Who remembers when Schwan’s pretty much had a corner on the market when it came to food delivery with preordered and frozen meals? Back then, several of my blind friends used their service, especially those who lived out in the country some distance away from a supermarket . Of course, several major supermarket chains have joined the food delivery biz with specials like Walmart’s free delivery for a year of joining their service, Meijer and Kroger having occasional markdowns on delivery charges.
Now, check out Amazon’s plans. Here’s a fascinating article I received thanks to the Tech VI list moderated by David Goldfield. Perhaps not this year, but Amazon’s got big plans as they seek to open their fresh delivery services in a city bnear you. Already they are in markets including Dallas, TX.
Of course, we can immediately see the advantage for us who are blind getting our food delivered. The market is one less place we have to go if we don’t want to find handicap assistance which most stores do provide. We can avoid standing in lines and running our debit or credit card through that machine that may or may not accept our payment on the first swipe.
One of the quick ways we in the blindness community learned to adapt during the era of the COVID pandemic was online shopping along with getting Waiter On The Way or Door Dash to bring us dinner. Every blindness-related email list or Facebook group seemed to have the latest ways we could get food.
The contageon hasn’t stopped. In fact, with the shift in work patterns and the greater prevalence of working from home, online shopping has continued to grow in popularity.
I do personally enjoy the service since I myself write from home while my wife, Amy, works at an office a few miles north of where we live. It’s convenient and I can put the groceries away in the fridge, freezer, or pantry by the time Amy gets home. There are, of course, times where I do love stretching my legs, going to the grocery store and talking with the person who guides me around the store so I can shop. There’s something about inhaling the aroma of aisles full of strawberries or the smell of freshly cooked sausage at the meat counter. And for years, I’ve often taken my computer with me so as to write while sitting in the supermarket’s food court for a couple hours, giving me a change of scenery.
Needless to say, we’ve got so many options now for grocery shopping and Amazon is throwing their hat-or sack-into our kitchen.
Boldly Blind 