And so it begins at the grocery store

[mnhtnbb]

The produce section was severely depleted this morning at my local Harris Teeter in Durham, NC. No broccoli, except for two bunches of Organic @$ 3.99 each; no Romaine lettuce and very little packaged lettuce; no asparagus.
I bought a couple of 12 roll packs of house brand TP @$6.99 each, which are $3.00/ pack--almost 50%--higher than the price on sale a year ago.
Eggs are still $4.29 for 12 large house brand, which they have been for weeks.

[dem4decades]

1. I noticed avocados have gone sky high. I don't understand how inflation went down last report.

No not because of the avocados, but things in general.

I've got my "Trump I Did That" stickers ready to go.

[Tickle]

4. Inflation Measures the Rate of Price Increase, Not the Price Level

Inflation reflects how quickly prices are rising, not their absolute levels. A low inflation rate means that prices are increasing slowly, but they are still increasing. For prices to actually decrease, the economy would need to experience deflation—a general decline in prices—which is rare and often associated with economic downturns.

[sl8]

15. Did that come from Google's AI?

Looks identical.

[Tickle]

18. Co-Pilot NT

[sl8]

20. Thanks. nt

[hedda_foil]

10. Avocados are imported from Mexico.

[Ritabert]

11. Most avocados are from Mexico so the tariffs might be a factor

[Diamond_Dog]

28. I bought a bag of 4 avocados today for $4.99. I am in NE Ohio.

I noticed they were from Colombia.

I have not noticed any shortages or bare shelves, just higher prices on some items.

I suppose that will get worse very soon.

[Ritabert]

30. I'm sure everything will get more expensive.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Ain't that just ducky! We have such a fine government . . .not.

Throw the bums out.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Produce shortages tend to be typical on a Thursday morning.

Especially if you go early. The new ads start on Wednesday, and that's when they get a big run on shoppers. Even worse if your store has a Wednesday "Senior Discount Day." Perishables and sale items tend to get cleaned out by the end of the day. They're usually re-stocked later in the morning on Thursday.

[yardwork]

7. Here in Durham, Harris Teeter has senior discount day on Thursdays.

Normally things are fully stocked at H-T on Thursday mornings.

[mnhtnbb]

16. Exactly right, neighbor!

I don't always get there on Thursday to get my 5% senior discount, but I did today!

[usedtobedemgurl]

24. Harris Teeter

Has senior discount day on Thursdays.

[Luvcatz14]

27. HT prices

Have been so much higher the past few weeks near me. It’s really bad!

[usedtobedemgurl]

37. Understand.

Only reason I use them more than anyone else is mystery shopping. Prices are so expensive, I use up reimbursement and pay when shopping. It that u got a lot of reimbursement or pay, but every little bit helps. I double whammy it by doing it on senior citizen discount days. That way, I get a tad more for the money. For lower prices, I have a Food Lion just up the street.

[hatrack]

5. But once you deduct the volatile food and energy sectors, along with health care, building materials, raw materials . .

minerals, office supplies, transportation, rent, tuition for private schools and colleges, prescription and over the counter drugs, communications, textiles, rubber and plastics, legal and accounting services, furniture, tools, consumer electronics and computers and personal care, there's really very little inflation.

[NoMoreRepugs]

32. You are spot on HatRack.

[Ms. Toad]

6. Depending on where you are, this is local asparagus season.

This shouldn't be an import issue, if that is what you are suggesting.

[yardwork]

8. Here in NC we're way past local asparagus season.

I don't even know if anybody grows asparagus to scale here in NC. It's a little too warm for it. (I miss the fresh asparagus and rhubarb patches growing in people's gardens in central Ohio. All of ours is trucked in from somewhere else.)

If trucking is taking a hit because of fewer imports, those same trucks aren't moving groceries from CA and FL to the rest of the country.

[Ms. Toad]

9. It would be from places farther north, not FL, and probably not CA.

It is currently asparagus season in Ohio.

[yardwork]

12. I looked it up. Most asparagus sold in U.S. stores is from Peru and Mexico

China is also a huge exporter of asparagus.

[Ms. Toad]

13. Anything from Mexico is free from tariffs on virtually all foods under the USMCA agreement.

Food from Peru is subject to a 10% tariff. It shouldn't be, but (especially during asparagus season) it should not impact the availability of asparagus on the shelves.

Asparagus is a seasonal crop, with a relatively brief season, but that season is now.

Imports vary by month, and April, May, June are the low import months for asparagus. Imports drop from an average of $61,316,000 the rest of the year to $46,427,000 during asparagus season. (based on 2021 data - the most recent month-by-month data I could find). That's why I mentioned the season in my post.

[Kaleva]

33. My asparagus in Upper Michigan is ready to harvest

[mnhtnbb]

17. We've had so much asparagus for the last month, it was on sale.

Today? Not a bunch. Very unusual for this particular store which I shop regularly.

