Fresh Produce Prices

Aldi / Farmers markets / international markets / frozen veggies.

If you have an Aldi near you they have good prices on produce.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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!*

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.

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 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.