Is bulk buying the most efficient, time-and-money saving option? Not always. It really depends on what you're buying. Here's a quick cheat sheet to the best and worst foods to buy in bulk, as well as helpful bulk buying shopping and storage tips. More

Item: Mercado Market Bag
Price: $25.00 plus shipping
Overall Impression: A beautiful and practical market bag that also works as a picnic tote!

Many of the market totes available today can be attractive but they sometimes don't function very well. Unless we bring lots of plastic bags and plan our shopping trip very carefully, our precious strawberries and tomatoes often drift down to the bottom and everything collapses inward to squash and confuse things. What would happen if individual compartments were built into the bag, allowing you to carefully place and secure your beautiful produce? This Mercado bag from Quirky lets you do just that and at a great price point, too! More

The grocery store, like the DMV and the subway, is a place where the myriad masses flock together to engage in a common goal. And like navigating the DMV or a seat on the train, we occasionally have the character-building opportunity to encounter our fellow humans fully expressing their quirks, foibles, and questionable upbringing.

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The Bulk Is Green Council, a bulk industry trade group, claimed their independent research showed buying foods in bulk can save customers an average of 89 percent. That whopping number sounds great in theory, but it is really true? Is buying from the bulk bin always the more affordable option? Well, as NPR discovered, it depends what you're buying. More

Do you shop at your nearest grocery store? If the answer is 'no' then welcome to the club! In a survey of 24,000 shoppers, almost half of them had a major gripe about their local grocery store—bothersome enough to make them travel further from their home for better prices, service, or selection. The survey, conducted by Consumer Reports, caused the magazine to rank 54 leading grocery store chains, including the likes of Walmart, Pathmark, Wegman's, and Trader Joe's. Results below: More

Few of us are new to grocery shopping, but sometimes you don't have time to plan a menu for the week or even to make a coherent list. Often we find ourselves standing in the grocery store, minutes ticking down, yet still unsure of what to cook. This is why you should always have a default grocery list in reserve — it will save you in such emergencies! More

I love technology, but I also love simplicity. As a compulsive list-maker, I've found the best of both in OurGroceries, a streamlined and sync-able list-making app. Just a few quick taps and I can move on to more delicious tasks — like cooking up all those groceries I just bought. More

Along with my wallet, cell phone and keys, the one item I always carry with me is a Baggu bag. In a world full of reusable bag choices, it is the one bag I've found that most effectively replaces a standard plastic bag. Whether you are facing a plastic bag ban or want to be a little greener, these sturdy, roomy, good-looking bags are a great buy. More

Many areas in the US are banning or at least taxing single use plastic bags and the practice is growing. Most people support these bans in spirit but can find it difficult to always remember their cloth bags when leaving the house. Or some times a spontaneous errand means you just don't have them with you. Do you live in an area where bags have been banned — or just seriously discouraged? What is your strategy for reducing your plastic bag use? More

Ever wondered why fruits and vegetables are wrapped in cellophane? Why cereal comes in cardboard boxes? Why soda bottles are sold in litres, not quarts? As a member of the National Museum of American History's Food and Wine History Team, food historian Cory Bernat spends her time pondering such things in an effort to better understand the connection between supermarkets and food consumption habits in the United States. More