Grocery Surprises, What's Got Your Goat With High Price?

[+ bashful]

On 9/30/2021 at 6:16 PM, BnaC said:

sumo oranges

Love those.

[+ bigjoey]

13 minutes ago, samhexum said:

I'm sure most of the men on this site will agree with you completely.  😁😎🤑🤣

Thanks.  I corrected it.

[+ bashful]

Growing up, most of our back yard was a garden.  Potatoes, celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, corn, strawberries, rhubarb, plus a pear, plum, peach, and apple tree. 

My father was out there everyday in the summer, and when things ripened, it was eaten, or my mother put it away for later by freezing, or more often canning. She also baked using a lot of the fruit.  One of her favorite things to do, and she was a great baker.

My folks didn’t make a lot of money, but all six of us ate well.

Edited October 4, 2021 by bashful

[+ bigjoey]

10 hours ago, bashful said:

Growing up, most of our back yard was a garden.  Potatoes, celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, corn, strawberries, rhubarb, plus a pear, plum, peach, and apple tree. 

My father was out there everyday in the summer, and when things ripened, it was eaten, or my mother put it away for later by freezing, or more often canning. She also baked using a lot of the fruit.  One of her favorite things to do, and she was a great baker.

My folks didn’t make a lot of money, but all six of us ate well.

That’s how I grew up: there was always a vegetable garden.  I think part of that may have been a hold over from WWII “Victory Gardens.”  Also, it was the days before air conditioning and people spent more time outdoors.

Excess produce, especially tomatoes and zucchini were brought to the office and shared with others who wanted them.

[+ WilliamM]

2 hours ago, bigjoey said:

That’s how I grew up: there was always a vegetable garden.  I think part of that may have been a hold over from WWII “Victory Gardens.”  Also, it was the days before air conditioning and people spent more time outdoors.

Excess produce, especially tomatoes and zucchini were brought to the office and shared with others who wanted them.

Not so much in rural Massachusetts, perhaps residents were more affluent bring driving distance to Harvard University

[samhexum]

13 hours ago, bashful said:

Growing up, most of our back yard was a garden.  Potatoes, celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, corn, strawberries, rhubarb, plus a pear, plum, peach, and apple tree. My father was out there everyday in the summer, and when things ripened, it was eaten, or my mother put it away for later by freezing, or more often canning. She also baked using a lot of the fruit.  One of her favorite things to do, and she was a great baker.

3 hours ago, bigjoey said:

That’s how I grew up: there was always a vegetable garden.  I think part of that may have been a hold over from WWII “Victory Gardens.”  Also, it was the days before air conditioning and people spent more time outdoors.  Excess produce, especially tomatoes and zucchini were brought to the office and shared with others who wanted them.

A new urban farm on Eastern Parkway hopes to transform a long-vacant lot into a solution for Brooklynites living in the borough’s food deserts.

The Eastern Parkway Farm — opened by Bed-Stuy based food pantry The Campaign Against Hunger — will open next week in a property on the Crown Heights and Brownsville border that had previously stood empty for 30 years.

The space is the organization’s latest project aimed at bringing nutrient-rich foods to communities often deprived of healthy options. It is the fifth urban farm space run by TCAH.

“The Campaign Against Hunger is committed to infusing heart-healthy fruits and vegetables into communities that are far too often overlooked and starved of affordable, nutritious food options,” said CEO Dr. Melony Samuels. “The opening of Eastern Parkway Farm is just the most recent example of our work to advance food justice.”

The newest farm, found at 1420 Eastern Pkwy., has been in the works for six months with the help of TCAH’s farm department, volunteers and Green Teens, a group of local youth trained in urban farming.

It includes 5,000 square feet of space leased through the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation & Development and will be farmed using all-natural production methods, according to TCAH.

Neighbors will find fresh produce like kale, summer squash, red cabbage, chard and raddish in the lot, according to the organization.

 

The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) also has a farm in Bedford Stuyvesant, the Saratoga Urban Agro-Ecological Center, which opened in 2009, along with several other food-based initiatives around the city — like another farm in Queens, a food pantry in Bed Stuy, a food distribution center at a Canarsie soundstage donated by the production company Broadway Stages during the pandemic, and a mobile farmer’s market called “Fresh Vibes” that travels across the city in a specially designed truck carrying fresh produce.

“People thought I had lost my mind,” said Melony Samuels, CEO and founder of TCAH, at the opening ceremony for Eastern Parkway Farm on Thursday. “They had said it’s not possible that individuals would want to barter or get rid of the canned food and the sweets and the sugar and the salt and everything else. And that’s what birthed the idea of farming, and we were the first organization to have from farm to table.”

