Fresh Produce Prices

I went into the store tonight to get some fresh veggies. OMG everything has tripled in price from a week ago! There were signs up that said due to the drought in Florida blah blah blah..... holy crap how can you afford $4.99 a lb for lettuce, apples, grapes, zucchini! I left with some bananas and strawberries.

How do you eat healthy with prices getting like they are?????

Replies

  • DLSlim
    DLSlim Posts: 92 Member
    I've recently started driving a bit farther to get to an Aldi. Their food is very good and reasonably priced.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    Aldi / Farmers markets / international markets / frozen veggies.
  • kitkat4141
    kitkat4141 Posts: 379 Member
    There were signs in the Fresh Market yesterday apologizing for the high prices and citing "acts of God", etc. I buy organic produce and for once it was cheaper than conventional.
  • If you have an Aldi near you they have good prices on produce.
  • oh my... where do you live?! i pay about $1 for a whole thing of lettuce, and strawberries are one sale for $1.00 a package.. last week I bought bags of pre made and washed salad for $1.00 each bag... I search for sales the best I can tho.. do you have other cheaper stores around you?
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,670 Member
    It's the middle of winter. Nothing is in season. Produce prices are always high this time of year. Everything has to be shipped in from different climates or from giant warehouse greenhouses or from giant warehouse greenhouses in different climates.
  • I only go to my farmer's market for produce. Prices are unbelievably better. LOVE it.
  • RachelSRoach1
    RachelSRoach1 Posts: 435 Member
    Honestly.... because of the fear of the prices going up too much to eat anything healthy, we are starting a garden this year. Otherwise we stick to either Farmer's Market, the Health Food Store, or frozen food. My husband and I are working on becoming more self reliant. I know that all the "end of the world" prepping sounds funny but the ability to provide for ourselves when it is way too expensive to eat sometimes is a BIG DEAL.
  • cyoka13
    cyoka13 Posts: 288 Member
    I feel your pain. Last week, asparagus was 5.99/lb. When I went shopping on Monday, it was 7.99/lb....And there was not any produce on sale.
  • I know it is winter but I have never seen prices that high... and i work in a grocery store.. also potatoes 10 pound bag last week was $0.95 I guess it is different in Canada?
  • Kurrupt1922
    Kurrupt1922 Posts: 53 Member
    I go shopping weekly for my fruits and veg and it's usually to the farmer's market or walmart.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    Look into a food co-op. I participate in Bountiful Baskets but if there aren't any near you, just google co-op or hit up a farmers market. Buying local will keep your cost down and quality up.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Maybe it's time to find someplace new to shop? Where are you located? I haven't experienced anything like that. I just shopped Wednesday and Thursday and I got the following:

    Bananas @ .40/lb
    Radishes @ .50/bunch
    Fuji Apples @ .99/lb
    Cucumbers @ .43/ea
    Brussels Sprouts @ .99/lb
    Carrots @ .77/lb
    Blueberries @ .99/6oz container
    Strawberries @ 1.50/lb
    Red and Green Bell Peppers @ .33/ea
    Eggplant @ .99/ea
    Lemons @ .33/each

    I didn't buy heads of lettuce, but I remember the Organic Butter Lettuce was $2/head and I bought a 9oz of baby spinach and a 12oz bag of kale for $1.99 each.

    Grapes were 1.99/lb but I didn't need any and didn't happen to see zucchini/squash prices since I wasn't shopping for them.
  • paulaspoole
    paulaspoole Posts: 17 Member
    I love our state farmer's market, but this time of year the choices are so limited. Try a warehouse club like Sam's, BJ's, or Costco. I got quite a bit from Sam's this past week not cheap, but reasonable.
  • Honestly.... because of the fear of the prices going up too much to eat anything healthy, we are starting a garden this year. Otherwise we stick to either Farmer's Market, the Health Food Store, or frozen food. My husband and I are working on becoming more self reliant. I know that all the "end of the world" prepping sounds funny but the ability to provide for ourselves when it is way too expensive to eat sometimes is a BIG DEAL.

