power to the people (maybe?)

For the last 4 months I've been in a silent battle with the Tasty Eagle over their Kosher meat section. There are 2 problems: 1) availability - usually, the meat just isn't there. They get deliveries Weds and Fri, but these usually miss important meat products such as chicken breast, which appeared yesterday for the first time in months; and 2) the quality of the meat, especially ground beef, which usually has a grayish/glassy appearance (ack!) on the day it is delivered.

I know I’ve been spoiled by living in NYC where the Kosher ground beef was always fresh and pink (but honestly, even Fairway had a supply problem – half the time there wasn’t any ground beef at all). So I’ve grumbled, stocked up (the few times good meat was available, Alex and I would grab 5 packages and freeze them), and even called in to complain. I got the assistant manager who had no idea what I was talking about and said to call back when the manager was around. This Wednesday, I stopped by the meat counter and told the guy there about the grayish meat sitting out and he said “well, you’re the first person to complain.” Does that make the meat any less rancid?

Most people here who care for Kosher meat buy it across the street from the Tasty Eagle at the Kosher grocery store. Unfortunately, that store closes at 6pm every day (3pm Fridays) so I can never get there. Plus, that store isn’t big on lean meats, and their supply of regular groceries is minimal. I also prefer to do all my shopping in one stop.

Fueled by my craving for tacos and a "Hot Metal Day" mood yesterday, I wrote what I thought was a nasty email to Tasty Eagle’s customer service about their Kosher meat. Well, today I got a voice mail from the Tasty Eagle manager, Jeff. At first I was hesitant to call back… I thought he was going to lecture me about ground beef and how glassy meat is good for me, or G-d forbid, tell me that all Kosher meat looks like that, and I was gearing up to defend myself and my disappointment… but the call was quite pleasant!

He thanked me for my comments and agreed with them. He admitted that they have a long way to go, but they are working on it. "The customer is important to us," and all that good stuff. He even took my name off the email and gave my comments out to people at the meat department and they had a meeting about it. He asked me to call back and give him progress reports on how they’re doing. I feel much better, although I’m sure the change won’t be instantaneous. It’s just nice to be heard.