As a Boston College student, there are plenty of grocery stores to choose from close to campus. Whether you’re excited to finally have your own kitchen and whip up homemade meals or you’re just grabbing a few microwave dinners to supplement the subpar dining hall food, your go-to grocery store says more about you than you may think.
Whole Foods
If you do your grocery shopping at Whole Foods as a college student, you are definitely allergic to two or more major food groups. You enjoy feeling like you are helping the planet and do your best to ignore the fact that Amazon owns it. You’re probably pretentious in a subtle way—you spend more on cool tattoos than Lululemon leggings, but you choose to explain the deeper meanings of all your tattoos while eating organic Annie’s Shells and White Cheddar mac and cheese.
Star Market
If you frequent Star Market, you are either living on Upper Campus and have the ability to walk there, or you have an unlimited budget. You aren’t as stuck-up as a Whole Foods shopper, but you want to be. Your jacket may not be Canada Goose, but it was still expensive. But ultimately, you still ran to put the peanut butter back on the shelf when the cashier rang it up for $8, and you definitely didn’t splurge for the plastic bag fee, even though you forgot to bring your reusable.
Trader Joe’s
If Trader Joe’s is your go-to, you are basic but don’t want to admit it. Even though you claim the crowds are anxiety-inducing, you keep going back each week. It’s a safe bet, cheap, and the frozen-food section is unparalleled. You crave convenience and frugality over any mainstream branding. Still, don’t let yourself start thinking this makes you better than everyone else. It doesn’t. You are everyone else. And everyone else is equally as drawn to Trader Joe’s Steamed Chicken Soup Dumplings.
Wegmans
If you shop at Wegmans, you gatekeep your recipes from your roommates and laugh when they forget to salt their pasta. You spend way too long in the olive and cheese section, dreaming of a charcuterie board you will never actually make—you bought the olives for it once, but they spoiled in the back of the refrigerator you share with seven other roommates before you could put them to use. Still, you say Wegmans has a great olive and cheese section, and you will die on that hill because you believe your taste is superior.
Stop & Shop
If you get your groceries at Stop & Shop, you’re not so caught up in the aesthetics of grocery shopping—you care about the prices. This place is by and large the cheapest on this list. If you frequent Stop & Shop, you are brave. You aren’t too worried about the onions you bought being almost rotten or the scary-looking construction that’s been happening all year. You sacrifice flavor, quality, and ambiance to save a few dollars. Your hair may be messy, and the grocery store may be scary, but you are saving all your money for an extra drink at the bar this weekend.
