Is anyone else noticing lower food prices at the grocery store?

[jennyema]

Aw man as a Minnesotian who adores peaches, I can't tell you how hard it is to find good peaches come late August, early September. Some years they're really good, and some years I gotta turn them into peach jam. I love peach cobbler and after a bunch of trial and error, can make a cobbler that my dad says is as good as his grandma's and takes him back. Unfortunately I couldn't make it last year for him as a birthday present (his birthday is in September) so I just gave him some peach jam and some cherry jam I canned instead as EVERY SINGLE PEACH I found that year was mealy and gross. It was sad. On a better note, he loved the jam for breakfast.

I was born and lived in Minneapolis until I was10. But most of the large Erickson family still lives there. Thus, my joke, but not joke, about Myrtle in another post.

Im sure I got my first taste of a good peach when I was little then.

If you have good peaches to use up, make this pie. It is super easy and also delicious -- and company-worthy.

Peaches and Cream Pie Recipe

This recipe is inspired by the fruit and cream pies at Briermere Farms, in Riverhead, N.Y., a fruit farm and bakery on the North Fork of Long Island Here, a press-in graham cracker crust is swapped in for the traditional pastry crust, but otherwise the recipe stays true to the signature pie...

cooking.nytimes.com

 

[Linda0818]

I've found that the more expensive, still on the vine tomatoes taste pretty good. I grew up with gardens full of tomatoes, and I love that pure tomato taste. And those 3 buck a pound tomatos on the vine hit the spot when I need a tomato fix and can't get any from my mom who's a gardening queen.

I used to grow my own tomatoes every year, but I just don't have the energy for it anymore. So in the summertime, I run up the road to our local farm market to get my tomatoes now. They're super good. I can either buy them inside the market or go out to the tomato fields and pick my own. I eat my weight in those tomatoes every summer. I'm in there once a week replenishing my 'stock'. There's nothing better than a homegrown tomato.

As for buying tomatoes during the winter season, I normally buy the Campari tomatoes. They taste way better than bulk tomatoes (that have absolutely no flavor at all) and, in my opinion, even better than the on-the-vine 'maters.

 

[Marlingardener]

I agree with Blissful, who said that growing your own vegetables, fruits and nuts is more cost effective than before. And may I add the home-grown are not only very fresh but also taste better.
Caseydog pointed out that grocery tomatoes are tasteless. I agree, plus the texture is strange.
Give me home-grown or locally grown every time!

 

[jennyema]

We have a big garden and grow our own tomatoes, but they dont get nice and ripe until August-October

Luckily, we have kickass farmers markets nearby. One has a huge hydroponic greenhouse!

In the winter, I buy crappy cherry tomatoes that I marinate in a little salt, sugar and vinegar. A few hours later ( or the next day) I drain them and use the yummy tomato liquid to make salad dressing.

 

[blissful]

If grocery stores continue to charge more than consumers are willing to pay (go consumers!), then the reduced produce section of our grocery store will keep getting stocked.
Today we bought a huge bag of apples (dozen big apples), 2 huge bags of green peppers (biggest peppers I've ever seen), and a bag of green grapes. Each was $1/bag.

How Much Should I Be Spending on Groceries?

Spending money on food is nonnegotiable; we have to eat. And chances are you eat most of your meals at home. Check Out: Pocket an Extra $400 a Month With This Simple Hack On average, groceries cost between $290 and $548 per month for one person. However, expenses can vary depending on location...

www.gobankingrates.com

USDA Food Plan Spending for a Family of 2

For a family of two, with one male and one female age 19-50 — 20-50 for the thrifty plan — here’s the breakdown of monthly costs for each type of food plan:

Thrifty: $601
Low-cost: $618
Moderate-cost: $765
Liberal: $949

We're spending in the low thrifty range for 2 adults.

 

[Linda0818]

I'm seeing more and more sections in produce with very low product or none at all. Head (iceberg) lettuce is the main item that's often missing or, if there are any heads left, they're tiny and/or half rotted (yet they're still charging $2 a head). No idea what's going on with iceberg lettuce these days.

 

[GotGarlic]

The one thing that shocked me was actually aluminum foil. I like stocking up when I can, and when I went to Walmart I found a roll of foil was like 10 dollars. 10 bucks for 100 feet of foil? Is this just a supply and demand issue? Like everyone uses it? That is honestly the weirdest price hike I've seen yet.

I cut way back on my use of foil and plastic wrap by buying a set of Reusable Beeswax Wrap - 9 Pack Beeswax Wraps for Food, Eco-Friendly Beeswax Food Wraps, Bread Sandwich Wrapper - Organic, Sustainable, Zero Waste, Reusable Plastic-Free Food Storage Wrap, 1XL, 3M, 5S.

And I use reusable, washable silicone baking mats instead of foil for roasting and baking. Yes, they need to be washed, but that's a lot less expensive, and more sustainable, than repeatedly buying a non-renewable resource and throwing it away after one use.