[lark]

14. Persciption cat food has gone up over around 30% in the last month.

A 4 lb. bag of Hills C/D hard cat food used to be $54, it's now $79.89! My cat has cystitis and needs this to live so I had to order it, even though I HATE the price has risen so krasnov can profiteer from the world - the motherfucker that he is!

[Vinca]

19. I went shopping this morning, too, and the citrus was almost completely gone.

I had been thinking of doing steaks with potato salad over the weekend, but it would have cost me $50 for a couple of decent small steaks. Ever since Covid hoarding I've always kept extra nonperishables on hand, plus stuff in the freezer. I'm finding I'm spending less at the store because of the prices and going to the stash instead.

[CelticCrow]

21. Just because you said no broccoli...

[mnhtnbb]

39. That was great!

[senseandsensibility]

22. What are you, some kind of intellectual like trump

who knows the word "grocery"? Sorry, couldn't resist after he bragged to the President of the UAE today about knowing what the word meant.

[usedtobedemgurl]

23. Harris Teeter

88 Chatham Downs - Chapel Hill - broccoli was $1.99 and stocked as of noon today.

Think I cannot seem to find is frozen sausage patties!

[womanofthehills]

25. I'm way out in country - luckily locals with greenhouses sell their produce thru our small local grocery

Soon it will be summer and maybe you can just buy local.

So here I am - 45 minutes from chain grocery stores and our tiny town grocery has lots of organic vegetables. I grow mini tomatoes, mini greens & little peppers all winter in my south windows too.

[ananda]

29. I wonder how long Fuji apples will be available.

They were in short supply at HEB yesterday.

[Meowmee]

31. I haven't noticed any bare shelves yet.

But prices went up on some things a few weeks ago already. Especially on the paper towel I get and on the cat food. The dry cat food that I get fir my guys went up probably three or four months ago already… since the pandemic it has been crazy… cat food just keeps getting more and more expensive. With no explanation of why- the two dry cat foods I buy are made here too.

Coffee also has gone up a lot. I usually buy that at BJ’s and Costco. In fact, I was just in BJs and I forgot that I had to get more decaf for my brother. I buy the Wellesley Farms’ brand which comes in a bag. It’s already ground.

In addition, this has nothing to do with the price of the coffee, but I have been drinking coffee at a couple of different places lately instead of making my own second cup and bringing it with me because I took the 1st cup with me and I usually have two now.

So I drank one at Starbucks yesterday which tasted horrible, just their regular coffee and I just drank one today at my brother’s dentist which was awful too. So bitter and way too strong. That one was the Kirkland brand little cups that are brewed by a special machine. I had the morning breakfast light roast blend.


In the Starbucks coffee, I put at least five of their Stevia in, and it still didn’t taste sweet. Normally, I use the Whole Foods brand Stevia, which comes in a tiny little jar and it’s much stronger. And in the Kirkland brand I don’t know what I put in in to sweeten that but it didn’t taste sweet. It must’ve been one of the other artificial sweeteners because I don’t carry Stevia anymore.

[Diamond_Dog]

34. I was amazed coffee was still the same price as always when I shopped today.

I always buy Eight O Clock.

[Meowmee]

35. That is great 😀

The Wellesley Farms decaf went up I think but the one that really went up was the Costco decaf. It went up by like four or five dollars before the tariffs though.

I drink Folgers instant from BJs and I bought a lot of it on sale. I think the price went up maybe one to two dollars.

I just sent some of that Brand 8 o’clock to my friend in California, but I didn’t hear back if he likes it or not. I usually buy him the specialty ones made in California for his birthday. I have never tried 8 o’clock. But he prefers the beans. We do not have a grinder so I think I’m gonna try and get one and get some pure Colombian and just see if I like it or not.

Actually, I think I’m going be switching back to green tea because the coffee is making me too wired, etc. I used to be able to wake up and function with only one cup of green tea. And now I need 2 cups of coffee and sometimes I drink the green tea before I go to sleep because it relaxes me lol.

[Diamond_Dog]

36. Green tea is probably better for you.

It’s full of antioxidants and has less caffeine.

I have had a cup (or 2) of coffee first thing every morning since I was 16 yrs old so I’m just very ingrained in the habit! I can’t imagine life without it!

[Jack Valentino]

38. Making my second try at growing broccoli and cauliflower this year, but from seed....

the cauliflower seeds seem to be doing better than the broccoli seeds
(although when I had plants, the broccoli did better)...

Most of them when to seed before they could produce, although I got one good head of broccoli.
(Things got too hot, and I wasn't educated enough to take care of them better)--

however, the cauliflower leaves are also edible,
and made a fine substitute for lettuce in Mexican dishes like tostadas and burritos,
while they lasted. (Store bought lettuce goes bad so fast, especially for one person),
so I am trying again with both of them... more frequent water, more mulch, when it gets hot...