometry seem absent. For a while I thought that, if I organize the cart items so that the heaviest item rolled down the belt first and the lightest, most delicate last, the bagger might get the gist of things. No such luck. And using boxy items to anchor the corners of the bag? Fuggedaboudit.

[Fat Guy]

For a while I thought that, if I organize the cart items so that the heaviest item rolled down the belt first and the lightest, most delicate last, the bagger might get the gist of things. No such luck.

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I make this mistake all the time. I can't stop myself.

[JAZ]

At my market, they bag differently if I bring my own bag(s). If I don't, they give me 6 bags for 10 items, with all the heavy items in one bag and each other one with eggs only, or bread, or one package of meat. If I bring my own bag, they seem to consider it a challenge to fit everything in the bag I've brought, even if I say they can use another bag. Either way, I often end up out in the entryway where the carts live, rearranging my bags so I can walk home with them.

[maggiethecat]

For a while I thought that, if I organize the cart items so that the heaviest item rolled down the belt first and the lightest, most delicate last, the bagger might get the gist of things. No such luck.

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I make this mistake all the time. I can't stop myself.

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I've done this too, with equally dismal results.

I have nothing but praise for the teen cashiers and baggers at Caputo's. The cashiers can identify produce -- most Asian and Mexican -- that, um, even I can't, and they can know before you open your mouth if you're a native Spanish, Italian, Polish or English speaker. Heck, they can look at your basket and figure out if you're Vietnamese or Thai.

And the baggers -- actually more like boxers, because we always go for the box rather than bag option -- are like acned hormonal physicists, so beautifully do they pack.

Trader Joe's has good baggers too, as well as the "Bag or box" option.

Edited June 30, 2009 by maggiethecat (log)

[David A. Goldfarb]

Indeed, to be fair, when I bring my Trader Joe's cooler bag to Trader Joe's, they do pack it intelligently, putting the frozen and cold items in the bag first and setting aside the items that don't need to stay cool in case there isn't enough space in the cooler bag, so I can deal with the toddler in the shopping cart.

Edited June 30, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Maybe Trader Joe's actually trains people to bag.

I have nothing but praise for the teen cashiers and baggers at Caputo's. The cashiers can identify produce -- most Asian and Mexican -- that, um, even I can't....

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That's impressive. I had this exchange recently:

"What's that?"

"Lamb."

"Lamb. Huh. Is it meat?"

[prasantrin]

The art has not been lost. You just have to move to Japan to find it being practised.

In Japan, customers bag their own groceries at most stores, but in stores where the clerks or baggers do the bagging, they do an excellent job (in terms of efficiency and packing).

[maggiethecat]

Maybe Trader Joe's actually trains people to bag.

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That's likely. The cashier or bagger opens every carton of eggs and checks for cracks.

[gallucci]

Boy, did this strike a nerve! It's not only the lack of bagging skill,

but often just a general disregard for the way the items are handled

during the checking process. I've had plenty of bread, rolls, fruit

destroyed by ham-fisted checkers who seem to think that moving

the stuff as fast as possible across the scanner is the goal.

I _always_ bag myself, and at certain markets that offer self-checkout,

generally opt for that as well.

I have nothing but praise for the teen cashiers and baggers at

Caputo's. The cashiers can identify produce -- most Asian and Mexican --

that, um, even I can't, and they can know before you open your mouth

if you're a native Spanish, Italian, Polish or English speaker. Heck, they

can look at your basket and figure out if you're Vietnamese or Thai.

Wow! I'll have to pay a visit next time I am in your area...

Trader Joe's has good baggers too

this is my experience as well... and the few times I've had stuff bagged

for me @ WFM it was also well done.

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mark

[weinoo]

this is my experience as well... and the few times I've had stuff bagged

for me @ WFM it was also well done.

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Yes, at Whole Foods bags are packed correctly.

At my local "grocery" store, it's the bizarro world.

I also think plastic bags inherently lead to terrible bagging. Paper bags,

when unfolded and set-up for bagging, practically beg to be packed correctly.

