IANAJ (I am not a Jew) but I really doubt that using a service such as this would pass muster with the rabbi.
And personally, I can see the appeal. Some produce prep is messy or complex. For example, cutting up a big watermelon leads to sticky juice all over the counter and piles of rind to be disposed of. So if they can do it for me, so much the better, particularly if they can cut up the watermelon in one of those fancy shapes people use for decorative purposes. And pineapple is also a pain to separate from the rind, which is why it’s already sold in rings and cylinders. I really like eating whole pomegranate seeds, but removing them from the pith takes a long time, so when I do it, I do it to six or eight pomegranates at once, although it’s a couple of hours to do so.
Or nopales! I cleaned and prepped my own nopales once. Once. Never again. (My little Mexican grocery store has them cleaned and prepped in ziploc bags right next to the whole ones. Totally worth the extra buck.)
I love the name “Produce Butcher.” It’s amusing and you immediately know what it means.
As for the service itself - sounds great. I’ll bet a lot of people will take advantage of it. Whether YOU would use it or not is irrelevant to whether it’s a good idea for the store to offer it.
People pay a premium for convenience all the time. This gives you a new convenience option for that stuff we’re all supposed to eat more of. I hope it’s successful.
Yeah, I think it’s a perfect name. It tells you everything you need to about the job. And it’s a guy in the market who cuts things for you. Perfectly logical.
A grocery store opening next month in Springfield, Missouri, is advertising the same feature, but at Ruby’s Market it’s going to be called a “chop shop.”
But “chopping” is one specific way to cut vegetables. I’m sure these “produce butchers” can also slice, mince, dice, cube, or julienne vegetables upon request.
Interesting. I’m English and “My car needs washed” has always grated for me, but “Whatever you need prepared” does not - in fact, it sounds very normal to me - as does: “If there’s anything you need washed for the weekend, tell me by Wednesday”.
I’m not sure there’s any reason or rule other than familiarity.
Same for me - “The bed needs made” always sounds wrong to me, but the usage of prepared in the article seems totally different and is fine to my ear. I wish I could put my finger on the difference.
I don’t shop at Whole Foods and probably never will, but I don’t see any problem with this at all. I also don’t see where the OP’s article was actually dismissive of this service, though.
Me too, and I’m feeling like there IS a difference, I just don’t remember enough grammar terms to articulate it.
The produce needs washed. <- Ohio/Pennsylvania “needs”
I need the produce washed. <- Fine
What produce do I need washed? <- Fine
The man will wash whatever produce I need washed. <- Fine
It seems like “I need” or “the customer needs” is a perfectly cromulent construction, whereas the produce needs “to be washed”.
AH! But “the produce needs” when referring to the conjugation it requires seems just fine.
So if “need” is the only verb, it’s cool without “to be”. If “need” is a…I don’t know what to call it… word (verb?) modifying the word “washed”, I need the infinitive “to be” to be there.
I’m sure that’s clear as mud. That needs to be (!) cleaned up by someone who can grammar better than I. Where’s Nava?
For the record, I’m all for the service. I can see multiple reasons why it would be convenient for multiple groups of consumers. I can think of a few situations where I may definitely go and take advantage of that service, silly titles and all.
But the objection to the term used is because being a butcher is a skilled trade, and being a guy who has basic knife skills or who can run a slicer/chopper is definitely not. It’s more the disrespect involved.
I realize there are lots of occupational titles/honorifics that are used rather cavalierly; the various flavors of “engineer” out there, for one. Or the way the term “chef” is thrown around, for another. But that doesn’t mean that Whole Foods needs to add to the devaluation of the titles for the sake of being pretentious and cute.
They could very easily call it something like “Prep-to-Order” and call the guy a vegetable prep specialist without implying anything about him, or devaluing the title of actual butchers.
From the last linked article:
“[The produce butcher counter sets] the new store up as a clear challenger for best self-parody.”
“Shoppers too lazy to cut their own onions can plop them on the cutting board of this poor employee…”
“Hopefully [the $1 charge] ensures produce butchers get health coverage, to treat the carpal tunnel syndrome they’re on the road to acquiring.”
Nope. I’ve seen them in the stores, too, and have tried them: the type of lettuce is, indeed, romaine, but they contain *tons *of non-leafy bits. You can see the offending pieces quite plainly in those pictures (especially the Fresh Express one). My post stands.
While being a butcher is a skilled trade, are the people typically employed in a grocery store meat department and denoted “butchers” representative of that trade?
My experience suggests not, but your grocer may be different.
If this is so, why do I see cooking shows frequently demonstrating the best way to peel or otherwise prepare various fruits and vegetables? :dubious: Because (1) many fruits and vegetables have portions people don’t usually eat, and (2) there’s a way to remove those parts with minimum waste of the edible/desirable parts – and other ways that don’t minimize waste. :rolleyes:
Something as ostensibly bog-obvious as how to process a pineapple or chop an onion should not require this many how-to videos nor this many.
Also, butcher may be a skilled occupation but the word (unlike engineer, which is always positive so others have tried to co-opt it, as noted) is sometimes used derogatorily. “He butchered it” is not a compliment of his skills.
Plus I would expect this person to be familiar with the way to prepare and chop more exotic produce than bell peppers or broccoli. And I think they would be able to discuss preparation methods for the produce as well. (“If you saute these in a little butter and cream, you can serve them with . . .”) And while anyone can chop vegetables in theory, there is some skill involved in doing so quickly and consistently. I remember seeing the movie Julie and Julia, about Julia Child’s early culinary training in Paris. In one scene, she needed to master the skill of dicing onions, so she was at home, working her way through twenty pounds or so of them.
