Thread: Food prices going WAY up!

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:



>Oh! And Albertons had their sweet potatoes in the refrigerated section.
>When I was doing my research on them, it said never to refrigerate them or
>buy them from a store that refrigerates them. I wonder why?
>

It can change the starch to sugar. Some way it hardens it too. Never
chilled them so we have no personal experience.

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>At least they seem to be here.
>
>The last time we bought red bell peppers they were 69 cents each at Winco.
>Granted, Winco generally has the best prices. And most of the peppers were
>not refrigerated and you did really have to pick through them to find the
>fresh ones. But we got four really large ones and they kept in the fridge
>for over a week.
>
>Last Friday, I wanted to buy red bell peppers at Target. They wanted $1.39.
>They were medium sized and not fresh. I passed them up. I opted not to go
>to Winco because it is pretty far away and we can make do with what we have.
>
>But then I went to Albertsons for a few things and decided to get some red
>bell peppers there. They wanted a whopping $1.99 each! The peppers were
>tiny and some where not fresh. The green ones were considerably less, as is
>always the case. But daughter really loves the red ones and not the other
>colors. Me? I'll eat them all.
>
>I already had a bag in my hand and decided to buy something else. First I
>picked up a cucumber but it was 99 cents. That seemed a bit high to me. I
>am pretty sure they are usually 69 cents or less at Winco.
>
>Celery was 89 cents. I decided to get that. The stalks were not really big
>and the ribs were rather thin. Bah. We do have two kinds of lettuce and
>some baby carrots. I also have a tomato. That should get us through the
>week.
>
>But we MUST go to Winco later this week! I'll be curious to see what the
>peppers are going for there.
>
>Oh! And Albertons had their sweet potatoes in the refrigerated section.
>When I was doing my research on them, it said never to refrigerate them or
>buy them from a store that refrigerates them. I wonder why?
>
Your experience with bell peppers is standard for the three stores you
visited. In the dead of winter the price will be higher at Winco for
a couple of weeks. Otherwise green bells here go for 48 cents and red
bells for 68 cents. If you comparison shop, your next best deal will
be Costco for about 89 cents each. Target is all over the map. And,
of course, Albertsons thinks they hide gold nuggets in their peppers.
I don't shop Fred Meyer because I think their produce prices are too
high. Overall, Winco is my first stop for produce of any kind. If I
want gorgeous apples, grapefruit and oranges of quality I go to Costco
and pay the price because in the long run their produce is excellent
and there is no waste.
Janet US

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> At least they seem to be here.

Get used to it because it's not going away any time soon. Food
prices will go up even more as time goes on - due to the drought in
the Midwest. Pray for normal rainfall next summer.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

"Ed Pawlowski" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Oh! And Albertons had their sweet potatoes in the refrigerated section.
>>When I was doing my research on them, it said never to refrigerate them or
>>buy them from a store that refrigerates them. I wonder why?
>>
>
> It can change the starch to sugar. Some way it hardens it too. Never
> chilled them so we have no personal experience.

Aha! That could be why I had trouble with them years ago. I am pretty sure
I bought them at Albertsons in CA. Can't remember if they were refrigerated
when I bought them but I'll bet that *I* put them in there not knowing any
better. I baked them but they remained hard.