All three of the areas where the nonprofit has farms are majority Black, a reflection on the group’s goal to reduce inequities in access to healthy food that leave Black New Yorkers at higher risk of diseases like hypertension, diabetes and obesity brought about by unhealthy eating.

“Food justice is racial justice, is economic justice,” Assembly Member Diana Richardson said. “Our communities have been disenfranchised for so long. When we talk about social determinants of health, and all that is going on, we know that our community has been shortchanged for so long with access to healthy food. And it shows, it shows in everything that plagues us.”

TCAH says that it has provided 25 million meals worth of healthy food to New Yorkers facing food insecurity during the pandemic — six times their output in a normal year.

Unlike a community garden, which can be found all over the city (including the Brownsville Green Community Garden right next door) and usually involves a membership structure for individual plots, the farm will be owned and operated by TCAH, which will sell the produce directly to customers at inexpensive prices, which Samuels said can remain low because of the nonprofit’s reliance on philanthropy.

The group plans to hire locally, and to train neighborhood teens on agricultural practices as part of a 10-month workforce program. Beyond its status as a working farm, Samuels also wants Eastern Parkway Farm to be a space for local students to learn about environmental science. The farm will be open every day from 9 to 2, and experienced farmers will assist patrons in harvesting.

For 30 years, the land now occupied by the farm was vacant; just months ago, it was a patch of tall grass surrounded by a chain-link fence. Samuels said that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development approached her this year and asked if she wanted to use the vacant lot to “make a difference.” After four months of work by volunteers and staff, the land has seen a “transformation,” she said.

The space now features rows upon rows of fresh produce — with current offerings including various cabbages, kale, Swiss chard, radishes, turnips, pumpkins, watermelons and various other crops. There is also a sculpture of two massive hands, by the artist Jasmine Murrell and Eastern Parkway Farm worker Faith Pegus, which Pegus described as “ancestral hands holding up the future generations,” and that also supports the growth of crops, currently chia seeds.

Samuels said that the farm was opened using only money from private donations, and solicited the lawmakers present at the opening for public funds to help support the group’s missions.

“We cannot do this without your voice,” Samuels said. “We cannot do this without your signatures, we cannot do this without your advocacy.”

TCAH has secured $9.6 million in funds from the City Council to purchase property in East New York for a food hub, Samuels told Brooklyn Paper, where the group will grow food using “aquaponics and hydroponics” to allow it to operate year round, as well as distribute bulk food throughout the community. Down the road, she hopes to develop three acres at Floyd Bennett Field, where teens at the Launch EL Charter School, which is seeking to develop a “sustainable and antiracist school” on 85 acres at the former airfield, would run a farm.

Despite all that, as with any nonprofit, TCAH needs the dough to do its work, and Samuels hopes that it can scale up its work to feed the whole city. Legislators told Samuels that they intend to get her the money.

“She is doing so much with so little,” said Richardson, holding Samuels’ hand. “It is a shame. It is a shame. I am sick and tired, and it is our role, and we will continue to play that role, to cut the red tape for you. You deserve much more. And it is coming to you.”

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

A gallon of milk is over $3

[+ tassojunior]

On 9/29/2021 at 7:02 AM, DR FREUD said:

I went to Publix this past week and had bleach on my list for a month or so and finally purchased it.  I was POSITIVE the price for store brand one gallon was wrong.....$5.29  I thought I remembered last time I bought was about a year ago and it was somewhere around $2.59 per gallon.  What has shocked you price wise in the grocery store lately?  Another was a 12 pak of Diet Coke in cans for $6.29

DollarTree has bleach for $1 as well as Mr. Plumber. I go through a decent amount so I stock up on both when I'm around one. Wear double masks. 

[Luv2play]

23 hours ago, bashful said:

Growing up, most of our back yard was a garden.  Potatoes, celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, corn, strawberries, rhubarb, plus a pear, plum, peach, and apple tree. 

My father was out there everyday in the summer, and when things ripened, it was eaten, or my mother put it away for later by freezing, or more often canning. She also baked using a lot of the fruit.  One of her favorite things to do, and she was a great baker.

My folks didn’t make a lot of money, but all six of us ate well.

You certainly did. And I expect given that background, you still eat well.

[Luv2play]

18 minutes ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

A gallon of milk is over $3

Here in Canada it’s over 3$ for a litre of milk, which is muck less than a gallon. We have supply management to thank for that as it guarantees farmers a price in the dairy and poultry sectors and imports are virtually prohibited.

