Delis, supermarkets, corner shops: an open letter to you:

[SkedAddled]

Stop doing it! Stop it, I plead!

While you make a convenient half-pound (or skimpy quarter-pound) availiable, I'll also request this:

DO NOT, ever, please, slice those half-pound bundles, pile them on the flimsy paper,
fold those damned piles of meats over on top of themselves, then roll them
into that flimsy paper you placed them on, so that they're placed into
an incredibly small bag that I have to tear a seal off of, just to figure out
how your employeee decided to determine the hoops I should jump through,
just to get some of the damned slices off the pile in order to make my sandwich
without tearing that damned pile apart.

Perhaps it's just a thing in the US, but I really hate the amount of dissection
it takes for me to use sliced deli meats to create a damned sandwich/wrap.
It's not much better when I ask for it directly, either.

 

[Joeseph]

suspect you'd not complain if it were half-pound bundles of $100 notes....

 

[SkedAddled]

suspect you'd not complain if it were half-pound bundles of $100 notes....

No, $100 notes would be fine.

 

[joayne]

I feel your pain…

 

[OhLook]

DO NOT, ever, please, slice those half-pound bundles, pile them on the flimsy paper,
fold those damned piles of meats over on top of themselves, then roll them
into that flimsy paper you placed them on. . . .

Separating the slices will be easier if you get the deli clerk to adjust the slicer for thicker slices.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

As a non US citizen (as well as being a vegetarian) I am completely in the dark on what I just read.

 

[OhLook]

As a non US citizen (as well as being a vegetarian) I am completely in the dark on what I just read.

Does this provide enough context? Lunch meat European omnivores buy sliced meat too, don't they?

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Does this provide enough context? Lunch meat European omnivores buy sliced meat too, don't they?

Yes, I know what sliced meat looks like. It’s the folding over on top of themselves and then rolling them? Apparently ending in a very small sealed bag?

pile them on the flimsy paper,
fold those damned piles of meats over on top of themselves, then roll them
into that flimsy paper you placed them on, so that they're placed into
an incredibly small bag that I have to tear a seal off of

 

[OhLook]

Yes, I know what sliced meat looks like. It’s the folding over on top of themselves and then rolling them? Apparently ending in a very small sealed bag?

I don't quite understand the folding. I visualized this from Craig's story and from memory: The clerk uses a slicing machine that produces uniform slices, but they come out staggered, not stacked with edges aligned. For ex., if the slices are round, as from a salami, the result isn't a cylinder. The clerk then rolls up this awkward shape in something like tissue paper, bags it, and puts on a seal, which may be a sticky printed price tag. Craig wants to remove one or a few slices cleanly, but this can't be done without partly unrolling the assembly of slices. The slices stick together, the meat tears, the paper may also tear. Messy!

 

[SkedAddled]

I don't quite understand the folding. I visualized this from Craig's story and from memory: The clerk uses a slicing machine that produces uniform slices, but they come out staggered, not stacked with edges aligned. For ex., if the slices are round, as from a salami, the result isn't a cylinder. The clerk then rolls up this awkward shape in something like tissue paper, bags it, and puts on a seal, which may be a sticky printed price tag. Craig wants to remove one or a few slices cleanly, but this can't be done without partly unrolling the assembly of slices. The slices stick together, the meat tears, the paper may also tear. Messy!

What she said.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

@OhLook @SkedAddled

But why do they roll the meat at all?

Over here lunch meat is sold sliced, put on a plastic tray which is then wrapped in plastic or (usually in a butcher shop) shoved in a small, flat bag especially designed to fit these trays. Nothing gets rolled.

 

[SkedAddled]

It's common here for stores to prepare many packages of these meats(and cheeses)
so they can be put into a refrigreated case for shoppers' convenience. These are typically
sliced onto deli tissue, not trays of any sort. I suspect the folding and rolling happens
as a convenient and quick way for them to apply a label with the product's info and price.

This seems to have become habitual, as it will even happen when I speak with an employee
and make a request directly; it seems to be second nature for some of them.
I'll normally unroll/unfold it when I get it home, but there's the infrequent times
when they won't even bother with laying out slices. That's what triggered my rant;
I had one of those wadded-up and tightly packed lumps to deal with.

After all was said and done, it was a delicious sandwich wrap that took more effort
than I feel it should have taken.

 

[OhLook]

@OhLook @SkedAddled

But why do they roll the meat at all?

Over here lunch meat is sold sliced, put on a plastic tray which is then wrapped in plastic or (usually in a butcher shop) shoved in a small, flat bag especially designed to fit these trays. Nothing gets rolled.

I can't claim inside knowledge of the grocery trade, but I can imagine some reasons. Societal pressure exists to reduce packaging with single-use plastic, and butcher paper and tissue are probably cheaper than trays. Rolling up a small order, say a pound or less, makes a handy bundle to slip into a small bag. It also compacts the meat to preserve freshness by minimizing exposure to air (think: bacterial contamination) and heat. In warm weather, getting the groceries home and refrigerated can take an unhealthy amount of time. Americans are notoriously spread out. Outside major cities, many people live far from stores.

 

[DavidWatts]

Then, there's olives. What is appealing about olives being pitted and then placed in water and packaged in cans or glass jars? And sometimes also pre-sliced? The only good olive is packed in olive oil with the pits remaining in them. Tastes better, keeps longer and is less processed. Anything else, isn't.

 

[Yno]

Or in a Martini....

 

[SkedAddled]

Then, there's olives. What is appealing about olives being pitted and then placed in water and packaged in cans or glass jars? And sometimes also pre-sliced? The only good olive is packed in olive oil with the pits remaining in them. Tastes better, keeps longer and is less processed. Anything else, isn't.

I use canned black olives frequently, while green olives are off my list permanently as a US consumer.
They're too salty for my liking, period.

And by the way, they're not packaged in water; they're pickled.
I certainly do not enjoy those olives, while I have made and enjoyed
my own cucumber dill pickles.

The exception was an Italian grocery which marinated their own olives.

 

[Mr Chodes]

Hamburgers in styrofoam cartons get me.

I walked into an unfamiliar burger shop and asked "How do you package your hamburgers?"
I was pleasantly surprised at the reply: "How would you like your hamburger packaged?"
"I don't like those styrofoam cartons as all the ingredients get stacked up on top of each other in a delicate pile of food that will topple over with any movement.
I like the old fashion wrap in paper then place in a paper bag, as it creates a firm, integrated burger, which is more compact, easier to get a bite of and can be carried in any orientation."

"Well we'll wrap it in paper, old fashioned style for you"

It was a great burger.

 

[Anton Largiader]

I have pretty much stopped getting Chinese take-out for lunch because the restaurants are so committed to using styrofoam. Some of the ones farther away use the plastic trays (which can actually be re-used a few times before they break, and then can be recycled) but they're too far away to be lunch options.

 

[Mr Chodes]

Yes, styrofoam is evil stuff. It just keeps breaking into smaller and smaller bits. Ecological disaster.

 

[OhLook]

I have pretty much stopped getting Chinese take-out for lunch because the restaurants are so committed to using styrofoam. Some of the ones farther away use the plastic trays (which can actually be re-used a few times before they break, and then can be recycled) but they're too far away to be lunch options.

Those restaurants and the laws affecting them need to keep up. In my area, takeout comes in containers chosen with concern for what happens in the waste stream. (Well, it's California, you know.) Light cardboard boxes are common, and they don't leak. Restaurateurs might pay attention if they knew their packaging loses them customers.