The Cost Of Produce

I understand that food cost had to go up due to the cost of diesel and fuel that was needed for transportation of food items. I know they had to bring up produce prices but I think that the grocerey stores are taking it to an extreme.

Lately I have just been so disgusted in the produce section of our grocery store. I can not believe the prices.

A head of Iceberg lettuce- 3.00
A cucumber- 1.00
Green Bell Peppers- 3.49 a pound. That's 1 good sized pepper.
Potatoes- 4.00 for a 5lb bag
Apples- 3.50 for a 5lb bag
Tomatoes- 3.69 a pound
Grape Tomatoes- 2.89 for a pint.
Boston Bib Lettuce- 1.50 a head
Romain Lettuce-A pack of 3- almost 4.00.
A Cantaloupe- 2.30

That is just for starters.
I grew up on a farm. I know that prices have gone up through the years but this is outrageous. We grew most of the items I listed and we sold them for a whole lot less. For example, a 50 lb bag of potatoes sold for about 5.00. I am thinking that with inflation a farmer now would make 10.00-15.00. We sold tomatoes, 10.00 a bushel, the same for bell peppers. Cantaloupes for .25. Cucumbers for a nickle. a dozen ears of corn for a dollar. Ten years hasn't made that much of a difference in the farmers pocket. Who is making all the profit from the sale of produce in the grocery store chains?

Before to long people won't be able to prepare a simple salad for a meal. I would suggest that everyone learn to garden. Grow as much as you can. The items you grow will taste so much better than what you can buy in the store anyway.

I actually think this is the way we will have to go. I've been growing my own garden for several years now and I find it saves quite a bit of money. This year I'm going to diversify even more I think. I also love to grow my own because I can grow beautiful heirloom vegetables.

Face it- they are raping us and laughing in our faces! And if you take a real good look at their produce - it's third rate and half rotted.

And you have to watch - it's not the season for homegrown in many areas - so these buyers for the stores are making "deals" and (for instance) purchasing large quantities of lettuce and they are freezing it for future sales.

When I was a kid - a bag of potatoes would last - now they rot in a couple days.

Nothing lasts anymore. And I don't even want to hear about those green bags - who knows what the hell they are made of anyway - plastics are not good for us.

Eventually all food will be rotting on the store shelves because no one will be able to afford it. The stores should get stuck with it - consumers should not pay for anything half rotten, going stale or near an expiration date.

Produce is worse here at the two grocery stores in town. I still have green and red bell peppers in the freezer from the past garden. They are so expensive in the store I just can hardly afford them fresh. Like Mama said most of what they offer for sale is hideous anyway. I have already started buying seeds for my herbs in the garden this year.
Sams is actually the best place to get salad and tomatoes. You can get a huge plastic container of spring mix greens for less than one small bag costs every where else. Their grape and cherry tomatoes are the only ones I buy in the winter months because they have a decent flavor. The nearest Sams to us is about 50 miles there and back so I dont get over there more than every 3 months or so. But when I do I stock up on spring mix, tomatoes and olive oil.

Gardening is in my blood. The year I don't have a garden is the year I will die.
I believe that gardening and cooking go hand in hand.
I don't have the large pieces of property I have had in the past but I do have enough to grow a hundred or so different tomato varieties. I also grow several different types of peppers, horseradish, rhubarb, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, beans, peas, carrots, thyme, rosemary, dill, mint, basil,cilantro, cucumbers,melons, strawberries and have grape and raspberry vines that are a few years old. I am seriously thinking of getting a dwarf orchard.
I can up probably close to 50 quarts of tomatoes and homemade sauce every fall. I make probly 30 pints of homemade salsa. A few years back I was given a pressure canner for a present and have been able to can fruits during the appropriate seasons. I haven't tried to can meats, soups or gravies yet. It works well for beans and carrots too. I want to do more research on canning meat products before I attempt it.

We also grow a wide variety of flowers.

CanMan gave us a great link to a canning site I will try and find it for you and pull it up. Canning is fabulous, and I for one prefer home-canned veggies over frozen!

Home canned vegetables really are much better than the cans at the store. My grandmother used to can all sorts of fruits and veggies. I loved them all. I make some jellies and pickles for canning and mostly freeze my veggies though. I would love to be able to do all that canning but it's hours of work to do it the way she did and I just don't have that much time.

Around here feed for animals has gone up dramatically. My FIL had tossed around the idea of growing beef or raising some piggies but feed is to expensive. People are practically giving away horses because they cannot afford hay and feed. He buys feed for the grandkids three horses and he says it just keeps getting higher. Luckily a fried of theirs raises hay and cuts them a pretty good deal when his comes in but that is only a couple times a year.

I tried veggie growing and we have to many squirrels and raccoons, bunnies etc... that pick on everything that just grosses me out. I'm Happy to support '"Farmer Markets" I buy what I need don't waste a thing. I Love to grow Flowers though and last year I grew sage. Cookie

That reminds me..Jons Dad has a skunk that seems to have taken up residence at his house. It has burrowed out a place in the garage to sleep and even dug under the door to get in there. We were flipping channels on the tv last night and they were talking about people getting sprayed with skunks. I told Jon that was gonna be his Dad any day now lol.
Im suprised he hasnt had trouble with it trying to get after his two pet turkeys. You know it will wreck the garden this year if he doesnt do something to get rid of it.

We have skunk, in are yard every summer. I always feed the birds and squirrels, chipmunks. I have 3 feeders in our yard, maybe it brings animals around more often. Cookie

lol That is like here at the apartment. I throw old bread out over the balcony into the lot after the landlord goes home to feed the birds. You will see racoons, cats and birds out there eating together.
Im suprised he has tolerated that skunk this long. Last year they totally destroyed the corn he had in the garden. I had a dog that we kept outside when I lived at Moms. He got sprayed by a skunk one night. It was so funny about a week later I smelled skunk outside and when I looked out poor dog was hiding in his dog house lol. He wanted nothing to do with that skunk a second time.

lol, cute, in the...... "DOG HOUSE". I Love all the animals that come around so cute. Cookie

I am jealous of all you folks that have a nice piece of ground big enuf for some major growing. I was raised in the country and miss huge gardens.

My condo has a nice patio and I do some container growing- but don't get nearly the impact I wish I could with a small patch of ground.

Last summer my Dad and his wife had a huge garden and my sister and I helped them work it and we all benefitted from tons of excess goddies, but their helath issues continue to become more and more or a burden... so Dad says this year he's gonna seed the whole yard to grass and he ain't having a garden anymore. I sure will miss it sumthin' awful!

We have squirrels and rabbits galore but I thought we were safe from things like racoons and ground hogs and such since we live in the city with fences around everyone's yard but last month while driving down the road I saw a HUGE opossum strolling out of the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex. I think it must be living in the dumpster. It was as big as a poodle.

I think I mentioned here on another post I had a pet skunk growing up, one night we let him sleep in the chicken coupe [so he could get a little fresh air] well....when we checked on him the next morning he had delighted himself with fresh chicken that night...all that was left of our 2 chickens was their skeltons Imagine our surprised expressions when we saw that!!!

I LOVE SKUNKS, they are so pretty and they make great pets once you have them de-scented. I know I am not alone, when I worked at the Veterinary hospital we has skunk pet patients which were dearly loved by thier owners!

I agree skunks are really cute. One time when we were visiting my friends Mom in the country we came across a mother skunk walking down the road with six little babies following behind her. The were so cute I could just eat them up stink and all!

lol I was driving with one of my nieces years ago. She was like 4 years old then.
She points out the window and goes all pretty kitty. I looked and it was a mama skunk with babies in the grass by the road lol.