Food Prices That Make You Gasp

[weinoo]

I mentioned in another thread that I had spent $1.75 or so each on a few California grown organic oranges at Whole Foods. Closer to home, I can find oranges in my local store at 4 for a dollar - but they sure don't taste like the ones from WF. Big, juicy, sweet and tart - awesome (I should have saved the peels).

I've probably paid $4 or $5 each for some tree-ripened peaches from excellent growers.

$30 a pound not unheard of for wild caught Washington State salmon in season. More than that for Nantucket Bay scallops during their fleeting season. $15 a pound for great pork chops.

So none of that bothers me - certainly, living in NYC, we probably pay higher prices all around. I know some of that stuff comes from far away. And we also have lots of choices. But just the other day at WF, I saw a bag of organic potatoes from Texas that was $5 - for 1.5 pounds - and I put it back - that one bugged me. Yet I'll pay $4 a pound for fingerlings in Union Square.

What's your limit...what will you not pay, or what do you feel is highway robbery in the grocery store, health food store, farmer's market, the local bodega or even at the truck on the side of the road?

[John Hammond]

While good food is often expensive, id can also be had at reasonable cost if you are int he right place at the right time. Fresh Maine Shrimp are available for most of the winter from trucks along the road in the Midcoast region for very reasonable cost and the same dealers often sell fresh crabmeat. Further north, farmstands sell potatoes by the 100 pound bag for a few dollars. These are some of the benefits of living in Maine "Life in the Slow Lane"

[Anna N]

I don't think it's the price that puts me off although there are many things that are out of my reach, it's the difference! When I find a product at WF or similar place that is EXACTLY the same brand as one I have seen elsewhere and WF wants almost twice as much that's when I say NO.

Fresh products are not so easy to compare and I would definitely say that I would often rather have 1/2lb of something from WF than a whole pound from elsewhere. Case in point is fresh pickerel. There is just no comparison.

[cakewalk]

I gladly pay higher prices for items when I know (or think) they're better than similar items that are cheaper and not as good. Buying the cheaper item is usually the waste of money, IMO. But what really pisses me off, and I find it happening a lot more often (in such places as Whole Foods and even the Union Square green market), is when I buy the higher-priced, presumably better item and it is simply NOT GOOD. Raising the price does not make something taste better!

[Tim Dolan]

I love prosciutto, and I find that prices differ wildly depending on the kind you get. I understand that Parma is the authentic, more expensive thing and San Danielle is next in the pecking order, but some places like to jack up prices for domestic prosciutto just cause most people don't know any better. My local WF sells San Danielle at about $25 a pound, while fortunately I live near a little mom and pop shop that sells Parma (stamped and all) for $21 a pound. The mom and pop store also has a very good domestic prosciutto, clearly labeled as such, right next to the Parma and have even encouraged me to buy the domestic depending on what I was making (*sweet little old Italian lady's voice "Oh honey go with the domestic if you're cooking with it, it'll save you the money and it's almost as good. Use the Parma by itself or with cheese.")

[moreace01]

I gladly pay higher prices for items when I know (or think) they're better than similar items that are cheaper and not as good. Buying the cheaper item is usually the waste of money, IMO. But what really pisses me off, and I find it happening a lot more often (in such places as Whole Foods and even the Union Square green market), is when I buy the higher-priced, presumably better item and it is simply NOT GOOD. Raising the price does not make something taste better!

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Agreed. I don't honestly find the produce at WF any better than anywhere else - nor is the selection any better. Sadly, I shop there because of the ambiance (take notice local Jewel!). Yeah, ok, that's pathetic and I have come to my senses having paid way too much for groceries one too many times and have now vowed to go to my local fruit/veg market instead.

Which I guess brings me to my point - chicken breasts for $6 a pound (and I'm not even sure if it's free range or not - butcher was giving me all kinds of stories) vs the Super H Mart for $1.99. (For whatever reason, WH has shrimp really cheap so I'll pick that up there).