"Janet Bostwick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>At least they seem to be here.
>>
>>The last time we bought red bell peppers they were 69 cents each at Winco.
>>Granted, Winco generally has the best prices. And most of the peppers
>>were
>>not refrigerated and you did really have to pick through them to find the
>>fresh ones. But we got four really large ones and they kept in the fridge
>>for over a week.
>>
>>Last Friday, I wanted to buy red bell peppers at Target. They wanted
>>$1.39.
>>They were medium sized and not fresh. I passed them up. I opted not to
>>go
>>to Winco because it is pretty far away and we can make do with what we
>>have.
>>
>>But then I went to Albertsons for a few things and decided to get some red
>>bell peppers there. They wanted a whopping $1.99 each! The peppers were
>>tiny and some where not fresh. The green ones were considerably less, as
>>is
>>always the case. But daughter really loves the red ones and not the other
>>colors. Me? I'll eat them all.
>>
>>I already had a bag in my hand and decided to buy something else. First I
>>picked up a cucumber but it was 99 cents. That seemed a bit high to me.
>>I
>>am pretty sure they are usually 69 cents or less at Winco.
>>
>>Celery was 89 cents. I decided to get that. The stalks were not really
>>big
>>and the ribs were rather thin. Bah. We do have two kinds of lettuce and
>>some baby carrots. I also have a tomato. That should get us through the
>>week.
>>
>>But we MUST go to Winco later this week! I'll be curious to see what the
>>peppers are going for there.
>>
>>Oh! And Albertons had their sweet potatoes in the refrigerated section.
>>When I was doing my research on them, it said never to refrigerate them or
>>buy them from a store that refrigerates them. I wonder why?
>>
> Your experience with bell peppers is standard for the three stores you
> visited. In the dead of winter the price will be higher at Winco for
> a couple of weeks. Otherwise green bells here go for 48 cents and red
> bells for 68 cents. If you comparison shop, your next best deal will
> be Costco for about 89 cents each. Target is all over the map. And,
> of course, Albertsons thinks they hide gold nuggets in their peppers.
> I don't shop Fred Meyer because I think their produce prices are too
> high. Overall, Winco is my first stop for produce of any kind. If I
> want gorgeous apples, grapefruit and oranges of quality I go to Costco
> and pay the price because in the long run their produce is excellent
> and there is no waste.
> Janet US

The problems I have with Costco are that you have to buy so many peppers at
once, they don't always have just red. It's usually a mixed package. And
they aren't always fresh. They have a date sticker as to when they were
packed and they're often a week old when I buy them.

I will not buy bananas at Costco. I once bought them and didn't open the
plastic bag right away. By the next morning there were hundreds of fruit
flies in there. I have had trouble with rotten potatoes and onions in the
bag. I won't buy those there either. I did have trouble for a while with
slimy baby carrots which means that they were left out of refrigeration at
some point. I know it wasn't me. I bought them and brought them straight
home. Yes, it is 6 miles away but we weren't having overly hot weather or
anything. That problem has been resolved now.

"sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> At least they seem to be here.
>
> Get used to it because it's not going away any time soon. Food
> prices will go up even more as time goes on - due to the drought in
> the Midwest. Pray for normal rainfall next summer.

Been really dry here. Aside from a little spit of rain one day and about a
minute of drizzle another, we've had no rain for two months. And none in
sight.

Julie Bove wrote:
>
> I will not buy bananas at Costco. I once bought them and didn't open the
> plastic bag right away. By the next morning there were hundreds of fruit
> flies in there.

This has nothing to do with Costco, all bananas have fruit fly eggs on
them. The key thing to avoiding the issue is when you get them home,
immediately spray them with something like Chlorox Cleanup, or dunk them
in a bleach sanitizer solution for a few minutes. This will kill the
fruit fly eggs, and since you throw out the banana peel anyway, it
doesn't affect the part you eat.

sf wrote:
>
> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > At least they seem to be here.
>
> Get used to it because it's not going away any time soon. Food
> prices will go up even more as time goes on - due to the drought in
> the Midwest. Pray for normal rainfall next summer.

The drought is actually holding some food prices down currently, stock
up while you can. Beef prices are fairly low currently due to the
drought which has caused ranchers to reduce their herds thus producing a
surplus of beef on the market and lower prices. Next year beef prices
will be dramatically higher due to a shortage of beef from the same
reduced herd sizes as well as increased feed costs.

The driver for the current price increases is "quantitative easing"
which has devalued the dollar. Basically the government printed more
currency which effectively reduced the value of everything tied to the
dollar from your savings in the bank to your pay check, to your
investment dividends or social security check. Basically it amounts to a
non-tax tax across the board on every dollar in circulation, even those
in foreign accounts.

On 25/09/2012 10:28 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> Been really dry here. Aside from a little spit of rain one day and about a
> minute of drizzle another, we've had no rain for two months. And none in
> sight.


It was very dry here all summer. Some of the soy fields are so skimpy
that they aren't worth harvesting. The plants to are too low for the
machinery to reach. Corn seemed to have recuperated. My well went try
in July which is typical, so I have been using the cistern. I can
usually switch back to the well by September but, despite having had a
some significant rain over the past two weeks, the water table is still
too low to help the well, though it did replenish some of the cistern water.

