The Marsh Supermarket weekly sale flyer has landed in my mailbox, and its tired ”Ten for $10″ — mostly on all things packaged and processed — seems like confirmation of my uneasy suspicion that the supermarket is a dying model.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my little Nora Marsh, and the fact that the same checkout clerks and baggers have worked there for years. I’m a fan of the guys who staff the meat counter, who know my name, share recipes and chit-chat and work diligently every spring to get our whopping order of ribs just right for our big party. I like the fact that Marsh is a good citizen of this community, and that they initiated a reusable sack credit long before other retailers caught on to the trend. I appreciate the flower folks who are always helpful and conversational.

But, over the years I have also  found myself at Whole Foods – just a block away — to purchase several items each week, including organic produce, organic whole milk and better eggs. I can’t afford to shop there exclusively, nor would I want to, but I’m on the scene often enough to notice a trend.

Hamburger Helper, Suddenly Salad, Diet Snapple and Totino’s Pizza Rolls – all “Ten for $10″ this week at Marsh – will not be the foods of popular choice in the future. The packaged, processed so-called “food” of our supermarket golden years, tainted with high-fructose corn syrup and trans-fats,  is going out of style.

On any given day, visit Whole Foods and Marsh, and you will see where the energy is, and where it ain’t. You’ll see where the people are, and where they are not. Moreover, you’ll see what shoppers are finding attractive, and what they are not. We are not finding processed food attractive anymore.

Thanks to food advocates Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser and others, there is more social consciousness about the food we eat. More people are cooking and growing their own vegetables. We’re canning and preserving; some are even keeping chickens in their backyard. We’re going to farmers markets and buying local. The supermarket offers very little that fits into that evolving model, and I predict it’s on its way out.

Tonight the US Senate is voting on the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. If you were (are) creeped out by icky eggs, wary of tainted produce and outraged by melamine in baby formula shipped from China, you owe it to yourself and to your family and neighbors to TAKE 5 MINUTES to email your senators to express your support for this bill. Thanks to The New York Times for an op-ed today by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, “A Stale Food Fight.” Read it, then go to your senators’ websites to email your support for the bill.

Oh, and while you’re visiting the NYT website, consider supporting its newsgathering operations with a paid subscription.

UPDATE!

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, November 30, 2010 — 10:34 AM ET
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Senate Passes Overhaul of Food Safety Regulations

The Senate passed a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s food-safety system on Tuesday that would give the Food and Drug Administration new powers to order recalls of tainted foods, increase inspections, oversee farming and demand accountability from food companies. The vote was 73-25 in favor.

The bill attracted support from major food makers as well as consumer advocates after a series of problems with tainted eggs, peanut butter and spinach sickened thousands of people.

Despite unusual bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and a strong push from the Obama administration, though, the bill could still die, because there might not be enough time left in the session for the usual haggling between the Senate and House of Representatives, which passed its own version of the bill last year. Top House Democrats have said that they would consider simply passing the Senate version to speed approval.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na
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Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

NOW IT’S TIME TO CONTACT YOUR US HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE! DON’T LET THE SENATE BILL DIE–URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO ADOPT THE SENATE VERSION! IT ONLY TAKES 5 MINUTES!