Just got back from the Farmer's Market. Talk about sticker shock!!!!

[CatWoman]

First, the quality of the fruits and vegetables has completely gone down hill.

The zucchini were skimpy and beat up looking. And for 3 tiny zucchini I paid over $3, whereas not long ago, I could buy them of much better quality three for $1.

I wanted some blue crabs, but they were worse than the zucchini -- plus they have gone up over $2 per pound.

I settled for red snapper -- two of which cost me $15. I should have bought a can of tuna instead. The snapper too have gone up from $3.99 a pound to nearly $5 per pound.

How bout that Bush economy? Mission Accomplished yet?

[water]

1. End farm subsidies!

[Sanity Claws]

5. There are no farm subsidies

The benefits now accrue to folks like Archer Midland, not the farmers.
We need some serious rethinking on our farm policy.

[water]

7. Exactly!

They just end up helping the giant farming companies at the expense of smaller competitors. :(

[Kittycat]

2. Are you positive it's even local produce & fish?

Around here, some of the farmers bring produce in from other areas (and countries). You have to ask to verify if it's locally grown. :(

[ccpup]

3. what area of the country are you in?

the Farmer's Markets here in NYC -- the one at Union Square especially -- don't seem to be that bad, but I don't suffer from sticker shock easily, so I could be wrong.

[CatWoman]

12. I'm in Atlanta

[karlrschneider]

4. summer squash in January?

??

[CatWoman]

13. we get squash here all year round

mostly from Florida and Mexico.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. Bottled water has gone from $.70 to a dollar in the last year at my market

Since I live in Orange County, California, where they announced today that treated sewage water will soon by recyled into everyone's tap water because of a dwindling water supply, I'm probably going to be paying whatever the market wants for that water. It's something I can't do without. Hopefully, what they sell in bottles at the store won't be recyled sewage water, too.

[Retrograde]

18. Don't they already?

I thought Orange County got its water from the Colorado River, which has probably gone through the residents of Las Vegas and other towns before you get it. It's pretty vile: this is one of the places where I can understand buying bottled water.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

28. Recycled water from the sewage treatment plant

Not just Colorado River water. I heard it on TV today that they will now add to the Colorado River water we already get, recycled sewage water that supposedly has been "treated" because there isn't enough water to go around.

[TahitiNut]

8. Just what I'd expect after a drought.

:shrug:

[mondo joe]

9. I'm shocked that you would buy Zucchini.

Out-of-season issues aside.... yuck! ;-)

[CatWoman]

14. LOL

Mondo,

fry some bacon and sliced onion, add the zucchini, let it simmer.

Presto -- instant heaven :)

[mondo joe]

16. Well sure. Rabit turds frid with bacon and onion would be good.

You gotta' think about what's under that bacon fat yummyliciousness.

[hisownpetard]

19. Just proves, "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's."

[stellanoir]

10. I'd guess that food prices have escalated 20-30% in recent years.

I've also heard that more oil goes into the production of food than is used for heating or transportation. Can't back it up with a link but it certainly ranf true when I heard it.

With all this coupled with the high cost of gasoline and heating oil and stagnant wages, I've no clue how most people are fairing, aside from those 2% ers.

Yikes this is nutz.

Given that each an every american has gone 20 grand in debt for *'s woeful innumerable follies, won't you just take an 800 dollar bribe and forgive him ?

That sounds completely fair.

/sarcasm

[natrat]

21. cows are a waste-they need lots of corn which burns oil,fertilizer

[Sanity Claws]

30. Cows need grass, not corn

Cows should be pastured, not confined in pens and forced to eat corn.
Cows need lots of land to get enough grass to eat, which make them expensive to raise properly. Their diet does not require oil and their manure provides great natural fertilizer for all crops.

[Sanity Claws]

11. Partly due to the season

I don't know where you are but I imagine any fresh produce is either from out of the country or from a greenhouse. It would not be as good as what you got in the fall.
Snapper at nearly $5 a pound sounds like a bargain to me.

[CatWoman]

15. I'd prefer it @ 3.99, thank you!!

:)

[Sanity Claws]

17. So would I

I don't think we really have started to see the full effects of farm land being used for biofuels or the effect of higher gas prices on trucking produce to market. The prices are going to continue to rise.
As for quality, I'm not expecting it to lower at the farmers' markets. I think they know what they are doing and will continue to grow good produce, except for seasonal fluctuations.

[Le Taz Hot]

20. Zucchini isn't even in season yet.

Unless they've been grown in a hothouse, my guess is that they're being imported into the U.S. from somewhere else -- often from Mexico, Central and South America where the use of now-banned pesticides (in the U.S.) are still used. Think DDT. Remember, not all farmer's markets are actual farmer's markets. Many (if not most) are "we buy our produce at the same produce house that supplies the supermarkets" type of "farmers."

I mean, I understand your point and certainly agree about grocery prices going through the roof but out-of-season fruits/veggies are going to cost more due to the cost of transportation.

[CatWoman]

22. Taz

I've been here 10 years, and have been shopping there the entire time.

I've never, I mean NEVER paid this much for veggies. In season or not.

As I mentioned upthread, the zucchini comes from Florida and Mexico.

Florida is just a hop and skip down the road.

I struck up a conversations with at least 3 other ladies while there, and they agreed with me. About the quality (or lack thereof) and the prices. Especially about the zucchini. I was not the only person who enjoys it out of season.

[KatyaR]

23. I wonder if the quality was affected by bad weather.

There's been a lot of that lately.

I agree with you that food prices are incredibly expensive. It's just me, and three bags of groceries (nothing extravagant) has cost me at least $70 per trip the last two weeks. I am trying to be better about not wasting food, but it's hard when you live alone. I bought a bread machine last fall, and I am making all my own bread now--that helps some, but you still have the initial outlay of ingredients to pay for.

[CatWoman]

24. I live alone too

well, if you don't count the cats :)

and I find that I freeze stuff a lot.

I have to be really careful about portions, and not cooking too much -- most times my overflow gets either frozen or tossed out.

[KatyaR]

25. I don't mind eating something for several days, so that's good.

My worst thing is lettuce--I buy it because I'm craving it, and then I don't want it and it spoils. It's so expensive now that I just hate that. I freeze stuff, too, and many times I'll buy meat and split it and throw it in the freezer for later use.

[CatWoman]

26. have you seen those new green bags for vegetables?

http://www.greenbags.com/?cid=371844

[KatyaR]

27. Hmm, I wonder if they really work?

I may have to give those a try--thanks!

[CatWoman]

29. I saw the creator hawking them on the Home Shopping Network

and HSN has a LOT of credibility with me :)

[Le Taz Hot]

31. I stand corrected.

I obviously should have considered location. In Central CA the earliest we see the locally-grown zucchini is around May. The ones in my garden produced through September. Currently our local farmers markets are selling all the winter crops -- leafy greens, brussell sprouts, leaks, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips & parsnips. The prices are definitely up from this time last year but the quality is still good.