An Ethics Question Regarding Broccoli.

[Dangerously Amused]

I went grocery shopping yesterday. There was a sale on broccoli. I went to the broccoli bin, but all that was left were a dozen or so stalks that people had obviously broken off from the broccoli heads. Now I have on occasion seen a grocer sell broccoli heads (“crowns”) with the stalks already removed and for sale in separate bins, but at a higher price per pound.

Question: Is it okay to break off and discard the broccoli stalks so as to pay for only the broccoli heads at the checkout?

Is the act of breaking off and discarding broccoli stalks cheating the grocers because they already paid for the broccoli with the stalks attached and expect you to purchase it likewise, and let's face it - nobody is going to buy the discarded stalks? Or is it okay because when you are buying food by the pound you have the “right” to purchase only the food or parts of the food that you desire?


(I know some people cut up the broccoli stalks and eat them too. In fact I am one of them, but since most people don’t let’s make that irrelevant for the purposes of this question).

[Guava Jelly]

1. Why do you hate broccoli?? are you a brocophobic???

You sicken me !!!!
:rofl:
How ya doing hot stuff :)

[Dangerously Amused]

5. You're either with broccoli or you're with the terrorists!

Oh. Wait...


"I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli." - George H. W. Bush


By gawd, I guess it's TRUE!

[MrCoffee]

8. Only a Brocco-fascist would ask that question.

[ohiosmith]

2. It's stealing.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. It's pretty shitty of the customer.

Stores generally buy it in 20lb cases. That 20lbs includes the stalks and the store makes the markup accordingly. It is affecting their profit margin, which is THIN on produce.

I bought the produce for a small independent natural foods store, so I speak from experience.

[philosophie_en_rose]

4. I think it depends.

On one hand, if something is sold by the pound - maybe people should be able to buy the poundage that they want to avoid waste. On the other, some things are kind of a unit. I've seen pineapple heads and celery tops in the grocery bins. Those seem more questionable than say, taking a whole carrot out of a bunch.

Basically, if the grocer wouldn't be able going to sell it - I think it's fine to take the questionable parts off (like wilted outer leaves or something). Or, if the bunch is easily separated (like a huge bunch of grapes or bananas), I think it's fair to take what you need. But if it ruins a perfectly good unit of food, it's more questionable. As you said, who will buy broccoli stalks or pineapple tops?

[MrCoffee]

6. Breaking the stalks = less weight = less cost...it's stealing.

[Sugar Smack]

7. OMG, this is like the "muffin tops" episode of Seinfeld!!

:rofl: :loveya: OMG!

[rug]

16. lol

[buddhamama]

9. it's not ethical

we pay by weight for the broccoli. it is akin to stealing.

[zonkers]

10. It;s vegifilia. (vegetable abuse) Remain silent, you are an enabler. If

it doesn't stop now, what's next? Breaking asparagus in half and buying only the tips?

[datasuspect]

11. i'd just steal the whole thing

or pay for it with an ill-gotten food stamp card.

[miss_american_pie]

12. Oh come on

you're supposed to buy Snickers and soda with food stamp cards. :D

[datasuspect]

13. or trade a reduced percentage value of the dollar amount for crack

or go to the guy next to the place with the good scongili over dere on the boulevard who lets you buy beer with it.

[Deja Q]

14. It's usually 2 stalks for $x.xx where I live.

That way nobody can do the 'pay by the pound' cheat.

Still, if it's by the pound, it is unethical to tear off the stalks.

Still, I have the right to go where I want to buy it. If it's cheaper at a mass bulk warehouse and is just as fresh (or fresher), I will go there in the first place. Like I do for yummy sweet sweet red peppers. :9

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. All I know is Poppy Bush hates broccoli, and therefore I like it. -nt

[smtpgirl]

17. Out of the family of vegetables I hate the most

anything that resembles broccoli I do not like.

cauliflower is only good raw, broccoli only good raw and in Chinese food, cabbage only good raw,

and all of the others in that genus of plants can just go away.

Any of the above referenced plants that are cooked to death smell like ass.

What a putrid vegetable genus family!!

Lima beans
corn
green beans
eggplant
tomatoes
parsnips
carrots
peppers - all raw
potatoes
onions
shallots
lettuce - all
garlic
spinach
summer squash
winter squash
all fruits
are so much better

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. No, it's theft. My grocery store in NYC knew the gamers game,

and they had, at least with the portabella mushrooms, a sign that said (I'm making up prices) "$3.99 a pound; $4.99 a pound if you break the stems off (our checkers aren't stupid)". (They sold broccoli by the bunch, not by the pound, so no similar sign for broccoli).

Good for them!!

Nothing pissed me off more then the subtle theft of the cheap asshole fuckwits when I was a checker in a grocery store, because every one of those useless shitbags was stealing from my paycheck and my retirement and my profit sharing. Well, no, the food stamp scammer clowns pissed me off more, but the thieves who would break off broccoli stems and other parts of produce that had to be weighed pissed me off a lot.