[weinoo]

I love prosciutto, and I find that prices differ wildly depending on the kind you get.  I understand that Parma is the authentic, more expensive thing and San Danielle is next in the pecking order, but some places like to jack up prices for domestic prosciutto just cause most people don't know any better.

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I always thought San Danielle was considered a higher quality product. And I think there are different quality levels within each...just like with parmesan. Your prices are similar to here in NYC.

Back to the parmesan thing, I usually pay $13 or $14 for a pound of parmsean. A few weeks ago, up on Arthur Ave. at a much touted deli, I paid about $10 a pound - and it doesn't even come close to the more expensive stuff, which is what I'll stick with from now on.

[andiesenji]

I am willing to pay premium prices, or even super-premium prices for specialty items that I absolutely KNOW are the best quality and have a superior taste. (I am also willing to return them when they are not up to par.)

However, it must be something that has to stand on its own for flavor or appearance. If I am going to prepare a stew, I do not have to have premium potatoes, carrots, etc., because there are other flavors that predominate. On the other hand, if I am preparing braised celery, it has to have superior flavor.

I am very particular about fruit, and especially when buying it for drying and glaceéing because the flavor is all important.

I am willing to pay a premium price for a particular milk because I do notice the difference in flavor and the same applies to cream and butter.

The same goes for eggs, cheese, etc. I have the same opinion as whoever said, "Only the Best is Good Enough!"

I would never compromise on quality for things such as caviar. If I had to economize, I would rather buy less than get something of lesser quality.

Edited January 25, 2008 by andiesenji (log)

[Tim Dolan]

I always thought San Danielle was considered a higher quality product. And I think there are different quality levels within each...just like with parmesan. Your prices are similar to here in NYC.

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I'm the farthest thing from an expert, so you could be right. Parma was my first introduction to the good stuff so maybe that's why I hold it in a slightly higher regard.

[Chris Hennes]

If I had to economize, I would rather buy less than get something of lesser quality.

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I have started falling into this category more and more recently (probably since discovering eGullet!). Though for some things, discovering a superior product actually caused me to *increase* consumption. I spent my whole life until last year thinking I disliked pork! But after discovering "the good stuff" online last year, my annual pork consumption went from a few pounds of bacon to a few dozen pounds of shoulder, belly, chop, etc.

I draw the line at the "prime" beef they sell at the Wegmans here - as far as I can discern it is no better than the choice, and is certainly nowhere near the quality of the prime I've had at a good restaurant.

[dividend]

I'm definately willing to pay more for good quality (and in most cases locally produced) milk, eggs, and meat, and in general for most produce I spend what it costs to buy either from a farmer's market or an organic store like Wild Oats (which I understand was recently aquired by Whole Foods - I have mixed feelings about that). Also certain imported things like cheese.

I *GASP* at two different types of high prices - comparative prices, and the expense of labor-saving food. In the late summer, bell peppers can be had 9 for $1 from the farmer's market. Regular price in the grocery store looks like highway robbery in comparison. The grocery store is full of examples of paying ridiculous prices to save yourself a little bit of effort - the price per pound difference between whole chickens and BSCB strips being a prime example. I also cannot imagine who would buy individually plastic wrapped russet potatoes at $1 a peice, or plastic bags with precut, treated apple slices.

I think that I come out about even, paying more for higher quality basic ingredients but saving because I cook almost everything from scratch.

[C. sapidus]

What's your limit...what will you not pay, or what do you feel is highway robbery in the grocery store, health food store, farmer's market, the local bodega or even at the truck on the side of the road?

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It pains me greatly to pay three bucks for a few sprigs of perennial herbs such as thyme, oregano, rosemary, or chives. For the same three bucks I can buy a plant and grow an unlimited supply of such herbs, needing only small patch of sunny, well-drained soil (or even a sunny window). We lack such a patch of dirt at present, and our sunny windows are taken up with other plants, so I grit my teeth and pay the three bucks.

