From package color, size and placement to labels, layout and express lanes, there's a science to your supermarket and what it's trying to influence you to buy. Understanding the basics and making informed decisions can save you lots of time and money.

How to Pick the Best Supermarket for You

Specialty vs. Super Stores
Warehouse-sized stores such as Home Depot, Office Depot, Staples and Sports Connection are all the retail rage. They succeed because they provide service and value, and because they focus their efforts in one area. They are the experts.

How Clean is Your Market?
Is your supermarket clean enough to prevent the spread of food-borne illness? Store managers and inspection doctors from the California Food and Agriculture Department's Meat Inspection Division recommend you search for evidence in the following ...

Top 10 Shelf and Display Tactics
One of the best ways to save money at the supermarket is to be aware of marketing strategies used to encourage you to buy more and spend more. The following are some of the most common tactics.

Top 10 Ways to Outsmart the "Super" Marketers
Love cheese? You better shop around. Look carefully in three places in your store for the same product -- all with different prices. The dairy case will usually have staple cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss and Monterey Jack, prepackaged at the ...

Top 10 Value Tips
Here's a condensed version of my tips and tricks for saving time and money at the supermarket. Make your shopping list before you go to the store. Use coupons on every shopping trip, and try to save at least 15 percent of your total bill. Never ...

Model Behavior
If you don’t want your child to drink soda or chew with his mouth open then you probably shouldn’t either. Experts say role modeling is one of the most natural and effective ways to inspire children to eat right, have good table manners and ...

Take A Pass On Chilean Sea Bass Campaign
One of America’s most popular fish, the Chilean Sea Bass, has almost been eaten to death. Restaurants across America are joining our campaign to save the Chilean Sea Bass by offering alternatives that are responsibly harvested and abundant fish.

Spring - Pour It On
Spring signals maple syrup making time across the U.S. When this luscious treat was first discovered in trees in the northeast, it was used as an all-purpose seasoning, much the way we use salt today. Here’s how the folks in Maine “tap” the sap.

Shopping For Healthy Salmon
The safety of consuming farm-raised salmon is in question due to the higher levels of of PCBs, dioxin and other cancer-causing contaminants. Here is some information to help you make healthy choices when buying or ordering salmon in a restaurant.