Fancy Grocery Stores Now Selling $17 Brussels Sprouts and $32 Ice Cubes

KEY POINTS

•The article reflects on the author’s shift from adoring specialty groceries to feeling disgust at luxury chains like Erewhon.
•It highlights Erewhon’s $17 precut Brussels sprouts, $32 ice, $12 water, and $21 strawberry smoothies symbolizing extreme foodie luxury.
•The piece contrasts these excesses with Whole Foods’ more affordable basics post-Amazon acquisition, underscoring growing class divide.

Once cherished destination spots for fascinating cheeses and obscure jars, fancy grocery stores have been 'Erewhonified' into sleek, streamlined luxury shops selling $17 pre-cut Brussels sprouts and $32 ice cubes for TikTok enthusiasts optimizing their table decor. Whole Foods, now Amazon-owned, ironically offers cheaper basics while Erewhon doubles down on overpriced water at $12 a bottle and $21 Hailey Bieber strawberry smoothies—cocktail-priced but 'better for you.' Fancy grocers have tossed passion for steaks of social status and suspicion of seed oils, making food a fraught neurotic buzzword swamp serving up $45-per-pound tuna salads to the 'optimize-my-life' crowd amid America's clutching-to-afford groceries reality. This hyper-curated land of microplastic-free salt still bears plastic wrapping like a posh paradox wrapped in Comic Sans nostalgia.