Under Our Feet

12 Tips for Healthier Grocery Shopping

Arm yourself with a strategy to save money and shop healthy!

Back in November of last year, my neighborhood of Charlestown lost its grocery store. As a result, instead of walking up the street and shopping in familiar surroundings, I’ve been relegated to shopping in a variety of locations, including some of the big superstore grocery chains. This has been an experience for me. Shopping in these big grocery stores is a chance to experience everything that frustrates me about the food industry; it’s loud, (can be) unhealthy, obnoxious and manipulative. Just look at the physical space when you walk in: it’s assaulting. Bright, loud and colorful, it’s meant to seduce you into buying things you don’t need. The busiest and often unhealthiest options are conveniently placed on the ends of the aisles or in …

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Karen Fabian

8:59 am on Wednesday, May 15, 2013

MPLO, thanks for your comments as well. I'll bet the cakes you make are delicious! Great tips! Karen   more ›

How Are Charlestown's Grocery Shuttles Working?

Local residents can receive free rides to Stop and Shop, Shaw's and Whole Foods markets in nearby communities.

It's been two months since Johnny's Foodmaster in Charlestown closed, and about the same amount of time since several supermarket companies began offering regular shuttle service from the Bunker Hill Mall area and other spots around town to their stores in nearby communities. Whole Foods Market, the company that is renovating the former Johnny's location with plans to reopen later this year, offers free service to its Beacon Hill market on Thursdays and Saturdays. Shaw's offers free service to its Somerville location on Tuesdays and Fridays, while Stop and Shop brings Charlestown customers to its Medford store on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. So now that the service has been available for a while, how is it working…

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Complete Grocery Shuttle Schedule Announced

The Charlestown Neighborhood Council is distributing a complete list of transportation options available to local residents.

[UPDATE Friday, 6:53 a.m.] Johnnie's Foodmaster may be closed, but there are plenty of places nearby where Charlestown residents can go for food and other staples. And three supermarket companies are helping residents get there by offering free weekly shuttle services. Shuttles include: Most shuttles pick customers up in the Bunker Hill Mall, near the now closed Johnnie's Foodmaster building—which is set to reopen as a Whole Foods sometime next year. The Whole Foods service is already underway. Stop and Shop's program beginsi Dec. 7, and Shaw's begins Dec. 11. For full schedules and pickup locations, see the attached PDF in the image gallery above. The John F. Kennedy Family Service Center is hosting a phone line for the weekly shuttle …

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Shaw's Providing Free Shuttle for Charlestown Residents

Customers can travel to the supermarket location in Somerville on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Charlestown residents have another way of getting groceries now that Johnnie’s Foodmaster has closed. Members of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council and others met Tuesday afternoon to finalize plans for a free shuttle offered through national grocery chain Shaw’s. Starting the week of Dec. 11, the shuttle will operate on Tuesdays and Fridays, bringing customers to the Shaw’s in Somerville’s Twin City Plaza. The bus will depart from the Bunker Hill Mall in Charlestown, picking up customers on Main Street near the entrance to the mall and by CVS Pharmacy. Below is the schedule: Tuesdays Fridays Note: There will be no service on Tuesdays, Dec. 25 or Jan. 1. Additional service for those weeks will be provided on Monday, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31. …

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Velvet Jones

12:51 pm on Friday, November 30, 2012

Or maybe I'm tired of people acting like we are ''victims'' because a supermarket in our town is going out of business. Get a grip people it's a temporary inconvenience.   more ›

Whole Foods To Offer Free Charlestown Shuttle

The complimentary Thursday and Saturday service will begin Nov. 21.

While Charlestown residents have been busy working on ways to get their neighbors to a grocery store once Johnnie’s Foodmaster closes on Nov. 19, the company taking over the Thompson Square store has put together its own solution to the problem. Whole Foods Market, which in late October confirmed its purchase of six Foodmaster stores in the Boston area, sent out a press release Friday announcing a new complimentary shuttle service for residents in the Charlestown and North End communities. “The complimentary shuttle will take shoppers to the closest open Whole Foods Market location, in Beacon Hill, while its Charlestown store is undergoing renovations,” the press release stated. “Whole Foods Market has arranged this free shuttle service …

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Rachel

2:30 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The T   more ›

Charlestown's Generosity Evident in Response to Johnnie's Closure

Local residents are teaming up to offer supermarket shuttle services to others in the area.

With Johnnies closing in less than a week, Charlestown will be without a supermarket until the construction of Whole Foods is completed. In such little notice, the Townie Association quickly responded to the issue by starting a petition for shuttle services. As president of the Townie Association, I would like to thank all those who signed our petition and for your support. When walking around Charlestown and knocking on doors to receive signatures, I witnessed the generosity of Charlestown come alive. Many neighborhoods do not have what we have: a community that cares. To hear the good news of neighbors quickly starting their own shuttle service or receiving emails and phone calls from neighbors offering their time to drive people to …

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Becca Manning

2:54 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012

Hey guys, I think we've had some good dialogue on here, and I appreciate that this is a topic everyone is passionate about, but I think we've about run out the conversation, so I'm going to turn off comments on this article. If you've got a lot more to say on the issue, or any issue in Charlestown, please feel free to submit a letter to the editor to me at becca.manning@patch.com. My intent is …   more ›