Why is produce so damned expensive?

Where are you?

Florida.

In SoCal this year, produce is obscenely cheap - because we had an unusually wet spring, so everything is ripening too fast to get it picked, loaded and out of here before it goes bad. That's keeping quality produce expensive in the rest of the US. But Florida grows a lot, too, right?

P.S. I am canning green beans right now, 3 pounds for a buck.

Its a 1.19$ for ONE friggin orange here.

Florida is a huge exporter of produce, but not much organic from what I can gather. You'd figure oranges would be dirt cheap here, but they're not. Maybe it's the time of year, I don't know. Publix is really overpriced anyway.

Same story here. Oranges are about a buck each and red grapefruits are a little bit more, I think. It's just craziness.

Yeah, we normally export everything and as a result pay inflated prices for the stuff that stays here, too.

And oranges haven't been exactly cheap for years ;) Still, not $1.19 each!

Probably because the government primarily subsidizes the beef and dairy industry while doing everything they can to destroy the produce industry.

Check out your local Mexican grocery store. Produce is often much cheaper there.

I went and bought limes 10/$1 and tomatoes 89 cents/lb yesterday.

When supply of organic vegs are limited BY LAW, they cost more because there is a higher demand. Obammy just made it so fascist cops are raiding your suppliers. They want no competition for the corporate "farmers."

Absolutely true! I bought blackberries for 35 cents a pint earlier this spring at the Hispanic market, when they were $2.00 a pint at the chain grocery store.

check out farmers markets.

excuse me?????!!!!!!?????

people in the united states pay less for food than ANYWHERE on the GLOBE...

i started an organic garden expecting to cut some food costs and get non tainted food...

i will never complain about food prices again

why?

because it is fucking LABOR INTENSIVE to grow food... i am not even sure if my labor investment will repay me minimum wage in produce that i don't have to buy from the store

now
STFU

OP, "You can't handle the truth!"...

Brace yourself...wait for it...

Because it's GOOD for you.

Yes, they HATE us that much...

I go online every Sunday and go through the grocery store weekly ad with a fine tooth comb. I make my list based on what's on sale.

It seems to me that per pound produce is the cheapest thing in the store? I mean when you say it's expensive, what are you comparing it to? Meat? Cheese? Olives? Canned goods? Fish? Nuts? Aren't all those things more expensive per pound?

Potatoes are produce, they sell ten pound bags for under 2.00 here.

If I go and get salad stuff and a few vegetables to steam or for a stir fry, I can get loaded down with enough stuff that it is difficult to carry in 2 handle bags and a backpack, for under 20.00. Is that expensive? It doesn't seem like it to me. But I'm careful what I choose, and where I shop has a very large produce section with many options.

Yesterday I went to a produce stand and got 2 full plastic bags for exactly ten dollars, I got peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, grapes, a whole bunch of avocados, lettuce. They were full heavy bags for ten bucks.

Carrots are like 50 cents a pound, what is cheaper? A whole cabbage is not likely to be more than 2.50, and when would eat all that?

I live in the pacific northwest. I have always thought that the cheapest way to shop was just to hit the produce section and get out, even when I lived in MN.

Very true about SoCal. I am in San Diego...we can buy 5 BAGS of produce for about $10...and that's including some of the pricier things like avocados. Of course, that's not from a grocery store, I won't pay those prices. That's from a small local market who actually cares about my business.

It surely adds up...
I always wait for seasonal sales or special deals...
Right now Organic Strawberries are less then $3 per pound.

Artichokes and avocadoes are cheap now too...

What's that 'hobby' that people participate in to save on food, going asking for slighly spoiled produce at stores and garbage digging near supermarkets?....

I think I may join something like that..

Last Edited by LA-LA-LA on 08/04/2010 11:42 PM

Sometimes they have huge juicy grapefruit three for a dollar here. Once they were even five for a dollar. Do you know how heavy a few dollars worth of those are to carry home? What else would give you more bang for your buck?

Stuff that is always a good deal for quantity

Celery
Carrots
Cabbage
Potatoes
onions - if you eat them, I used to

Don't buy prepared stuff in bags like those bagged salads, get a head of leaf lettuce and wash it yourself, you can figure out ways to keep it fresh, i just wash the leaves and put them in a big bowl whole, put that in a plastic bag in the fridge, they keep a long time that way.

I passed on peaches for 78 cents a pound this afternoon, because I already had a gazillion green beans to can tonight. I'll probably get the peaches on Friday. Unless the black plums are too tempting.

Absolutely the very best deal on carrots is to buy the 25 pound bags that they sell either as "juice carrots" or "horse carrots", depending where you live. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the carrots except they grew into weird shapes or were broken during harvesting. Last time I bought carrots, I paid $3.50 for 25 pounds. Once they are canned up or baked into carrot cake, no one will ever guess or even care that they weren't pretty enough to be sold along with the expensive carrots.

+1

And think about why ET continually tampers with livestock

Chinese cabbage at 6.55!
(The kid was screwed up and tried to charged 1.19 per pound .)
I said nope, and went across the street and paid .99

-oh and once, my change was $5.02... kid handed me a nickel and two pennies, 5, 02

Oranges ARE out of season. They ripen in COOL weather for you non-citrus growing folks.

All the bullshit but no answers why is it expensive wh the fuck is making the money??? this state sucks''''[googlevid]

Because the want you to eat their pre-digested, genetically modified solyent green.

This weeks flyers.

Store 1

Tomatoes $2/lb (Mexico)
Mushrooms $2/lb (Canada)
Granny Smith Apples $1.29/lb (US)
Black Plums $1.99/lb (Chile)
Navel Oranges $0.69/lb (US)
Bartlett Pears $1.49/lb (Country not listed in flyer)
Red Seedless Grapes $1.19/lb (Chile)
Blackberries $2.00/pint (Mexico)

Store 2

Navel Oranges 10lb box/$3.99 (US)
Royal Gala Apples 3lb bag/$2.49 (Canada)
Strawberries 4lb/$4.49 (US)
English Cucumbers $0.99/each (Canada)

Store 3

English Cucumbers $0.76/each (Canada)
Navel Oranges $0.56/lb (US)
Mushrooms $2.47/lb (Canada)
Stoplight Pepper (1green/1yellow/1red)$2.96/bag of 3(Mexico)
Yellow Onions 3lb bag/$0.96 (Canada)
Spartan Apples 5lb bag/$3.00 (Canada)
Red Onions 10lb bag/$3.98 (Canada)

Various Prices

Head of Lettuce $2.79 (US)
Leaf Lettuce $2.49 (US)
Carrots 3lb bag/$2.99 (Canada)
Russet Potatoes 10lb bag/$4.99 (Canada)
Green Onion 3 bunches/$1.00 (Canada)
Green Peppers $4.49/lb (Mexico)
Celery $2.29/head (US) Organic Celery $1.19/head (US)
Grapefruit 2per/$1.00 (US)

I think you answered your own question.

Exactly! It's labor intensive and expensive. Fuel is expensive, it takes fuel to grow the crops, then they have to go to a processing plant, then your store. Lot's of steps there. look for Farmer's Markets. They are usually cheaper and better quality. the only way local farmers are every going to be able to make it is if we support them. I would much rather have a carrot from down the road that isn't as pretty as the one in the grocery store, than one that came from Mexico or Chile.