    Agreed!!!
  • grantsmommy
    grantsmommy Posts: 29 Member
    Maybe it's time to find someplace new to shop? Where are you located? I haven't experienced anything like that. I just shopped Wednesday and Thursday and I got the following:

    Bananas @ .40/lb
    Radishes @ .50/bunch
    Fuji Apples @ .99/lb
    Cucumbers @ .43/ea
    Brussels Sprouts @ .99/lb
    Carrots @ .77/lb
    Blueberries @ .99/6oz container
    Strawberries @ 1.50/lb
    Red and Green Bell Peppers @ .33/ea
    Eggplant @ .99/ea
    Lemons @ .33/each

    I didn't buy heads of lettuce, but I remember the Organic Butter Lettuce was $2/head and I bought a 9oz of baby spinach and a 12oz bag of kale for $1.99 each.

    Grapes were 1.99/lb but I didn't need any and didn't happen to see zucchini/squash prices since I wasn't shopping for them.

    Holy moly! I would kill for $1.50 strawberries! I got excited yesterday because I was able to score them for $4! lol I'm in Hawaii and everything is mega expensive so the prices from the op don't seem that high to me.
  • Honestly.... because of the fear of the prices going up too much to eat anything healthy, we are starting a garden this year. Otherwise we stick to either Farmer's Market, the Health Food Store, or frozen food. My husband and I are working on becoming more self reliant. I know that all the "end of the world" prepping sounds funny but the ability to provide for ourselves when it is way too expensive to eat sometimes is a BIG DEAL.

    Agreed!!!
  • I live in a small town so there's not much in the way of choice. There's Wal-Mart and a locally owned grocery store that sell fresh produce. I really try to buy what I can from the grocery store. I don't generally buy food from Wal-Mart, so I do a lot of canned and frozen veggies (mostly frozen, only canned I do is green beans).. I have to own up to enjoying using the frozen because of the ease of prep for cooking *cut open bag TADA!*
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Holy moly! I would kill for $1.50 strawberries! I got excited yesterday because I was able to score them for $4! lol I'm in Hawaii and everything is mega expensive so the prices from the op don't seem that high to me.

    Ouch, I feel your pain. I was in Hawaii for the first time last Spring and I was floored at how expensive everything is there. Packaged foods to fresh, it was all super expensive. And I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I'm usually used to seeing lower prices places. heh

    The worst part was when I got back home and realized that the stores around here that carry Hawaiian products sell them cheaper than I saw them while actually in Hawaii. Which means that part of the pricing in Hawaii is just marking stuff up because they can. More power to any one that lives there and deals with those prices!!
  • baileysmom4
    baileysmom4 Posts: 242 Member
    I'm in Illinois and nothing has ever been that high here either. I almost just put my cart back and left. LOL We only have farmer's markets in the summer so I'm out on that and Aldi's is here but I hate grocery shopping and having to go to more than one place just about drives me nuts! Guess I'm gonna have to suck it up. Would love to plant a garden but I'm right behind a state park full of deer and I'm not feeding them!
  • jillsjourney
    jillsjourney Posts: 167 Member
    If you have an Aldi's near you , it is really worth the time to go. I found baby carrots for $.39 each and green peppers for $.49 and everything else is just as cheap. Aldi's has a double your money back guarantee. If you don't like it, they will refund double the purchase price.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    I went into the store tonight to get some fresh veggies. OMG everything has tripled in price from a week ago! There were signs up that said due to the drought in Florida blah blah blah..... holy crap how can you afford $4.99 a lb for lettuce, apples, grapes, zucchini! I left with some bananas and strawberries.

    How do you eat healthy with prices getting like they are?????

    I eat frozen, dried, canned as well as fresh, pick my fresh fruit and vegetables carefully according to what is most nutritious and reasonably priced as well as personal taste. Also I shop around, go somewhere different every week or two weeks depending what stocks are getting low and what is best priced. Salad leaves and soft fruits tend to be pricey because they are easily attacked by insects and fungus, so there is a lot of waste at every stage from farm to plate.

