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| - This review is not only for this ALDI store but for ALDI stores in general. The Shadyside store is clean and easy to navigate and the employees are generally very friendly and even though you must bring your own bags and bag your own groceries the checkout line process is much quicker than expected - I've had to wait longer at Giant Eagle or Whole Foods in lines that had baggers so that part is nice. The prices are unbelievably low but that is for a reason. As another person pointed out the majority of the food sold at ALDI stores is mostly packaged, processed food with a lot of unhealthy ingredients like salt, sugar (high fructose corn syrup), and most likely loaded with GMOs. ALDI indeed is marketing to those with low income and even the "fresh" produce isn't very fresh and the few things that I have purchased there that are organic such as the cherry tomatoes spoiled rather quickly which means that they were most likely sitting around for quite a while. I work near this particular ALDI so in a pinch, I will run down and try to find something that isn't too unhealthy but it's not ideal. Occasionally you will find organic baby kale, organic baby spinach, and organic spring mix but the cost at $2.49 might seem like a deal for the small package, yet if you go to Whole Foods and buy the same product in the larger package for $5 it's basically the same price, soooo, I like fresh produce and as much as I hate to spend so much money at Whole Foods, IF you want high-quality produce during the farmers markets off-season then I'd go to Whole Foods, the East End Food Co-Op or Giant Eagle Market District - even Trader Joe's has some great organic options for packaged produce that are reasonably priced. So, it's a good deal for people that need to be frugal with their money however it saddens me that only those "who can afford it" have options for healthier foods. Fresh produce and healthy food options should be affordable for everyone, not just a select portion of the population, but that's not the fault of ALDI so they do a decent job within the parameters that they are working.
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