[BSR]

2 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

Here in Canada it’s over 3$ for a litre of milk, which is muck less than a gallon. We have supply management to thank for that as it guarantees farmers a price in the dairy and poultry sectors and imports are virtually prohibited.

Out of curiosity, I did the conversion.  At $3CD/liter, that comes to $9.15US/gallon!

[+ bigjoey]

A local Kansas City donut chain (17 company stores) is raising prices 20%.
Watch for other fast food chains to raise prices or add more automation.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/lamars-donuts-price-increase.amp

 

[Luv2play]

11 hours ago, BSR said:

Out of curiosity, I did the conversion.  At $3CD/liter, that comes to $9.15US/gallon!

That's why our fairy farmers are all millionaires. 😂

[samhexum]

18 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

That's why our fairy farmers are all millionaires. 😂

 What about your over-compensating macho farmers?

 🧐😁😇🤣

Edited October 5, 2021 by samhexum

[mike carey]

Another international comparison for milk here, where two-litre bottles are the most common size. The two big supermarkets have a *store name* brand, typically A$2.30, a 'fake brand' where they each have a 'brand' that only they sell, about $3.30, and real national (or state) brands, usually about $4.50. (So about US$3.15, $4.50 and $6.15 per US gallon.) The price per litre is only slightly different for one- and three-litre bottles. There are also specialist and modified milk varieties that are more expensive.

In Canberra we used to have socialist milk (by that I mean the government set up contracts to buy, process and deliver milk in the city and set the prices) and now Canberra Milk ($4.60 when last I looked) has more shelf space than any other brands, and is the most likely to run out first. They are also the main sponsor of the Canberra rugby league team in the national competition.

Prices haven't spiked over recent months. People tend to buy the mid- or higher priced milk if they can afford it. Three or four years ago the supermarkets introduced $1 a litre milk with great fanfare, but when it became clear that dairy processors were stiffing farmers to supply it at that price there was a backlash, and a lot of people stopped buying it for that reason.

[+ bashful]

At the Shop and Save on Monday, the rye, and no yeast sourdough bread I like was 25% higher than when I was there a couple of months ago.

[Gadfly22]

On 10/3/2021 at 7:39 PM, Deadlift1 said:

I now shop at Aldi and Lidl.  Trader Joe's is a separate division of Aldi Nord.  Aldi is trader Joe's without the psycho Karens.

 

On 10/4/2021 at 7:43 PM, Luv2play said:

Here in Canada it’s over 3$ for a litre of milk, which is muck less than a gallon. 

Price of dairy is coming down around here. I went to Aldi this past weekend and got a pint of whipping cream for $1.25, a dozen eggs for $0.70 and a pound of butter for $1.59. Guess global warming hasn’t reached us yet in NJ. 😝

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, Gadfly22 said:

 

Price of dairy is coming down around here. I went to Aldi this past weekend and got a pint of whipping cream for $1.25, a dozen eggs for $0.70 and a pound of butter for $1.59. Guess global warming hasn’t reached us yet in NJ. 😝

We haven't seen those prices since the 1970's.

[+ tassojunior]

1 hour ago, Gadfly22 said:

 

Price of dairy is coming down around here. I went to Aldi this past weekend and got a pint of whipping cream for $1.25, a dozen eggs for $0.70 and a pound of butter for $1.59. Guess global warming hasn’t reached us yet in NJ. 😝

Aldi, Lidl and Wal-Mart are amazingly cheaper for groceries.

My favorite at Aldi and Lidl are their big 49 cent avocados and all 3's $1.33 12-grain bread that's $5 everywhere else. 

Edited October 6, 2021 by tassojunior

[Deadlift1]

Most of Aldi beef and chicken is grass fed hormone free too.  Good place for chocolate too.

[BSR]

15 hours ago, bigjoey said:

A local Kansas City donut chain (17 company stores) is raising prices 20%.
Watch for other fast food chains to raise prices or add more automation.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/lamars-donuts-price-increase.amp

 

Did you ever go to Lamars before it got sold?  The old Lamars donuts would turn all of us into Homer Simpson.  The new Lamars tastes meh, like any other donut.  Forget 20%, I'd pay a 200% increase for a dozen of old Lamars donuts.

[rvwnsd]

On 9/30/2021 at 12:46 AM, BnaC said:

...to my surprise, the best fruits and vegetables come from WalMart.  

In Southern California and Arizona, Whole Foods produce has always been iffy (even before Amazon acquired them). Ralphs (Kroger in SoCal) and Fry's (ditto in AZ) have pretty bad produce, while VONS and Safeway is usually pretty decent. Pricey, but decent. There isn't a good Walmart near me, but maybe I'll trek to the suburbs.

