Produce is both the first and last thing patrons of grocery stores think about when they're shopping. First because they often put a produce section at the beginning of the store and last because not everyone realizes how much of a staple our perishable food products are. More people are becoming health-conscious in recent years and rely more heavily on fruits and vegetables. They're evidently a healthy choice and this in turn provides a larger market for farmers. I have been working in a produce department in the northeast for three summers now. While this isn't exactly where I expected to be the summer after I graduated college, I'm happy to have a job that keeps me busy and involved with a team of people I like. Plus, I've grown to like what I sell and how we sell it. Here are some secrets produce associates keep.
1. We are super strong.
Recommended for you
I remember when I first interviewed for a job in the produce department. I asked the interviewer how much I would be lifting. As a somewhat short person and girl who was told I couldn't lift things for most of my life, I assumed I wouldn't be able to lift more than 40 pounds. She told me I wouldn't be lifting that much and I got the job soon after. Boy, were we both wrong. I'm constantly lifting 30-50 pounds. However, being in environment where you constantly have to lift things makes you really good at lifting things. Granted, we aren't at the hundreds of pounds that you see the young woman lifting in the picture above, but we definitely can hold our own, both the men and women. Of course, we have to watch out for dangerous situations where we could get injured. But if you need someone to help you move or lift a bookcase at home, ask one of your produce friends.
2. Our minds are full of produce facts.
We live produce. We breathe produce. We are constantly around fruits and vegetables and happen to be trained to tell you what and where things are. Need that PLU? Got it. Wondering what the price is for that item this week? Ask me. Wondering what the heck Tuscan kale is and where we hide it? Follow me. Especially in larger grocery stores, we carry all of the weird and foreign produce you could imagine. Just the other day, I was stocking batata roots which turned out to be a pre-Columbian type of sweet potato common in Native South American dishes. We know the whole department backwards and forwards. To be honest, we basically live here. The only thing we don't know is how to pick out a ripe watermelon. That is pure magic and luck.
3. We get hella good at cutting fruit. And anything, really.
Okay, not as good as that guy, but pretty good. I started out cutting about 16 quarters of watermelon and 16 trays of watermelon slices in two hours. Now, I can cut 24 of each plus some watermelon halves in about an hour and a half. We are making all of the watermelon quarters, cups, strawberry parfaits and fruit salads that you especially love eating on hot days in the summer. And we get good at counting out portions and cutting close to 200 items in an eight-hour shift. This has made me better when it comes to cooking at home since I can handle knives and large scale dicing. While we usually refuse to bring our work home with us, we secretly love it when you ask us to cut the watermelon at a barbecue.
4. People are really picky about their fruits and vegetables.
Granted, not all fruit we receive aren't in the best condition. We get rotten products and our stock goes through the regular wear and tear of the day as it's poked and prodded while customers consider buying what we have. But there are some customers who have moved past the realm of particular and into the impossible. While there are a fair share of goods that go bad before people buy them, we can't control our produce. No, we don't have an exactly ripened avocado. Yes, those are the green beans we have and no, I will not nod along with you as you tell me how bad they are. We do really strive for quality products, but people don't always accept that we aren't in charge of how quickly things rot. We can only take it off the shelf so customers don't have to look at the travesty.
5. We don't know where everything is in the store.
I spend most of my time at the front of the store among my fruits and vegetables. Other than punching in and out as well as finding products in the store meant for our cut fruit snacks, we don't really leave our department. So when I'm walking back from the cheese isle to get cheese bars to go with our cheese and grape snack pack, I will most likely not know where this very obscure item is that you're looking for. We are also discouraged from telling a customer that this isn't our department, but it often isn't our department. I just go and find someone who works there so they still find what they're looking for.
6. We aren't all super healthy, but being around produce helps.
I'm happy that I can claim that the products I stock don't typically kill people through long sugar exposure and carb overload. And this feeling rubs off on my coworkers and I. We aren't all the image of health. Some of us smoke, eat fried chicken and have chronic heart problems. We also hike mountains, compete in Spartan races and get the fruits and vegetables we are always surrounded by. This sounds a little promotional, but I'm healthier just because I work around healthy food all day. Plus, my coworkers know which mountains are good to hike.
7. No, we don't grow it in the back.
That's the joke I hate hearing most about my work. Evidently, we don't have vast fields of exotic foods ready for you to eat. But it shows a lack of knowledge in our customers about where their food comes from. We literally have produce coming from all over the world including endives from Belgium, avocados and strawberries from California and apples from New York State. While there are laws about stickers and signs that tell customers where produce is coming from, not everyone cares. One of the best not-jokes my mom told me about her work (which incidentally is another grocery store) where a woman asked if they have local bananas. *face palm* Just read the labels. There are even companies putting code tags on product packaging you can scan to see exactly where you food comes from.
8. But we often buy local produce.
Many grocery stores source from their local communities depending on where they're located. My store in the northeast gets local apples, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans and more. But in other places, there are bound to be local produce anywhere from stone fruit to squash. It's often cheaper for the grocery store to purchase produce grown within a day's trip. My store defines produce as anything grown within New York State. Many of the farms are within an hour's drive of our store. And while local doesn't always mean better, my store has a high focus on sustainability and lowering its environmental impact.
9. That thing that you want isn't always here. Sorry, not sorry.
You know that back room you're always hearing about? Yeah, we basically live there. So if we check the shelf and the back room for that item you're looking for, odds are that we don't have it. We know that it would be useful for that special recipe you're trying out, but odds are you'll survive without it. Often enough, we have a bunch of people coming into the store looking for the same item. For instance, the beginning of summer means we will always be out of limes and mint because everyone wants mojitos. But if you wait until the next order comes in, we can get an item especially for you.
10. Our team gets super close.
Granted, every team gets close when you have a good working environment. But I work with some stellar people who I've gotten to know over the years. They've seen me go through two boyfriends, two years of school, some disastrous job interviews and my college graduation. But among all of that change, we still have a job to do and jokes to tell in the back when the day gets slow. We all pride ourselves on executing sarcasm on a level where none of us laugh until the end of the joke. And while we are all quirky like that, it's how we get through working in the service industry.