[heidih]

I find that at my local Korean market the baggers at least keep hot, cold, and frozen in a logical way. At my local big market Pavillions which is a Vons/Safeway "upmarket" I can see the rules posted next to where they stand. It tells them a minimum number of items per bag. They must also be counseled about bread and eggs because they will consolidate fairly well and them I have these bags that only have eggs or bread. I must say that someone out there (I think they call them trainers) have been doing a decent job in the chains. I occasionally see them at work and they are really thorough; explaining what the kid did wrong or how to be more aware. Another reason I cut the chains some slack is because at least in my area they have a large proportion of slightly mentally challenged kids working. So when they ask me three times in the span of 20 seconds if I want help out or how am I today, I just keep smiling.

[Lilija]

I worked at Shop-Rite, in high school, as a cashier. I had to go to "Shop Rite School" for a week, before they let me behind a register. Five days of classes, 6 hours a day...one of the days was just about bagging. I learned how to set up two rectangular boxes, then put a specified amount of cans or jars in between, then a few light items on top...I learned that one of the most common things that breaks is yogurt cups. Yogurt gets sat on top of the egg carton, and a loaf of bread laid in sideways. Very specific stuff here, and I was a cashier, not a bagger.

I was chatting with a cashier at that same Shop Rite a few months ago, asking if they still went to "Shop Rite School" and she gave me a blank stare. Turns out, not only do they not go to school, the week of in store training has been cut to 3 days.

That pretty much answered all my questions.

I bag all my own stuff, all the time. Saves time on unpacking. I sort it by where the stuff gets put away.

It's nice, when you bring your own bags, you save yourself a conflict. Baggers (unless you're at TJs, but they're good anyway) leave me alone with mine. Some of those reusable bags are enormous. I can fit 4 plastic bags worth of stuff in a Whole Foods reusable.

[tino27]

This has been annoying me for years. As a bagger in high school myself, I definitely remember being "trained" on how to bag things appropriately. And like other posters, I've tried the "send the heaviest items first" trick as well as the "feel free to pack them heavy" trick and I've also met with very limited success. And unfortunately, the "pack them heavy" trick usually results in twice as many plastic bags as I actually need. I actually spend time at the front of the store de-bagging and disposing of the extra bags in the recycle bins.

The biggest thing that strikes a nerve is when they pack something poisonous with perishable food items. That's just downright dumb!

[pax]

One of the smartest things I ever did back when I has disposable income was order a dozen LL Bean canvas bags. All different colours. Black has "CLEANERS AND SOAPS" monogrammed on it. Green has "FRUIT AND VEGETABLES". Yellow is "BREADS and EGGS". Red is "Dairy".

And then I have a boatload (no pun intended) of regular canvas bags.

First, I shop backward. Heavy stuff first.

Secondly, I set the bags in my trolley, open, pack right into the bag.

When I get to the clerk, I send the heavy, unbaggable stuff through first and as that is going, I unpack each bag onto the belt, setting the empty bag down in FRONT of all the stuff.

I love that Wegman's produce bags, the plastic ones, AND the labels, are biodegradable.

Edited June 30, 2009 by pax (log)

[HungryC]

The biggest thing that strikes a nerve is when they pack something poisonous with perishable food items. That's just downright dumb! 

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Your peeve is second cousin to my peeve: packing fruit or other ready-to-eat, minimally packaged items in the same back with uncooked meat or poultry. Gross; yes, I can wash the fruit before I eat it, but the burger buns in their flimsy bag are hard to disinfect. Same goes for the outside of the milk carton--I'm gonna touch it with bare hands, please don't put it next to the raw chicken. I now swipe plastic produce baggies and use them to pre-package everything I get from the meat counter.

[kitchensqueen]

I'm so glad this thread exists - this has got to my single biggest pet peeve of grocery shopping. Bread and fruit do not go under the canned goods! Keeping cold stuff together has it's virtues.

I take public transit when I shop, so the horrible practice most baggers seem to have of putting 3 items into each bag (so you have to carry 12 instead of 2) is ridiculous.

I bring my own bags and have been bagging my own stuff for years now... what happened to the good old days when common sense prevailed?