Food People Stores Preparing Cooking Americans Section Buy

Americans often complain that they don't have enough time to cook, so "grocery stores" (stores where food is sold) sell many "prepared foods," or foods that are already made and often just need to be "heated up" (warmed) and "served" (given to people to eat).

In the "produce" (fruits and vegetables) section, there are many "packaged" (in bags, boxes, or cans) salads where the lettuce or spinach leaves have already been washed and cut. There are also containers of cut-up fruit and vegetables. In the meat section, people can buy pre-cooked and pre-cut chicken breasts. And in the frozen foods "aisle" (one row in a store with shelves on either side), people can get many "frozen dinners," which are small boxes with enough frozen food for one person to put in the oven or microwave.

Many grocery stores have "deli counters," or a part of the store where meats and cheeses are cut for customers. Often these deli counters offer warm cooked food that people can buy, take home, and eat without even having to heat it up first. Many deli counters have "rotisserie" (cooked while moving in a circle over a fire) chickens, "fried" (cooked in hot oil) chicken, and potatoes. Gourmet grocery stores have even more prepared foods, including pasta salads, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, and almost everything else a person could want to eat. Some of these stores have "salad bars," too, where people can fill a container with different kinds of vegetables and then pay based on how much the container weighs.

Prepared foods are more expensive than "staples" (basic foods) that people buy and cook with at home, but many Americans are willing to pay for the "convenience" (the ease of doing something).