    Consider pricing things up per 100g in a notebook or on your smartphone if you have one so you are making a fair comparison, some items are ten or even twenty times the price of others. Also bulk buy long lasting items, if I can get through 4kg red onions, 2kg fresh carrots and a whole red cabbage living alone anyone can and these are all super cheap here in the UK.
  • AmyBoogie
    AmyBoogie Posts: 91 Member
    Not that this helps anyone here and now
    We have a garden but even if you don't, produce is cheaper in the summer months when it's plentiful and fresh. In the garden we over produce for our needs and we can or freeze. Even now if you see there is a really excellent sale on something that you eat a lot of like broccoli or spinach, jump on it and freeze some.

    We still buy some fresh in the stores but it's greatly reduced by what we've produced ourselves. I have bought store bought tomato sauce or pickles in a long time. This all means money in our budget so that the higher prices don't always hurt so much.

    If you have even a small amount of space for a window box of say 6 inches by 2 feet you can grow a modest amount of lettuce or spinach indoors. I know it's hard in small apartments to find space but it's pretty cool that you can rent community gardens and such to make up for it in the summer.
  • IslandDreamer64
    IslandDreamer64 Posts: 258 Member
    Some things I buy frozen, and produce is frequently on sale, you just have to shop around or read through the grocery store ads. Aldi's is also a good choice, although the produce at my local Aldi's isn't that great.
  • I hate how much fresh produce is! I live next to a supermarket but can't get to little markets or anything like that, and I don't have enough space in a shared freezer for a bag of frozen veg, so I have to spend so much on fresh!! And canned fruit is so much cheaper, but the value versions seem to be in syrup rather than juice :(
  • RaineyLaney
    RaineyLaney Posts: 605 Member
    I am having the same problem here. Not quite as bad as you, but the prices are starting to really jump. The local kroger had romaine lettuce (3 stalks) for $5.89. I laughed and walked away. I checked other stuff out at Kroger (I only havea Kroger and Walmart here to shop and an aldi's a half hr away). I didn't buy anything but a bag of radishes at Kroger. Then I went to walmart (which I despise terribly). There romain lettuce (3 stalks was $2.89) what I conceder to be the normal price. I did notice other stuff jumping up though. Walmart wanted $4.99 for a 16oz container of strawberrys. I walked away. I ended up buying a few banana's at 52 cents a lb. They wanted way too much for any of their fruits. (and I needed t buy fruit too). I ended up getting a few jars of Polar fruit in light syrup. The nutritional values were really good and each jar was 2 servings. Cost $1.00 a jar (so 50 cents a fruit serving) Pretty bad, I had to go that route than get fresh fruit. Grapes were also outrages at both Kroger and Walmart ($2.99 lb).
    I also went to Aldi's yesterday and bought a bit of veggies (cukes, baby carrots, mushrooms, oranges,) this was on sale. I have to agree with other posts. Aldi's has come a long way with the fruits and veggies in the last couple years. Looks nice, tastes fresh and the prices are great.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    Most parts of the country have fresh fruit and vegetable coops. In my area, and several others, there's a program called "Bountiful Baskets". For 16.50, I get an entire large laundry basket of fresh produce. It varies every week, depending on what they can get. It's run by volunteers and I haven't had any bad luck yet. Last week I got:

    6 Large Oranges
    3 Lemons
    2 Pomegranates
    1 Pineapple
    1 Bag of carrots
    2 Heads of Leaf Lettuce
    1 Bag of Parsnips
    5 Avocados (I hope I get more this week)
    6 Bananas
    6 HUGE Granny Smith apples
    1 Bag celery
    1 Large Clamshell of Strawberries
    6 Huge Russet Potatoes
    3 Pomelos (never even had one before)
    4 Asian Pears
    1 Bag Red Grapes

    And a bit more that I can't remember off hand. I get to grab my next basket in a few hours. It's always fun to see what I get next. My grocery bills have been so much lower since I started this and I eat way more fresh fruits and veggies. It's awesome. If your area doesn't have this specific one, there are others. For example, someone one MPF told me yesterday that her area has "Community Helpings" and it is in the ST Louis, South/Central Illinois area. So do some research and maybe you could find something like this too.