Where old food goes when it leaves your supermarket.

This is one of the oddities of Quartzsite, AZ: a grocery store inside a tent that is filled with (mostly) food past its “best by” date.

The entrance to the Discount Grocery shop in Quartzsite just before Christmas.

This was very close to where I was camped for most of January so I went there a few times a week. It has mostly canned and packaged foods from the middle aisles of supermarkets.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I have always treated those “best by” dates as some sort of food expiration date. Recently, however, I’ve been educated about just how random those dates can be. And while I still prefer buying food that has that date way into the future, I’ve occasionally purchased (and eaten) food with old dates. This is where I’ve gotten it.

You can’t argue the prices. One year, I bought (and made) box after box of $1 coffee cake mix that was kicked out of the supermarket two or three months before. And those old crackers don’t taste bad with a smear of fresh cashew butter or brie on them. And does candy really expire?

 
How could I resist Ghirardelli chocolate for just a buck? Hell, it was less than 2 months past its “best before” date. (It was fine.)

But what always surprised me was how some of the items weren’t past their “best by” dates at all. Like large cans of menudo (which I actually like) and canned peaches. And how about the 17-oz (500ml) bottle of organic extra virgin olive oil from Spain that won’t “expire” until August 2020? For $2? I thought it might be rancid, but it wasn’t. I’m still using it.

Anyway, you can find the Discount Grocery on the south side of Kuehn Street at Tyson Wells during the winter. I recommend it.