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A 37-year-old Brooklyn resident told The Kitchn they spent $61.48 on a grocery shop at Met Fresh. Their diary describes mostly vegetarian meals and a quick, basket-or-arms shopping style, but also lists meals and drinks bought outside the grocery shop, so the total is not a complete weekly food-cost figure.
Brooklyn resident Jordan Smith reported spending $61.48 on a grocery shop at Met Fresh, according to a diary published by The Kitchn. The 37-year-old baker and bookseller described shopping without a cart and using the purchases as part of a week of meals, but the reported total covers the listed grocery haul—not all food and drinks consumed that week.
The shopping list includes 19 items, among them baby spinach, soft tofu, okra, apples, cucumber, bread, coconut milk, popcorn, smoked mussels and produce. The source lists the largest individual prices as $7.99 for bread and $7.99 for smoked mussels, followed by $5.49 for popcorn and $4.99 for okra. The listed prices add up to the stated $61.48 total.
Smith said they live in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in a household with three roommates. They described nearby corner stores and small grocers as having limited fresh-produce selection and less favorable prices, and said they sometimes travel downtown to shop at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. The diary identifies Met Fresh as the store used for this particular shop.
Smith said they try to make shopping quick because of a busy work schedule, a long commute and crowded New York City stores. They prefer carrying items or using a basket rather than a cart, shop the produce section first, then pick up pantry goods, and said they nearly always buy beans and coconut milk. When time allows, they plan meals around a protein, a carbohydrate and a vegetable, cooking components separately to combine with sauces later.
What the $61.48 Covers
The diary offers a personal example of how one New Yorker shops on a limited, time-constrained routine, but it is not a full weekly food budget. Smith’s week included purchased meals and drinks, including a muffin and coffee, a turkey sandwich, a falafel wrap, a tofu teriyaki bowl and other items bought outside the grocery shop. The report does not price those purchases or combine them with the $61.48 grocery total.
That distinction matters for readers comparing food costs: the headline figure describes one grocery receipt, not the total cost of feeding Smith for seven days. The account also reflects one shopper’s store access, household situation and eating habits; it does not establish what groceries typically cost across Brooklyn or New York City.
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Smith’s meal diary describes a mix of food prepared at home and bought during workdays or a commute. At home, meals included vegetable curry made with sweet potatoes, chickpeas, okra and coconut milk, with leftovers eaten the next day; cabbage jeon with kimchi; green smoothies; and a black bean, corn and cheese quesadilla. Breakfasts included oatmeal, toast and fruit.
Some ingredients in those meals do not appear on the listed Met Fresh receipt, including sweet potatoes, chickpeas, cabbage, kimchi, bananas, peanut butter, tortillas and cheese. The diary does not say whether those items were already in the home, bought earlier, or paid for separately. Smith also said dinner can be improvised on the commute home, and sometimes consists of snacks or leftovers because of evening work.
“I’m a no-cart shopper, preferring to load up my arms or use a shopping basket.”
— Jordan Smith, in The Kitchn’s grocery diary
Limits of the Grocery Total
The diary does not give the date of the shopping trip, a receipt image, or a weeklong total that includes food bought elsewhere. It also does not clarify which ingredients used in the meals were already at home or acquired separately. The $61.48 figure should therefore be read as the reported cost of the listed Met Fresh items, not as a verified all-in weekly grocery or food expense.
The source says prices were accurate at the time of publication, but grocery prices can change. It provides no broader price comparison, no spending average for similar households, and no evidence that Smith’s experience represents other shoppers in the neighborhood.
No Follow-Up Spending Listed
The published account does not announce a follow-up, a second week of receipts or a broader cost analysis. Readers can use the itemized list to understand what Smith said they bought, while treating the meal diary as an illustration of one person’s routine rather than a benchmark for New York grocery costs. Any fuller estimate of the week’s food spending would need to include the meals and drinks bought outside Met Fresh and clarify which pantry ingredients were already on hand.
Key Questions
Who reported spending $61.48 on groceries?
Jordan Smith, a 37-year-old baker and bookseller living in Brooklyn, shared the grocery diary with The Kitchn.
Where did Smith shop?
Smith identified Met Fresh as the store for the grocery haul. They said they sometimes travel downtown to shop at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, which they described as having better prices and more consistent selection.
Does $61.48 represent all of Smith’s food spending that week?
No. The diary lists food and drinks bought outside the grocery shop, including sandwiches, coffee, a falafel wrap and a tofu teriyaki bowl. The report does not total those purchases with the $61.48 grocery bill.
What is a no-cart shopping approach?
Smith said they prefer to carry groceries in their arms or use a shopping basket rather than take a cart, aiming to move through crowded stores quickly.
What remains unknown about the reported total?
The shopping date is not provided, and the diary does not clarify whether ingredients used in meals but absent from the list were already at home or purchased elsewhere. The figure is best understood as the reported total for the listed Met Fresh items.
Source: thekitchn.com
