"Kroger with Dave King and Esther Povitsky" is Episode 262 of Doughboys, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Kroger with Dave King and Esther Povitsky" was released on July 30, 2020.

"Tomorrow, Friendly Green Grocer Mitch’s Grocery Store Month concludes... with Dave King and Esther Povitsky" - @doughboyspod
Synopsis[]
Writer Dave King (The Good Place, Parks and Rec) and Actor and Comedian Esther Povitsky (Hot For My Name, Esther Club) return to close out Grocery Store Month and help the 'boys review America's largest supermarket chain, Kroger. Plus, another edition of Spoonman's Sip or Ship.
Nick's intro[]
If you're not used to the 'up is down'-style language and manipulation of American politics, you might be confused to learn that 'right to work' laws are, in fact, anti-union measures designed to suppress labor power and decrease wages.
The 'right to work' formulation was the creation of a now-forgotten Texas political figure named Vance Muse, a racist anti-Semite closely affiliated with the Klan, who used his business influence to muscle through pet political issues, a sort of proto-Koch Brother. By granting companies tacit union-busting power, 'right to work' laws accomplished Muse's twin goals of crushing collective bargaining and keeping workplaces racially segregated.
So 'right to work' became a rallying conservative cause and is today the law of the land in twenty-seven U.S. states, mostly clustered in the South and Mountain West.

Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butchers union pin
And it's 'right to work' laws that led to the downfall of one of the most influential labor unions in American history, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters, formed in the 20th century, partly as a reaction to the conditions described in Upton Sinclair's muckraking classic, The Jungle. Aggressively employing strikes among its multi-racial membership, the AMC was a thorn in the side of American agri-business who'd prefer to treat their workers like the livestock in their factory farms.
And so as Republican legislatures implemented 'right to work' laws in rural states, plants wriggled out of union contracts by relocating to those same states, hiring mostly immigrant, non-Union workers to labor under egregious conditions for minimal pay (including, currently, the risk of COVID).
And so Amalgamated Meat Cutters adapted, merging in 1979 with two other unions to form United Food and Commercial Workers, a move that reflected the U.S.'s shift to a service economy.
And as American labor power has reached a nadir, it is perhaps a hopeful sign that the largest grocery chain in America, founded in Cincinnati in 1883, has a union workforce organized with the remnants of Amalgamated Meat Cutters.
This week on Doughboys, our month-long review of supermarket eats, Friendly Green Grocer Mitch's Grocery Store Month, concludes with Kroger.
Friendly Green Grocer Mitch's Grocery Store Month Rules[]
For this month-long look at grocery stores, The Doughboys take these aspects into consideration:
- How's it looking? (overall impression/name/mascot/etc.)
- Parking
- Produce
- Original Snacks
- Frozen Snacks
- Room Temperature Snacks
- Check-out
- Hoity-Toityness
- Bagging and carts
- Price
The scoring is not the usual five forks, but out of ten carts. A basket is half a cart.
An average of 8/10 will get into the Green Grocer Mitch's Freezer Club (the equivalent of the Golden Plate Club).
Cart rating 🛒[]
As per custom for Grocery Store Month, The Doughboys more or less try to get all Kroger's own brands (i.e., Kroger, Simple Truth, and Private Selection).
guest / host | ordered | rating |
---|---|---|
Nick Wiger | Hot Bar / Deli
Groceries
|
4 carts |
Mike Mitchell | Hot Bar / Deli
Groceries
|
2.5 carts |
Dave King |
|
3 carts |
Esther Povitsky |
|
3 carts |
Spoonman Bite of the Night went to either the Jalapeno Poppers or the Fried Chicken.
The 10 cart average is 3.13 carts, which scales down to 1.56 forks. These scores, all 2 forks or less, also place Kroger in the Broken Plate Club.
Sip or Ship 🥤🚢[]

Eazy Teazy Green Tea Ale
Sip or Ship is the Spoonman version of Drank or Stank, where Mitch alone has a drink and rates it 'good' or 'bad.'
For this episode, Mitch tries an Eazy Teazy Low Calorie Green Tea Ale from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Mitch thought it was delicious, despite not being a huge fan of green tea.
guest / host | verdict |
---|---|
Mike Mitchell | Sip |
Roast Spoonman[]

King of the Jews
“ | King of the Chews | ” |
–Joseph Borkowski |
Quote[]
“ | Mitch: My head would've been shot so fast, my big-ass head. Nick: The Bobblehead on the Battlefield. |
” |
–Mitch re: his considering joining the military |
“ | Esther: Can you drown in a pie? Nick: That's how I plan to die. |
” |
–Pies |
“ | Mitch: Eggplant has shot up to be one of the more interesting vegetables, huh? Nick: Interesting observation. Why do you say that? |
” |
–A good conversation |
“ | Mitch: I opened this bad boy up and it's got quite the head. Nick: Wow. The Mitch of Beers! |
” |
–The Doughboys |
#hashtags[]
- #HighFoodFloor
The Feedbag[]
“ | Best/worst online grocery shopping reward or mistake? | ” |
–Katrina V |
Related Episodes[]
Friendly Green Grocer Month | Kroger episodes | Dave King episodes | Esther Povitsky episodes |
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