This is a double whammy for the fruit farmers. An early warm spell
brought out the blossoms prematurely, and then a return to seasonal
temperatures saw the blossoms freeze and die off. As a result, there was
less fruit on the trees. Lack of water stifled growth. On the plus
side, the peaches we incredible, if on the small side, and it is
supposed to be a great year for wine.

Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]..
> > On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> At least they seem to be here.
> >
> > Get used to it because it's not going away any time soon. Food
> > prices will go up even more as time goes on - due to the drought in
> > the Midwest. Pray for normal rainfall next summer.
>
> Been really dry here. Aside from a little spit of rain one day and about a
> minute of drizzle another, we've had no rain for two months. And none in
> sight.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

On Tuesday, September 25, 2012 10:02:48 AM UTC-6, Pete C. wrote:
> sf wrote:
>
> >
>
> > On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
>
> > > At least they seem to be here.
>
> >
>
> > Get used to it because it's not going away any time soon. Food
>
> > prices will go up even more as time goes on - due to the drought in
>
> > the Midwest. Pray for normal rainfall next summer.
>
>
>
> The drought is actually holding some food prices down currently, stock
>
> up while you can. Beef prices are fairly low currently due to the
>
> drought which has caused ranchers to reduce their herds thus producing a
>
> surplus of beef on the market and lower prices. Next year beef prices
>
> will be dramatically higher due to a shortage of beef from the same
>
> reduced herd sizes as well as increased feed costs.
>
>
>
> The driver for the current price increases is "quantitative easing"
>
> which has devalued the dollar. Basically the government printed more
>
> currency which effectively reduced the value of everything tied to the
>
> dollar from your savings in the bank to your pay check, to your
>
> investment dividends or social security check. Basically it amounts to a
>
> non-tax tax across the board on every dollar in circulation, even those
>
> in foreign accounts.


In Zimbabwe they cranked up the money supply by printing more banknotes. The result was rampant inflation where it took wheelbarrow loads of bills to buy a weeks groceries.

Look for the same result in the U S of A. That Barnake is a fool.

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 07:27:26 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Janet Bostwick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]. .
>> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>At least they seem to be here.
>>>
>>>The last time we bought red bell peppers they were 69 cents each at Winco.
>>>Granted, Winco generally has the best prices. And most of the peppers
>>>were
>>>not refrigerated and you did really have to pick through them to find the
>>>fresh ones. But we got four really large ones and they kept in the fridge
>>>for over a week.
>>>
>>>Last Friday, I wanted to buy red bell peppers at Target. They wanted
>>>$1.39.
>>>They were medium sized and not fresh. I passed them up. I opted not to
>>>go
>>>to Winco because it is pretty far away and we can make do with what we
>>>have.
>>>
>>>But then I went to Albertsons for a few things and decided to get some red
>>>bell peppers there. They wanted a whopping $1.99 each! The peppers were
>>>tiny and some where not fresh. The green ones were considerably less, as
>>>is
>>>always the case. But daughter really loves the red ones and not the other
>>>colors. Me? I'll eat them all.
>>>
>>>I already had a bag in my hand and decided to buy something else. First I
>>>picked up a cucumber but it was 99 cents. That seemed a bit high to me.
>>>I
>>>am pretty sure they are usually 69 cents or less at Winco.
>>>
>>>Celery was 89 cents. I decided to get that. The stalks were not really
>>>big
>>>and the ribs were rather thin. Bah. We do have two kinds of lettuce and
>>>some baby carrots. I also have a tomato. That should get us through the
>>>week.
>>>
>>>But we MUST go to Winco later this week! I'll be curious to see what the
>>>peppers are going for there.
>>>
>>>Oh! And Albertons had their sweet potatoes in the refrigerated section.
>>>When I was doing my research on them, it said never to refrigerate them or
>>>buy them from a store that refrigerates them. I wonder why?
>>>
>> Your experience with bell peppers is standard for the three stores you
>> visited. In the dead of winter the price will be higher at Winco for
>> a couple of weeks. Otherwise green bells here go for 48 cents and red
>> bells for 68 cents. If you comparison shop, your next best deal will
>> be Costco for about 89 cents each. Target is all over the map. And,
>> of course, Albertsons thinks they hide gold nuggets in their peppers.
>> I don't shop Fred Meyer because I think their produce prices are too
>> high. Overall, Winco is my first stop for produce of any kind. If I
>> want gorgeous apples, grapefruit and oranges of quality I go to Costco
>> and pay the price because in the long run their produce is excellent
>> and there is no waste.
>> Janet US
>
>The problems I have with Costco are that you have to buy so many peppers at
>once, they don't always have just red. It's usually a mixed package. And
>they aren't always fresh. They have a date sticker as to when they were
>packed and they're often a week old when I buy them.
>
>I will not buy bananas at Costco. I once bought them and didn't open the
>plastic bag right away. By the next morning there were hundreds of fruit
>flies in there. I have had trouble with rotten potatoes and onions in the
>bag. I won't buy those there either. I did have trouble for a while with
>slimy baby carrots which means that they were left out of refrigeration at
>some point. I know it wasn't me. I bought them and brought them straight
>home. Yes, it is 6 miles away but we weren't having overly hot weather or
>anything. That problem has been resolved now.
>

