Holy mackerel, Iceberg lettuce, $3.49 a small head?

[Paper Roses]

I just got back from a quick, snowy run for cat food for my new kitty. Still cannot figure out what she likes.
I had planned to make myself a turkey wrap for dinner. I refuse to pay that much for iceberg. Went to salad bar and bought enough mixed greens for my sandwich. Came to 42 cents.

Is this where we are headed?

[Denninmi]

1. Temporarily -- yes. Permanently -- probably.

It's quite a vile brew being mixed up out there in the world -- declining resources, increasing populations, greed and corporate power/influence. Food is just another commodity to make money off of, for the wealthy to exploit. The fact that people die, oh well, too bad, it's still just a commodity to be traded like gold or copper or cotton futures.

I'm not in a good mood now myself. I have a snow day from work, since we got about 10 inches last night, and my boss didn't want to make the drive. Too many right wing idiots on other forums bringing me down. I need to get off the internet and find something useful to do.

I really feel badly for those in a position to have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.

[cbayer]

2. I found all produce to be unbelievably high this week.

The local grocery story had signs up apologizing and saying that flooding and freezing had caused this.

One green pepper for almost $3? Asparagus over $5 a bunch? Cucumbers over $2.50 a piece?

Prices are generally a bit higher over here, due to transportation costs to the island, but this was just outrageous.

[NMDemDist2]

3. at least your store had some

none in our town, produce guy apologized and said they were only getting one case a week of iceberg

i don't mind, i only eat romaine these days but still....

[Paper Roses]

4. I agree with you on the Romaine. I rarely buy iceberg.

There is something about the 'crunch' with iceberg in a sandwich that made me go look for a head. That price is nuts, I'll eat the mixed greens with a little less crunch at a lot less $$.

What is going to happen if silliness like this hits the important foods? Diet whether we need it or not.

[NMDemDist2]

5. i'm thinking it's the snow we had in the southwest recently

lots of lettuce in Yuma and Imperial Valley that got taken out with the low temps

but it does make you think about 'what would happen if....'

[grasswire]

6. produce shortages this week because of a freeze in Mexico

That's what the signs at my market say. My prices aren't as high as yours, PR, but I'm closer to California than you are on the Cape. Still, celery went from 59 cents a pound to 1.29 overnight.

[Monique1]

7. I wanted to buy a cucumber yesterday

but $1.50 for a small cuke that was soft. Sorry, now way. But it is no just veggies but all products are super high in price.

[Warpy]

8. It was still a buck and a half here in NM on Saturday

but we all know that anything that comes from Florida is going to be very expensive because they did have a couple of hard freezes fairly far south this year.

Much produce here comes from California or Mexico, Mexico supplying more every year.

How pricey were leaf lettuces? I find they're much better for wraps than head lettuces are. A particular favorite is purple lettuce, big crisp leaves that work really well with salads.

[pengillian101]

9. Wow!

I hate to shop this week then. Our local (25 miles away) grocery does our in-store purchases for us, when I fax in our order. Fresh vegies and fruit are always a hit and miss. I might just skip those this time if is not fresh, but also way too much money!

Thanks for the heads up!

[trud]

10. no string beans

for a couple of weeks due to the Florida freeze, the produce guy says. I now have some started in a large indoor container.

[Vinca]

11. I needed some tomatoes today and found the ones we love

that were $1.99 last week are $3.49 this week. I bought them anyway. They're little boxes of hydroponic tomatoes from Maine called "Backyard Beauties." They're so good I actually saved the seeds from one that went bad and I'm going to grow them in the garden this summer.

[pengillian101]

14. I don't recall exactly how that goes for saving and planting seeds.

But I do remember drying and refrigerating them in envelopes until the next year's season. I'm sure some one who really knows will chime in. :hi:

[Warpy]

15. I lived next door to a Quechua Indian lady in Boston

and she'd just dry whatever it was on the back porch and put the whole thing into a paper bag when it was beyond the mildew point. The next spring, she'd just crumble it all together in the bag and plant seeds and chaff, I guess adding organic stuff to the soil as she went down the row.

It must've worked, she had a great garden year to year. Pest control and fertilizer was her grandson's yearly Easter chick. Once it crowed, it didn't last too long, though.

Best harvest of spaghetti squash I ever had was when I brain farted and put the guts of one I bought into the compost pile. The seeds germinated the next spring and I supplied the whole neighborhood.

I think the least formal gardening might work the best, the neat rows without a single weed being pleasant to look at but not always producing the most food.

[Denninmi]

16. Yup, volunteers can be good.

I had the best acorn type squash this past fall from a volunteer plant that grew from the dumped seeds of the prior year. It was creamy white all over, had kind of funky "wings" on it like some gourds. I wasn't even sure if it was a squash or a large gourd until I cut it open and tasted it -- not bitter at all, and a wonderfully dry, sweet, mild flesh that was almost chestnut or potato like.

I saved the seeds out of the 3 squash that grew on the vine, I'll see what they grow into this summer -- could be almost anything, because I plant a lot of different kinds of squash in my garden, but maybe some will grow true to type.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. I imagine that isn't the price of organic iceberg lettuce, right?

[Paper Roses]

13. Nope, just general iceberg. I can't afford the organic foods.

I have to shop the end of this week, I dread it.

[Phentex]

17. We eat what's on sale. Costco had a bag of mixed salad...

iceberg and while not my favorite, it was 2.59 for the giant bag. So we ate it. I prefer the heads of romaine but some times they are ridiculous.

[EFerrari]

18. We eat what I find at the farmers' market for a good price.

It's a real farmers' market, not one of those yuppie fests, so (so far) I always have good choices. They don't have much in the way of herbs except cilantro and they always run out of garlic even though Gilroy is just down the road. But even so, I can get 3 eggplants there for the price of one at Safeway, ditto for citrus, tomatoes, onions, chiles and salad stuff.

[Lugnut]

19. I paid $1.79 at Wegman's on Friday.

It's a really nicely sized head, too. I was thrilled.

[EFerrari]

20. $2.49 for bell peppers at Safeway. That's each, not per pound.

[tigereye]

21. wow. Red peppers were on sale here the last week or 2

there is one specialty grocer, kind of old-school, that I love here, and their red peppers are always cheaper than in the larger markets, and their produce is carefully picked and has actual taste. Oddly, it isn't any more expensive (and often cheaper) than the conventional large groceries. The larger corporate groceries red peppers are usually 3.99 per pound and have no taste. Ugh.

I can't wait for the farmer's share/CSA to get started - everything they have is farm-fresh, local, often with dirt on it, and tastes like real food. Wonderful and not that expensive in the long run.

[EFerrari]

22. I was working and didn't make it to the farmers' market.

I don't know how people manage at these prices. It's unreal.

[grasswire]

23. zuchini $2.99 a pound here

That's stunning. Broccoli 1.49. English cucumber 1.79 each. Yellow onions on sale 49 cents/pound. California oranges 59 cents/pound.