Pisses me off, though.

[cathrynapple]

Oh, I'm with you on the store bought fresh herbs. $3.40 for a small handful of sage?

Actually, today my local supermarket had packs of sage, tarragon, and dill for 99 cents each. (they were a few days old.)

Herb prices are the main reason I hate winter. And for some reaosn I can't keep any indoor plant alive.

[prasantrin]

How much I'm willing to pay for something depends in part on where I am and what I'm buying.

In Japan, I can see myself paying Y500 per strawberry for momoichigo, but back in Canada, I would never pay $5 for one strawberry, even if it were momoichigo.

But for a pint of good quality regular strawberries, I would be willing to pay Y700 for them in Japan, and also $7 for them in Canada.

[hummingbirdkiss]

My point of view comes from a differing one I guess

Going through the door at WF (or any market like it ) makes me GASP

even if I could afford it ..I am too much of an old earth muffin to really appreciate paying that kind of money for food that is not anything more special that what I can hunt around for, or grow myself!

buying online is crazy to me unless it is something like vanilla beans ..I want to touch ..smell...talk about and taste my food ... be close to its source ...I dont mind ..in fact I enjoy the extra foot work so I can look it in the eyes!

if an orange is going to cost me almost $2/each I will buy a perfect apple instead for a 1/8th that price that was grown here (or in season walk around any park in my area and pull one off a tree) and is at its prime ...

just because I "want" does not mean I will have it ..when the prices come down and the quality is high that is when I will buy that perfect orange ..I can wait for things to be good and reasonable ...I have guilt when I spend for things that make no sense to me ...especially when there is a fine alternative just waiting for me to find it!

my menu's in life are based on what I find when I shop ..I will go with an idea of what I want but if the prices are out of line or the stuff looks like crap or is not available ...I just move on to whatever I find!

I buy shamefully inexpensive fish/seafood in season from local fisherman (or fish, dig clams, trap crabs myself) ....I buy the finest meat from local butchers ..ethnic markets or 4H kids...I have something edible growing all over my yard and even in pots on my deck and under grow lights in the house all year long..or buy locally grown fresh produce in season when the prices are good ..and do with out when they are not...

for deli items there are Ukrainian/German markets here that have the best, cheeses, hams, sausages and breads for very low prices

Herbs in an Asian market here still can be found for a buck a bunch the size of your head!

and for stock items and junk food I go to a local "low end" discount grocery store

I have made the choice (yes I am lucky here to have all this ..but have also lived all over the place and done the same things in each place ..you can live like this anywhere if you want to) to spend more time hunting and gathering my food ..so I work part time and make less money ...

guess it all evens out in the end

Edited January 26, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[prasantrin]

yes I am lucky here to have all this ..but have also lived all over the place and done the same things in each place ..you can live like this anywhere if you want to

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Can you be more specific with the places you've lived when you claim you've lived "all over the place"? Because I live in a reasonably large city in Japan, and I would argue your statement that "you can live like this anywhere if you want to" is simplistic, at best. Or maybe you're thinking from a US-centric point of view? (though I doubt those in Alaska would agree with you, at least during the winter months).

[weinoo]

I have made the choice (yes I am lucky here to have all this ..but have also lived all over the place and done the same things in each place ..you can live like this anywhere if you want to)  to spend more time hunting and gathering my food ..so I work part time and make less money ...

guess it all evens out in the end

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Wish we were all that lucky - but the apple trees in my local park - oh wait, there aren't any apple trees. Or orange trees.

The local fisherman sell their illegal East River catch on the sidewalk in Chinatown.

Asian markets don't sell Mediterranean herbs.

The price never comes down on that perfect orange.

Stuff bought on the internet can be incomparable - and eGullet is often a good place to find out about it - vanilla beans, as an example.

hummingbirdkiss, while you might think you can live like you do "anywhere," I'd say that's not true for a lot of people.

And tell me, when you're hunting and gathering, do you walk everywhere, or is there a car involved?