I'd say then that you live in a not so desirable area where stores
routinely are sloppy with food handling. I have none of the problems
you describe with any of the stores that I mentioned. I do think that
you have a responsibility to call,write or email the headquarters of
both Costco and Winco and tell them about these problems. I know that
both corporations are concerned about customer service and public
image. In fact, if you will give me the street address and city of
the Winco and Costco that you shop, I will email both corporations and
tell them of your ongoing problems.
Janet US

On 2012-09-25, Pete C. <[email protected]> wrote:

> http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Yep. I kept an eye on that one. CO was really bad last June. About 85%
extreme. Easing up a bit, now. KS is still in bad shape, though.

I saw long range forcast for snow, this Winter. Said CO and NV/UT
would see above normal snow fall:

http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-...til-snowmaking

I'm not holding my breath, but I hope it's so! Immediate forcast says
it might even snow tonight.



nb --wetting leg in anticipation!




--
Definition of objectivism:
"Eff you! I got mine."
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:11:10 -0700, Julie Bove wrote:

> At least they seem to be here.

<snip all the drawn out drama>

All these are normal produce price fluctuations.

-sw

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:21:52 -0600, Janet Bostwick wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 07:27:26 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>The problems I have with Costco are that you have to buy so many peppers at
>>once, they don't always have just red. It's usually a mixed package. And
>>they aren't always fresh. They have a date sticker as to when they were
>>packed and they're often a week old when I buy them.
>>
>>I will not buy bananas at Costco. I once bought them and didn't open the
>>plastic bag right away. By the next morning there were hundreds of fruit
>>flies in there. I have had trouble with rotten potatoes and onions in the
>>bag. I won't buy those there either. I did have trouble for a while with
>>slimy baby carrots which means that they were left out of refrigeration at
>>some point. I know it wasn't me. I bought them and brought them straight
>>home. Yes, it is 6 miles away but we weren't having overly hot weather or
>>anything. That problem has been resolved now.
>>
>
> I'd say then that you live in a not so desirable area where stores
> routinely are sloppy with food handling. I have none of the problems
> you describe with any of the stores that I mentioned. I do think that
> you have a responsibility to call,write or email the headquarters of
> both Costco and Winco and tell them about these problems. I know that
> both corporations are concerned about customer service and public
> image. In fact, if you will give me the street address and city of
> the Winco and Costco that you shop, I will email both corporations and
> tell them of your ongoing problems.

C'mon, Janet. You know that everything Julie says is over-dramatized.
Onions and potatoes come in 30+lb bags at CostCo. Of course some of
them are going to go bad before a normal person (or Julie) can use
them. And I'd bet it's a rare day in hell when any of us have ever
seen less than fresh produce at CostCo.

