Judy Putnam

Lansing State Journal

BATH TOWNSHIP — If you’ve got a kid, you know the moment.

You’re stuck in the aisle of temptation – the checkout lane at the grocery store. It’s been a long day and everyone is tired and hungry.

The tempting treats and sugary drinks are placed strategically at pint-sized eye levels.

You’ve already said no three times to a Snickers bar. Twice to a Coke. No to gum.

If you get asked one more time, you’re afraid you’re going to blow, exasperated, and come off sounding like Cruella De Vil, snarling: How many times do I have to tell you "no"?

But if you keep refusing, then you risk a meltdown and the judging stares of all the other shopper/parents who seem, at least at the moment, to handle everything better than you do.

The risks and rewards are running through your head like an investor facing the closing bell of the stock exchange.

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I know, I’ve been there.

So I’m trying to conjure up those moments to understand the passion of a Bath Township mom, Jane Kramer, who is petitioning Meijer to dump the junk food, pop and tabloids and fill them with health-conscious foods and child-friendly literature.

To all of this, part of me just wants to say: "Grow a spine" or "No means no." I can guess that Kramer’s petition is met with plenty of eye-rolling out there.

Kramer is sure of it too, but that’s OK. She welcomes the conversation. Plus, she’s not spineless. She’s able to tell her son, now 13, "no."

She just believes the shopping experience would be better for all to take away the negative and offer the positive.

“I still don’t think it’s fair to parents to put that candy at the child’s eye level,” she said. “I don’t know why I have to say ‘no’ all the time to bad choices when I could be saying 'yes' to healthy choices.”

She posted the petition two weeks ago and has 223 signatures so far.

I definitely didn’t roll my eyes over another point she made: the uncomfortable conversations born from racy headlines delivered, again at child eye-level, in the magazines in the checkout lane.

Kramer recalls having to explain “cocaine” to her young son at a time she wasn’t prepared to talk about that.

The tabloid and magazine fare seen at a checkout on Tuesday featured such headlines as “If Your Boobs Could Talk” (the o’s in ‘Boobs’ were highlighted in gold); “Next Level Sex!” and “Shape an Epic A**.”

There was also 2017 Celebrity Predictions: Babies! Cheating! Deaths! And more about pregnancies, prenups and a “shocking sex scandal.”

Then there’s 2016: The Biggest OMG Moments! Those included celebrities who were robbed, betrayed or OD’d.

You want your kids to read, I’m sure, but explaining epic anatomy, overdoses, and the next level of sex might not be on your ideal list for beginner's reading material.

Kramer, a freelance art photographer, has been thinking about this for several years. She’s enlisted the help of a national group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has posted Kramer’s petition alongside one of its own calling for the end of junk food in the checkout aisle.

The center has a report from last fall that documents the fees grocery stores earn to feature products in expensive store real estate such as checkout aisles.

Frank J. Guglielmi, senior director of communications for Grand Rapids-based Meijer, responded with a short email about Kramer's petition. He said Meijer was aware of it but gave no indication that it's spurring change.

"Our customer base is very broad and diverse and we work hard to ensure our offerings appeal to the millions of customers who come through our doors each week," he wrote. "We are also passionate about offering healthy choices throughout our stores and we appreciate Ms. Kramer’s passion as well. Thanks."

Linda Gobler, president of the Michigan Grocers Association, said this issue appears sporadically, such as when there was a push to get pop vending machines out of schools.

“It’s a recycled issue. We went through this several years ago,” she said.

She said consumers, such as Kramer, might be able to make more headway by asking a specific store to make changes, rather than targeting a chain.

Grocers do respond to customer demand and she has seen isolated instances of grocers who offer a “candy-free” checkout lane.

“The grocery industry is so competitive that retailers are tuned into what their customers want,” Gobler said.

She said she couldn’t speak for Meijer but noted the chain makes healthy lifestyles a focus.

Kramer said she picked Meijer because she likes the store and has shopped there for the last decade. She contacted the company several years ago about the issue and got nowhere. She thinks a petition signed by like-minded customers may get attention from the Michigan-based retailer.

As the for bottom line, Kramer said she would be far more likely to make impulse purchases of children’s books or healthy snacks, and she’s sure other parents would too.

"I think they’re a great company. I think this is totally within their mission. I think it’s totally doable," Kramer said.

Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com. Write to her at 300 S. Washington Square Suite #300 Lansing, MI, 48933. Follow her on Twitter @JudyPutnam.

For more information:

Kramer's petition can be found at www.change.org. Search for "Ask Meijer for Healthy Checkout Aisles."