[hummingbirdkiss]

I have made the choice (yes I am lucky here to have all this ..but have also lived all over the place and done the same things in each place ..you can live like this anywhere if you want to)  to spend more time hunting and gathering my food ..so I work part time and make less money ...

guess it all evens out in the end

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Wish we were all that lucky - but the apple trees in my local park - oh wait, there aren't any apple trees. Or orange trees.

The local fisherman sell their illegal East River catch on the sidewalk in Chinatown.

Asian markets don't sell Mediterranean herbs.

The price never comes down on that perfect orange.

Stuff bought on the internet can be incomparable - and eGullet is often a good place to find out about it - vanilla beans, as an example.

hummingbirdkiss, while you might think you can live like you do "anywhere," I'd say that's not true for a lot of people.

And tell me, when you're hunting and gathering, do you walk everywhere, or is there a car involved?

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AHHHHHH!!!!! Just ask my husband or anyone who knows me in person... you could set me down on any place in the planet and I bet I could find something that does not equate to a $2 orange that is just as pleasurable..

I am not a barefoot hippy I wear shoes ..sometimes......but every trip I take or place I go ..you can bet I hunt and gather something ...I drive or fly and then park and walk ...or ride a bus or a metro train or whatever ...and walk and walk and walk ..carry a great big bag and harvest ..I have found pecans in public parks in the Southeast and mushrooms all over ...there is always something someplace ...I am just like that by nature and do not feel it is something eveyone should be just an alternative!

it is important there is Whole Foods ..but the question was food prices that make us gasp ..anything more than I need to pay for something wonderful makes me gasp I choose work part time then I have more time to just wander around until I find something else

like I said ..it all equals out ..if I worked more I would maybe shop at Whole Foods and not gasp at the prices

but nothing would taste like that pie I made from the blackberries invading the appartments down the street from me

Edited January 26, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Chris Hennes]

I *GASP* at two different types of high prices - comparative prices, and the expense of labor-saving food.  [...]  The grocery store is full of examples of paying ridiculous prices to save yourself a little bit of effort - the price per pound difference between whole chickens and BSCB strips being a prime example.  I also cannot imagine who would buy individually plastic wrapped russet potatoes at $1 a peice, or plastic bags with precut, treated apple slices.

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OK, the plastic-wrapped potatoes do seem a bit extreme... but this sort of thing seems to come up on eGullet a lot: a lot of us look at convenience foods and think, who would ever buy that?! It only saves a few minutes! And it usually isn't long before somebody else drops in with a reasonable argument for why you would want to buy such a thing. I doubt anybody on eGullet is paying for those little bags of prechopped mirepoix, but I know plenty of people who do. The price seems outrageous on a per-pound basis, but it's only a buck or two! My wife buys the pre-cut apple slices all the time when we are traveling: it's easier than carrying around a paring knife, and better for you than a bag of chips. So, at any rate, while I might *GASP* at the prices, I still understand why people pay them. Now, this year's truffle crop, on the other hand... OUCH!! GASP!! YOWZA!!

[gfron1]

I lean toward hummingbirdkiss' perspective on this. I too have lived around (Missouri, New Orleans, Indiana, Colorado, Peru and Bahrain), and while I definitely go toward quality, I can find dirt cheap quality anywhere if I get off the main road. If we say its not possible in Japan, well...we need to make the economies comparative. No, $2US won't by you more than a square of toliet paper in Japan, but take $2US to the hills of Peru and it used to buy me a huge dinner with drinks. So what is the equivalent Yen value of a 2 liter bottle of soda...that's the comparison point.

But once we leave WF and step into the neighborhood Asian markets, Middle-Eastern markets, etc, there's a goldmine of high quality, low priced foods. Not everything, and not everyday, but it is undoubtedly is there.