I certainly wouldn't take it upon myself to contact a store about
problems you've heard second-hand, when the source is somebody like
Julie. You are *much* too kind :-)

-sw

notbob wrote:
>
> On 2012-09-25, Pete C. <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
>
> Yep. I kept an eye on that one. CO was really bad last June. About 85%
> extreme. Easing up a bit, now. KS is still in bad shape, though.
>
> I saw long range forcast for snow, this Winter. Said CO and NV/UT
> would see above normal snow fall:
>
> http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-...til-snowmaking
>
> I'm not holding my breath, but I hope it's so! Immediate forcast says
> it might even snow tonight.
>
> nb --wetting leg in anticipation!
>

It was pretty bad here in NE TX last year. This year it's dry but not
nearly as bad, lists in the 1-2 range in my area. The grass is still
moderately green even though I haven't been watering it, last year it
was all dead.

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:42:50 -0500, Sqwertz <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:21:52 -0600, Janet Bostwick wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 07:27:26 -0700, "Julie Bove"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>The problems I have with Costco are that you have to buy so many peppers at
>>>once, they don't always have just red. It's usually a mixed package. And
>>>they aren't always fresh. They have a date sticker as to when they were
>>>packed and they're often a week old when I buy them.
>>>
>>>I will not buy bananas at Costco. I once bought them and didn't open the
>>>plastic bag right away. By the next morning there were hundreds of fruit
>>>flies in there. I have had trouble with rotten potatoes and onions in the
>>>bag. I won't buy those there either. I did have trouble for a while with
>>>slimy baby carrots which means that they were left out of refrigeration at
>>>some point. I know it wasn't me. I bought them and brought them straight
>>>home. Yes, it is 6 miles away but we weren't having overly hot weather or
>>>anything. That problem has been resolved now.
>>>
>>
>> I'd say then that you live in a not so desirable area where stores
>> routinely are sloppy with food handling. I have none of the problems
>> you describe with any of the stores that I mentioned. I do think that
>> you have a responsibility to call,write or email the headquarters of
>> both Costco and Winco and tell them about these problems. I know that
>> both corporations are concerned about customer service and public
>> image. In fact, if you will give me the street address and city of
>> the Winco and Costco that you shop, I will email both corporations and
>> tell them of your ongoing problems.
>
>C'mon, Janet. You know that everything Julie says is over-dramatized.
>Onions and potatoes come in 30+lb bags at CostCo. Of course some of
>them are going to go bad before a normal person (or Julie) can use
>them. And I'd bet it's a rare day in hell when any of us have ever
>seen less than fresh produce at CostCo.
>
>I certainly wouldn't take it upon myself to contact a store about
>problems you've heard second-hand, when the source is somebody like
>Julie. You are *much* too kind :-)
>
>-sw
Wink, wink, nod, nod accompanied by a poke in ribs. ;o)
Janet US

On 25 Sep 2012 17:23:33 GMT, notbob <[email protected]> wrote:

>On 2012-09-25, Pete C. <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
>
>Yep. I kept an eye on that one. CO was really bad last June. About 85%
>extreme. Easing up a bit, now. KS is still in bad shape, though.
>
>I saw long range forcast for snow, this Winter. Said CO and NV/UT
>would see above normal snow fall:
>
>http://www.examiner.com/article/ten-...til-snowmaking
>
>I'm not holding my breath, but I hope it's so! Immediate forcast says
>it might even snow tonight.
>
>
>
>nb --wetting leg in anticipation!

The thing that I noticed about long dry spells here in southern Idaho,
is that when we finally get a closed-in winter, frozen ground, with
lots of precipitation, the trees and shrubs go nuts for a couple of
years after. They produce flowers, seeds, pods and fruit up the
ying-yang. Maybe that will happen next season if the country gets a
decent winter and maybe there will be an over abundance of crop (lower
prices) Fingers crossed. . .
Janet US

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:07:13 -0600, Janet Bostwick wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:42:50 -0500, Sqwertz <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>C'mon, Janet. You know that everything Julie says is over-dramatized.
>>Onions and potatoes come in 30+lb bags at CostCo. Of course some of
>>them are going to go bad before a normal person (or Julie) can use
>>them. And I'd bet it's a rare day in hell when any of us have ever
>>seen less than fresh produce at CostCo.
>>
>>I certainly wouldn't take it upon myself to contact a store about
>>problems you've heard second-hand, when the source is somebody like
>>Julie. You are *much* too kind :-)
>>
> Wink, wink, nod, nod accompanied by a poke in ribs. ;o)

Yeah, yeah. I know. I figured it was too "good" to be true. But
just in case...

-sw