I know I've said this before.. But when did vegetables in the

[pooja]

summer become soooo expensive. I didn't know what not to buy.. it was insane. It seems like nothing is below 2.99 these days...When do we revolt.. when lettuce is 5.00 a head?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Probably the result of higher fuel costs.

It costs more to buy fuel for the motors that power irrigation equipment; more for the trucks and trains and planes that transport the vegetables to market. Expensive fuel will cause problems in a lot of ways.

[MissB]

2. Buy local.

Like any other grocery item, vegetables take gas to get from the farm to the distributor to the store.

[pooja]

5. I live in Florida.. Grapefruit and oranges shouldn't be so

expensive. its insane. 1.99 for a grapefruit???

[unblock]

7. wasn't there some sort of weather problem with fla. oranges?

i vaguely recall some news story on how lousy a crop it has been.

sorry no link.

but oil prices are certainly affecting food in general.

[Dr.Phool]

12. I go outside and pick a grapefruit

Whats left, gets juiced and frozen for the summer.

[Lost-in-FL]

13. All the hurricanes that went through the state

spreaded citrus cancer. Those FLORIDA oranges are not from FL but from Kalifornia.

At least that is what I read at the local news.

[spindrifter]

3. Hold on to your vegetable seeds!

Part of this is increased transport costs. Part is apparently difficulty getting agricultural workers. I saw that peaches were $3.99/lb.

[pooja]

6. peaches were still reasonable here.. got to love Georgia..

1.00 a 1lb. no wonder america becomes fat.. processed foods are the only 2 for 1 specials these days.

[senseandsensibility]

4. It's crazy. I live in the salad bowl of California

(the Salinas Valley, or as John Steinbeck called it, God's country) and everything is outrageous. We have to buy "hothouse" peppers for three bucks apiece, and there's a field of them growing a mile from my house.

[Cleita]

10. Don't you guys have farmer's markets?

We do here on the coast because we are agri-land too. The local growers sell their produce from stands at the markets and although the price varies you can barter too.

[pitohui]

22. farmer's markets, triple the price of the grocery store

whatever made you think we don't have farmer's markets? heh, such an opportunity to gouge the ignorant yuppie who doesn't know prices is not going to be missed around here

real people can't afford the farmer's market!

[Cleita]

23. That's too bad. Around here they are cheaper than the

supermarkets.

[drthais]

25. now wait just a minute here!

...we have spent the entire summer growing and selling our organic produce
first-class produce and fabulous prices
where do all of you guys live anyway!?

farmer's markets triple the price?
$5 A HEAD FOR LETTUCE!!??

we have other jobs..
we got over doing this for a living 20 years ago
but we could if we had to and thats what is important

yes, I agree with a another poster
who recommends finding local growers
that is the answer to these outrageous prices you are quoting

currently, our icebox melons are $3, our purple hull peas $1.50 a lb, bell peppers (yes, even the red ones) 75 cents each, etc., etc.
I think new sources of supply are in order for those who are quoting these prices!
It is true: shipping has a lot to do with it,
but farmer's market prices should be much, much lower.
It's a pity if they are not lower in your area.
I say go directly to the farmer.
Almost all of our customers just come to our place to buy.

http://www.accidentalgardener.blogspot.com

[pitohui]

26. well move to st. tammany parish, louisiana

believe you me, you have a fortune waiting to be made


"we have other jobs"

around here, the other job would be retired race jockey or football player or multi millionaire contractor or something of that ilk!

[drthais]

27. hey - lived there, done that

we're in Zachary, just north of Baton Rouge
so don't get all Louisiana on ME

(no insult intended, but life-long Louisiana here)

other jobs = university faculty and environmental engineer
so, they are actually JOB jobs

we were organic farmers in the beginning
but that was when dinosaurs roamed the earth

[LostinVA]

35. Around here, farmer's markets are 1/3 grocery store prices

I've never seen them being more than grocery stores, and that's in NJ, NC, and VA. Interesting.

[Cleita]

8. This is because of the price of gasoline. The farm workers

aren't getting paid more, nor is the farmer, but the cost of transporting from field to market is what's raising the cost. If you can, try growing your own lettuce in a pot or window box in a sunny window if you don't have a yard.

I find a head of lettuce gets me lots of salad. I cut the leaves from the living head as I need them. So you can plant a couple of heads a week in a box and have enough lettuce through the growing season without a lot of space involved. I start the seeds in dixie cups in a sunny window and transplant them as the old lettuce either gets eaten or bolts.

I started doing this again because as I was buying radishes one day it dawned on my that these are the easiest veggies in the world to grow and very fast. Why was I paying for them?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. I found tomatoes for $1 a lb. and lettuce for $.79 a head

at Safeway in OR. Shop around.

[liberal N proud]

11. $3.00/gal + Trucking = Inflation

But the economy is good, pay no attention to the smoke and mirrors

[ashling]

14. I can remember when my dad

-who loved tomatoes- swore that he would stop eating tomatoes if the got any more expensive. They were .49 lb.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. It costs a lot of money to teach them to sing about the Bible.

[grasswire]

16. I'd like to know how much plums are in California this year

Because they are $2.99 per pound in Oregon! That's outrageous. Plums used to be 29 cents a pound. And watermelon!! Flat fee for watermelon now. $5.99 each. If the local watermelons are that high when the crop comes in, I'll be making my voice heard.

