Summary Of The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate By Marion Nestle

Supermarkets are using a variety of methods to increase profits. Marion Nestle, a teacher of food and health studies at New York University, wrote the article, “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” to put the tricks of the super market industry into perspective. Nestle earned a PhD in molecular biology and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She has written many different pieces on food and politics, making her knowledgable on the topic. Through her article, Nestle hopes to “guide readers to make healthier food choices.” Nestle’s tone throughout the article is critical and persuasive. She begins by stating that visiting a super market can seem overwhelming because of all the choices one has to make. She then goes on to inform that, “An astonishing 320,000 edible products are for sale in the United States, and any large supermarket might display as many as 40,000 of them.” The numbers of edible items were listed to prove that there are an extreme amount of options that Americans are given every time they go into a supermarket. Nestle strategically

Nestle repeatedly discusses how the prime goal of a supermarket is to make a profit, and it does that by product placement and having a specific store layout. According to Nestle, “The stores create demand by putting some products where you cannot miss them.” Nestle then goes on to say that because of the manipulation of supermarkets, a shopper is likely to buy more, and if a shopper buys more he or she will likely gain weight. She complains that supermarkets are charging more for smaller size and less for bigger sizes, causing one to buy the larger quantity. She shows the reader that the supermarkets are costing consumers more money and can have a negative impact on their