Culture
What Military Commissaries Have in Common With Whole Foods
Niche grocery stores allow us to avoid interacting with people who are different from ourselves.
The Washington Post published a fascinating feature over the weekend on the life and near-death of the military commissary, the tax-free, on-base grocery store that has evolved over the years from a drab surplus warehouse to a modern supermarket peddling every condiment in existence.
As one business adviser in the story asks while he's wandering the aisles of a commissary at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia: "Why is the federal government in the business of selling so many sizes of ketchup?”