Does Your Store Have Nice Veggies?

[Kris]

I've been noticing this the past few weeks, but last week it really hit me. The prices are going up, Up, UP! and the quality is going waaaaaaaaaay down!

 

I haven't been able to get decent onions for months. They are *so* yucky! But everything else seems to be yucky, too. The green peppers were the size of tennis balls. Both heads of lettuce I brought home were rusty inside.

 

A lot of the stuff looked like it was brought to the store behind the truck rather than in it!

 

We have no farmer's market -- I do miss that. I learned the first year we were here that planting a garden was a waste of time, unless I wanted to feed the bugs, birds and deer. That's probably why we don't have a farmer's market! :lol:

 

Is our little town just at the bottom of the list? Or are the "big cities" having this problem, too? Considering it's the middle of the growing season, I'm really surprised it's so bad!

[BritAnnia]

I usually buy certain fresh food items from Costco and what I have recently noticed is how quickly the produce has been going off. In the past the same items had lasted much longer. I had mentioned to dh I was not going to purchase the usual items this weekend, for that very reason... and when I got there I found that the veggie/fruit area of the Costco store was half empty anyway. Hmmm... interesting!

I wonder if it has anything to do with floods/fires/droughts of late.

[Kris]

I usually buy certain fresh food items from Costco and what I have recently noticed is how quickly the produce has been going off. In the past the same items had lasted much longer. I had mentioned to dh I was not going to purchase the usual items this weekend, for that very reason

 

Yes -- I've noticed that here, too. I used to be able to buy onions for a whole week, but they don't last that long, even if I can find some that look like good ones. A few days later, they're rotting.

 

... and when I got there I found that the veggie/fruit area of the Costco store was half empty anyway. Hmmm... interesting!

 

I've been trying to pay more attention to what days I go shopping, because I know our smallest stores only have deliveries on certain days. But the big stores receive produce almost every day, so I don't understand the empty shelves.

 

Onions again, I know -- but this week there were *no* white or yellow onions, just the Vidalia onions. I thought that was *very* strange!

 

I wonder if it has anything to do with floods/fires/droughts of late.

 

I think a large amount of the country's produce comes from Florida and California, and they have been having problems there. But they have horrendous fires in California every summer and I've never noticed this before.

 

I know with the high fuel prices that shippers are making sure those trucks are packed as tight as possible before they send a load out. When we were hauling produce from California, they used to have the truck actually sitting in the field to be loaded so it would be as fresh as possible. I'm wondering if they've changed this now that so many companies are charging detention time, but surely they can't be holding produce to the point where it's not worth buying before they ship it out?

[sadiegirl]

Our produce selection has been poor and very expensive this year. Most of the produce has had very little flavor. The local orchard here told me that even fruit that they have brought in has no flavor but tastes spongy.

So, we have been fruit-deprived. Watermelon is my favorite fruit and so are strawberries so this has been a terrible loss to me!

[mommylawyer]

Prices ARE going up. There is a grocery store selling groceries on the cheap... they have the BEST looking produce (better than our local Wal-Mart Supercenter, Piggly Wiggly, Ingle's or Publix). The also have excellent prices on meat - although I find their beef a bit chewy despite the cut I get.

[Laurel]

I don't know where is Missouri you are, but have you searched Local Harvest? There may be some farms or CSAs nearby that you don't know about. Or even a place where you can pick your own fruits or something. So sorry to hear that all you have is sub-par produce. :(

[Kris]

I don't know where is Missouri you are, but have you searched Local Harvest? There may be some farms or CSAs nearby that you don't know about. Or even a place where you can pick your own fruits or something. So sorry to hear that all you have is sub-par produce. :(

 

Hi, Laurel --

 

Thanks for reminding me about Local Harvest. When I checked last year, we had two entries, neither of which were valid anymore. I just checked again, and there aren't any new ones.