On 10/3/2021 at 8:15 AM, Rudynate said:

Of course designer foods like artisan bread and pastured eggs cost more, because the cost of production is so much higher than mass-produced food.  My husband and I buy those, and we willingly bear the increased cost.  But there have been huge increases in the prices of mainstream, mass-produced food that just don't really add up.    Prices shot up at the beginning of the pandemic and have stayed high.  Another thing that surprises me is how the supply chain seems to have been permanently disrupted.

 

I am positive that some grocers are gouging.  for example, we buy Daves Killer Bread.  At Safeway, it is costing about $8.00 for a loaf.  At Lucky, a little more than a mile from Safeway, the same loaf of bread costs about $6.50.  Big difference.  And I could go on and on about price differences between Safeway and Lucky.

There are several threads in one of the supermarket forums about Safeway's pricing in Northern California. They have an almost monopoly in San Francisco and so they are gouging. Dave's Killer Bread at Safeway in AZ is $5.99. However, they are # 3 behind Walmart (#2) and Fry's (#1) so they have to try harder, I guess. 

Regarding what pricing has got my goat..well, nothing. Most of the things I buy have only increased a few cents.

[+ tassojunior]

In fairness gasoline, a huge inflation factor, is in the stratosphere at 3.50 a gallon and the supply chain is broken in many other industries and commodities. The administration keeps saying this a temporary inflation. Maybe a silver lining will happen if anti-inflationary measures are taken just as the supply chains get fixed and gas comes down.

I'm already noticing the labor shortage getting overcome with a new Amazon Go by me with no cashiers or scanners, Chipotle and Shake Shack treating me better if I order online for ready pick-up on a shelf, Pollo Campero giving me discounts to do the same, and McD's  giving me a free large fries everyday to order online and pick up (I resist that one).

I don't think all prices that went up during the pandemic will go back down but i am surprised at how fast the market corrects itself one way or another. Escorts have even dropped back down from 300-400 to 250-300 (the market slowed a good bit after clients spent all their lockdown saved money).

Always a silver lining. 

[+ bigjoey]

10 hours ago, BSR said:

Did you ever go to Lamars before it got sold?  The old Lamars donuts would turn all of us into Homer Simpson.  The new Lamars tastes meh, like any other donut.  Forget 20%, I'd pay a 200% increase for a dozen of old Lamars donuts.

Yes, I use to go to the original Lamars on Linwood.  I haven’t had a glazed donut in decades so I don’t know about them now.  However, the original ones were amazing.

[+ bigjoey]

9 hours ago, tassojunior said:

In fairness gasoline, a huge inflation factor, is in the stratosphere at 3.50 a gallon and the supply chain is broken in many other industries and commodities. The administration keeps saying this a temporary inflation. Maybe a silver lining will happen if anti-inflationary measures are taken just as the supply chains get fixed and gas comes down.

I'm already noticing the labor shortage getting overcome with a new Amazon Go by me with no cashiers or scanners, Chipotle and Shake Shack treating me better if I order online for ready pick-up on a shelf, Pollo Campero giving me discounts to do the same, and McD's  giving me a free large fries everyday to order online and pick up (I resist that one).

I don't think all prices that went up during the pandemic will go back down but i am surprised at how fast the market corrects itself one way or another. Escorts have even dropped back down from 300-400 to 250-300 (the market slowed a good bit after clients spent all their lockdown saved money).

Always a silver lining. 

Markets do tend to correct themselves over time which is why central planned economies have always failed.  
 

Everything seems to be moving faster today including how businesses react to the labor shortage.  Automation is quickly replacing labor as you note.  My local CVS earlier this year put in two self checkouts.  If you do not order online and go into a McDonalds, you place your order on a large screen.  AMC theaters has put in self purchase screens to buy tickets as well as buying them on line.  My local post office has a self-service station.

 However, this is not new, I remember when elevators all had operators and what an amazing thing it was to go to Hartzfeld’s Department Store on the Plaza in the 1950’s when they put in the city’s first fully automatic elevator. The elevator had a speaker that called out what was on each floor like the old human operators did.  Clearly, it did not take much to impress this young gay boy😀.

I remember when at a gas station, men would come out and check your oil, wash your windows, fill up your tank,  check your tire’s air pressure and perhaps even offer to vacuum the interior😱.  Long gone.

https://youtu.be/G5iypuYl4E0

 

https://youtu.be/hGfCwJWCbwk

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by bigjoey