MOM’s

I went grocery shopping at MOM’s organic market. I went there once when I moved off campus about a year ago and regarded it as an overly priced organic shop. But within the last year, I’ve been transitioning into being a vegan and have become more aware of environmental impact that human activities made, so I decided to give it another chance. This time, I find it to be a heaven for vegans and people who live a zero-waste lifestyle. Here are several spotlights that I fell in love with.

• Shop in Bulk

This is actually my first time shopping in bulk. I ask a staff person and he’s super friendly and happy to help. Before you shop, you kindly ask the cashier to weigh the containers for you, so that you don’t pay for the weight of the container. They will put a label on the container that says how much it weighs and then you shop as usual. Then you pick out a label and write down the four-digit number of that item and attach the label on the container. Thus, when the cashier checks you out, they know which items you bought.

There is an entire wall dedicated to bulk shopping, with a variety of rice, beans, and nuts. I bought some walnuts and sunflower seeds and made my own granola.

You can also buy freshly made nut butter, like peanut butter, almond butter, and cashew butter. I tried to make peanut butter myself at home. It definitely takes some time if the food processor is not that high quality and it’s just too much work to wash off the food processor. I really appreciate that I can buy freshly made nut butter at MOM’s.

You can bring your own container to buy spices. If you want to try out new spices that you’ve never have before, you can bring your own container to buy a small amount to try it out and buy more if you like it.

There are coffee beans and loose tea. I don’t drink coffee, so I didn’t buy any. Tea bags actually have plastic in them, so please buy loose tea, if they are available to you. I’m just an occasional tea drinker, so I only bought small amounts. The advantage of bulk shopping is that you can buy as little or as big you want.

• Plant-Based Food

Another thing that I feel glad about is the variety of plant-based food it provides, from diary-free yogurt and ice cream to plant-based sausage, patties, and eggs. There are even vegan cheesecake!

• Compost

MOM’s offers a compost drop-off place. Food that ended up in the landfill produces methane, which contributes to the climate change. Composting helps with that by converting food waste into nutrient-rich soil. I have a compost bin at home but it’s too small to compost all my food waste, so I will drop off the rest at MOM’s.

Summer Internship Funding

There are many opportunities for summer internships and fundings. I applied to one college partnership summer internship in March but unfortunately it won’t be able to take interns this year. So I found an unpaid summer internship myself. Since it’s unpaid, I will apply for the Bryn Mawr summer internship funding. I spent some time polishing the internship proposal and personal statement. I will come back to say more if I get the funding.