[Cleita]

19. Mine are free off my tree but I didn't get as many as I usually do.

None of my blooming trees bloomed very well this spring hence we didn't get a whole lot of fruit. The weather this winter was really off and that's probably why. If this was true throughout the state then maybe the plum crops was scarce this year and that's why they cost more.

[noamnety]

17. I shop at little ethnic markets

Somehow they always seem to have better prices, and more local produce that isn't spit-shined to death.

5 cukes for a dollar at the little Iraqi market down the street from me. 2 for a dollar on a good day at the regular grocery store that's a half mile away from them. That's fairly typical, and it's been like that everywhere I've lived. When I was in California, I could get a bag of kiwis for a dollar at the Asian market, or 1 kiwi for a dollar at the big chain store.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. A local problem around here is...

the weather. Some first crops were wiped out with the huge rains and have to be replanted.

I think we can pretty much forget about vegetable deals. Imports are expensive with the fuel costs and border "security" delays and a lot of South American fruits and vegetables kept our prices low. Revolving growing seasons in the US helped, too, but the transportation costs and more regional growing problems are screwing that up now.

Farmers' markets in some areas might be a solution, but around here the farmers got wise and sometimes charge even over supermarket prices claiming their stuff is fresher.

Either grow your own (not always cost-effective) our join gardening or purchasing co-ops. In the NYC area, there are co-ops that go up to the Hunts Point wholesale dealers and buy in bulk. I used to do that at the old Fulton Fish Market and got fish around half price if I bought at least 20 pounds of something. If you know where to go and have enough people interested, you can get a side of beef, a whole pig, 50 pound bags of flour...

All sorts of deals out there, and if you knew what restaurants paid for food...

[Cleita]

20. Also, restaurants get the best of the meat before you see it

in the markets unless you buy from an expensive gourmet butcher. I haven't seen prime cuts of beef in years. Even choice is getting rarer.

[pitohui]

21. real people haven't eaten lettuce in years

it's nutritionally poor, lettuce is water and fiber at a v. hi price

it is environmentally destructive, it's spending 500 calories of irreplaceable fossil fuel to ship 5 calories of food (a normal person needs 2000 calories a day to maintain a healthy body weight)

i simply do not buy lettuce, if i can't grow it myself then i do w.out even when i'm flush and can afford it the planet can't afford it, lettuce is a v. expensive way to package water from california which is, too often, water stolen from arizona or another place that can't afford to have its water stolen

stop eating lettuce that you don't grow, you can buy a package of 100 seeds for 10 cents at many walgreen's sales, so there isn't much excuse

stop believing that because it's a vegetable that it is magically of any nutritional merit, every vegetable must be analyzed on its merits and not assumed to be magic because it's from the plant kingdom

[Cleita]

24. I luvs the lettuce and I do grow my own along with a few

other salad bowl veggies to throw in with it.

[drthais]

28. HERE HERE~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well said
I agree completely

do not doubt what is said in the previous post
lettuce is easy easy to grow
heck, we've even had to plaow it under in February
because it just wouldn't quit!

of course, this is the SOuth
and it's too hot for leafy greens right now
so, we do without lettuce right now, too

[cynatnite]

29. Are you talking about lettuce in general or a specific kind?

We eat all kinds of lettuce here mostly because we just love it. I always have two or three different kinds of lettuce in the fridge.

[conflictgirl]

31. I can't grow lettuce

I try every year and the wild rabbits around here keep eating it. You'd think I'd get a clue and stop trying.

Lettuce may not be the best choice for the reasons you mentioned, but it is better by every definable measure that I can think of than something like Doritos.

[sbj405]

33. Nutritionally poor? the facts

Actually, lettuce is a nutrition dense food when consider on a Nutrient/calorie basis

100 cal of sirloin vs. 100 cal of romaine lettuce
protein 5.4g 11.6g
calcium 2.4mg 257mg
iron 0.7mg 7.9mg
fiber 0g 12g
vit c 0g 171mg
vit a 24iu 18,571mg
sat fat 1.7gm 0

source: Handbook of the Nutritional Value of Foods in Common Units.

[Rosemary2205]

34. IMHO

if wasting money and resources on lettuce helps us not waste money and resources on healthcare down the road I'm all for it.

[Pachamama]

30. Time to have our own gardens....

:hi:

Seriously - start planning. We are all going to need our "Victory" or rather "survival" gardens.

Btw - I was at an Indian Reservation last week (no not for gambling or that kind of thing) and the elders were describing the importance of Acorns as a staple of their traditional diet. Acorns if you eat them are awful tasting because of the tannin. But there is a way to process them to get rid of the tannin (washing/rinsing) in something like a muslin bag the crushed acorn. It is dried and made into a "flour/meal" and then used to make food. Acorns are high in protein, kinda like soy beans.

Remember this.

Pachamama

[sbj405]

32. I've been eating a ton of salads. I get my greens at Costco

2.5 lbs of organic spring mix $2.99
2.5 lbs of spinach $3.99
5 heads of romaine $3.99

That's about what I would pay for the small salad bags at the grocey store.