May and June, 2011 I visited MSU, staying at Snyder Hall in one of their VIP rooms, apartments with cooking facilities. I like to cook, so looked around for places to buy groceries. Within easy walking distance there is a seven-eleven, a quality dairy (boasting the lowest prices on hard liquor allowable by county law), bruegger's bagels, and cv's (a drug store with some groceries). This could get you going, but the only vegetables there are in tins, and the only fruit is lemons (to put in your cheap booze). To get a fresh vegetable I had to go further afield. The places below are all a long walk from Snyder Hall (30 minutes +) but easy to get to by bicycle. The Eastern options below are on the bus routes down Grand River.
West: Across campus (a nice bike ride) from Snyder Hall is Goodrich's Shop Rite (http://www.goodrichshoprite.com/). This place has everything. They have great produce and meat (not cheap but reasonable for the quality). They have an interesting selections of chocolate, wine, beer, cider and pop. You can get all kinds of hard liquor here. Did I say they have everything? No tonic to go with your gin anywhere I could find! Otherwise, you can get everything you need here.
East: Going East you will first come to Oriental Mart (2800 E Grand River Ave). This place has some good, inexpensive produce and separate aisles for every Asian nationality it seems. This place is definitely worth a visit. Get their Rosewood White Tofu - the nicest tofu I have ever had (and I was not expecting to find that in East Lansing).
Continuing on you will come to a couple of organic health food places frequented by granolas, old and young (but few in between except me). There is Foods for Living (http://www.foodsforliving.com/) and the East Lansing Food Co-op (http://www.elfco.coop/). Some good stuff at these places, not cheap.
Further on, across the bridge, is a Meijer (http://www.meijer.com/), a big box store with a good selection of produce. It has a good selection of food (including tonic!). It has a lot of other things as well (clothes, toys, etc.). You could make this your one-stop shopping place, but it is further away than Goodrich and not as interesting.
