Food Fight
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Since the day I moved into my apartment three years ago, I have shopped for groceries at the D’Agostino on my corner. When I have mentioned this to people moving into my neighborhood, I’ve seen expressions ranging from surprise to horror.
“You buy your produce at D’Agostino?” more than one person has asked me with lightly veiled disgust. They told me they thought the quality of the fruit and veggies, as well as the dairy and deli counter, was below average. But for me, convenience trumped everything else.
“Green apples, bananas, and strawberries aren’t too different at D’Agostino than they are at the Korean market,” I’ve said in my defense.
With four growing children, it goes without saying that I shop for groceries frequently – sometimes twice a week, often with Eeny, Meeny, Miney, and Moe in tow.
One Monday a few weeks ago, as I arrived home from picking up the gang from school, I saw the FreshDirect truck outside my building. The guys were unloading boxes upon boxes of groceries. Apparently there were several FreshDirect customers already in my building, but at the time I didn’t give it much thought. But when we got upstairs a few minutes later, the children began to moan for a snack. “We all want chocolate milk,” my oldest said. “No can do,” I told them. I had had a meeting that morning and hadn’t yet been to D’Agostino. We also didn’t have milk, yogurt, apples, or any other snacks that would have satisfied the barbarians.
“Let’s go to D’Ag’s now,” I said, full of enthusiasm. “You guys can each choose one thing at the grocery store,” I added, which normally does the trick.
We had just biked and scootered across the park. “I’m tired,” the oldest said. The gang was not budging.
While they unwound, I looked at the FreshDirect Web site. When FreshDirect began delivering in 2002, I tried it out a few times. The first problem was that it was impossible to have the groceries delivered when I wanted. Second, the site was hard to navigate, and more than once I didn’t receive several things I ordered.
Now it was nearly three years later, and if all those people in my building were doing the online grocery shopping thing, it seemed worth another try.
In a matter of weeks, I have become addicted to FreshDirect. Ordering is easy, the groceries can always be delivered the next day, the dairy and produce are superb, my cupboards aren’t full of the gummy worms and fruity toothpaste my children repeatedly chose as their one treat, and I’m saving my most precious commodity, time – not to mention money.
A few days ago, however, I needed La Choy Chow Mein Noodles, which aren’t carried by FreshDirect. I slinked my way back to D’Agostino.
“Where have you been, girl?” Martine, my favorite cashier, said. “I haven’t seen you in weeks!” She ran over to me and gave me a big hug.
“Where is your daughter?” the woman behind the deli counter asked. “I have some fresh boccicini for her,” she said, offering the bite-size mozzarella cheese that my daughter eats by the pound.
I was starting to feel guilty about leaving the D’Agostino family.
“We have ripe mangoes,” the guy who un-boxes the produce and keeps the area tidy said. “I know your kids love those mangoes. How are your boys?” he asked.
This was unbearable. Maybe the next time I need chow mein noodles, I thought, I’ll go to the Food Emporium on Broadway. Maybe my Chinese chicken salad didn’t really need the crunch this week.
“The boys would love the mangoes,” I told him, giving them a quick feel, knowing full well that I had two ripe mangoes at home that were delivered just yesterday.
I felt like I was living in my very own version of one of those MasterCard commercials: “The price of mangoes at FreshDirect: $1.99. The price of mangoes at D’Agostino: $4.99. The price of the produce man knowing that your children love mangoes. … Priceless.”
But it wasn’t priceless. Mangoes at D’Agostino run more than double the price of the FreshDirect variety, and they require extra time to procure. At the FreshDirect warehouse in Long Island City (which has seven different climates for handling produce!), someone else chooses the mangoes delivered to my apartment.
As I checked out and chatted with Martine, she asked me if I’d been away. I was tempted to lie. “Actually, Martine, I have to confess. I haven’t been away. I switched to FreshDirect.” There. I said it.
“Well, with all those children, of course you did. You were in here almost every day,” Martine said with a smile. “I’ve heard about that FreshDirect. Cheaper, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “A little cheaper.”
“Well, next time you come in, bring that little girl of yours. We all miss her.”
“Okay,” I smiled.
Even with FreshDirect, I’m sure it won’t be long.