(I've got your back Heidi!)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I lean toward hummingbirdkiss' perspective on this. I too have lived around (Missouri, New Orleans, Indiana, Colorado, Peru and Bahrain), and while I definitely go toward quality, I can find dirt cheap quality anywhere if I get off the main road.  If we say its not possible in Japan, well...we need to make the economies comparative.  No, $2US won't by you more than a square of toliet paper in Japan, but take $2US to the hills of Peru and it used to buy me a huge dinner with drinks.  So what is the equivalent Yen value of a 2 liter bottle of soda...that's the comparison point. 

But once we leave WF and step into the neighborhood Asian markets, Middle-Eastern markets, etc, there's a goldmine of high quality, low priced foods.  Not everything, and not everyday, but it is undoubtedly is there. 

(I've got your back Heidi!)

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it is true I just could not have said all that! thanks!

I have picked pine nuts where you live and made cillantro pesto from them ..sticky mess lots of work but very fun and there was never a better pesto in my life...

this is really about lifestyle I think not so much cost ..I choose to work less make less money so my gasp factor is much lower than say someone who shops at WF just to buy something ...

I have also managed in my life to find a place through many other places I have lived where I can do this for the rest of my life with in reach!

I like the full meal deal it takes more time and effort but to me it is worth it to sit down and know that most of what is on my plate I found someplace very cool!

Edited January 26, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[chefsteban]

Bravo to Hummingbirdkiss for her perspective on hunt & forage VS getting screwed by Whole Foods and other of that ilk.

In my area, quite urban by the way, it is easy to forage for something good to eat. There are canyons that have immense patches of cactus paddles...free...and an excellent source of nutrients.

The near-by valleys offer up wonderful mushrooms....and I can always find free growing trees of limes, lemons, oranges and grapefruit.

Not everything needs to be bought......we would become a better society if we just took the time to see what we have and what Mother nature is offering us.

[annecros]

I am in the same place hummingbirdkiss is - hunt, forage, grow.

Surely there is a sunny window somewhere in Japan that would support some potted herbs. That is even less time consuming, and things like basil need cropping anyway to keep from bolting and going to seed.

My passion is tomatoes - and have several growing in containers. The cost of seed is much less than fruit, and for the heirloom types I grow - you just can't buy them at WF. They don't exist there at the same vine ripened quality that you can get from home grown. What they do have in that area is prohibitively expensive. I won't do it.

Quality meat - well I just bite the bullet. Although I still have friends in GA who will toss me some venison from time to time.

[Tess]

If I need ingredients for a certain recipe, or for some seasonal things, I'll bite the bullet as long as the quality is there. I only start to question the price seriously when the cost of the meal is passing what it would be in a nice (not fine dining) restaurant. I do try to cook more based on what's available/reasonable in the stores rather than flipping through a cookbook and picking a recipe, though.

For produce, I feel as if I used to be able to rely on Whole Foods even if I had to pay a premium. Now I feel the price has gone down but so has the quality. I go to the Super H Mart or Mitsuwa instead. Prices at those places vary.

I also spend large amounts of money on things like sushi-grade fish and fresh wasabi but again, it's a bargain compared to eating the same things out.

[andiesenji]

I agree with annecros about growing your own tomatoes. I do have a garden but I also know people who are able to grow a few plants (or even one) in places one would least expect.

There are new types of containers, such as the "upside-down" containers that take up very little space and produce far more fruit than on an outdoor plant. Grow-Lights are less expensive and can be found almost anywhere. My local Wal-Mart has them.

I often shop for produce at the Mexican supermarkets because I have found much of the fruit is better, not just less expensive. Large, juicy lemons and limes sold by the pound and much, much cheaper than in the markets.

I'm no longer able to get around but there was a time when I did the hunter/gatherer routine.

I recently saw four of these in the upper reaches of a shower, in an old, Spanish style home with very high ceilings. The shower had been dark and rather forbidding but the young men who live there had put two grow lights up at the top and are growing tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.

Topsy-Turvy garden container

Edited January 26, 2008 by andiesenji (log)