 

[Linda0818]

I stopped at the store after work today to pick up some stuff that we needed. My son wanted tortilla chips, as well as the Tostito's Salsa Con Queso. The Con Queso used to be around $3.49 a jar. Today it was $4.99. And you know how you can get the packages of the sliced watermelon? That stuff used to be cheap. You could get a package of like 4 thick slices for around $1.50, if that. Today it was $3.99.

I would buy a whole watermelon to get more for my money, but my son doesn't like watermelon and I can't eat a whole one to myself before it goes bad. And the watermelons they had today were HUGE.

Then they tried to rip me off. The Private Selection bagged pastas were advertised for $1.49 a bag. They were originally $1.99. So I picked up two of them. At the register, it still charged me $1.99 per bag. I called the attendant over and told her about it and she immediately took off the extra charge.

You gotta watch everything in stores these days, including making sure your items are ringing up as advertised.

 

[Linda0818]

I cut way back on my use of foil and plastic wrap by buying a set of Reusable Beeswax Wrap - 9 Pack Beeswax Wraps for Food, Eco-Friendly Beeswax Food Wraps, Bread Sandwich Wrapper - Organic, Sustainable, Zero Waste, Reusable Plastic-Free Food Storage Wrap, 1XL, 3M, 5S.

And I use reusable, washable silicone baking mats instead of foil for roasting and baking. Yes, they need to be washed, but that's a lot less expensive, and more sustainable, than repeatedly buying a non-renewable resource and throwing it away after one use.

Excellent ideas. I'll reuse foil and plastic wrap, if it's not dirty. Picked up that little habit from my mom, who was probably the most frugal woman I've ever known. I'm going to look into the Beeswax wrap.

I used to toss out bread heels, but now I save them and put them into a bag in my chest freezer and use the slices for things like French toast or 'homemade' garlic bread. They're also good for homemade croutons.

I've dumped a lot of the products I used to buy on a regular basis and found ways to get the same job done without spending extra money.

 

[blissful]

@Linda0818 watermelons take so much space to store. During summer we have a cooler we use, putting frozen water bottles in and rotating them from the freezer to keep watermelon cool. This past few weeks I cut the watermelon in half horizontally and cover in plastic and wash out the refrigerator's vegetable drawer for storing it. The other half I cut in half lengthwise. One half for using in smoothies with most any other fruits. Store those in 16 ounce glasses with lids in the fridge. The other half, I slice and cut off the rind, cut it in bite sized pieces into a large salad bowl and we (him and I) do a good job of eating that much in a day. It's refreshing anyways.

 

[Linda0818]

@Linda0818 watermelons take so much space to store. During summer we have a cooler we use, putting frozen water bottles in and rotating them from the freezer to keep watermelon cool. This past few weeks I cut the watermelon in half horizontally and cover in plastic and wash out the refrigerator's vegetable drawer for storing it. The other half I cut in half lengthwise. One half for using in smoothies with most any other fruits. Store those in 16 ounce glasses with lids in the fridge. The other half, I slice and cut off the rind, cut it in bite sized pieces into a large salad bowl and we (him and I) do a good job of eating that much in a day. It's refreshing anyways.

Refreshing indeed. I love watermelon in summer. I love most melon, actually. I almost picked up a cantaloupe, but I didn't want to buy too much at once since, again, I'd be the only one eating it.

 

[blissful]

Refreshing indeed. I love watermelon in summer. I love most melon, actually. I almost picked up a cantaloupe, but I didn't want to buy too much at once since, again, I'd be the only one eating it.

Too bad you don't have someone to share one with. I can understand only one person eating it. I might be able to eat an 1/8th of one of the huge watermelons but I'm not sure about eating it 8 days in a row!

 

[Linda0818]

Too bad you don't have someone to share one with. I can understand only one person eating it. I might be able to eat an 1/8th of one of the huge watermelons but I'm not sure about eating it 8 days in a row!

Exactly. That's why I opted for the slices instead of the whole melon. I looked for mini watermelons (because I'd rather cut my own) but they didn't have any today. They only had the big huge ones that were larger than me.

Great for a get-together, but not for a 'one-man' band.

 

[Kathleen]

Blissful, thank you for that article.

As many on here know, I have been trying to ensure that we have little food waste, which has been a good change (for both our health and wallets.) Even with shopping sales, seasonal products, and store-brands, I have noticed that food prices have remained high around here. Sadly, it is not just the high food prices, but I sincerely believe that the food quality has diminished- especially with produce. At my local market, there was a sign on the potatoes recommending that they should be used within two weeks. Tomatoes will sometimes go soft within a couple days. Lettuce looks crummy from the get-go. It's one thing to pay higher prices but then the food quality is less than it was as well. Or at least it seems that way to me.

 

[medtran49]

The green bell peppers have looked really rough for the past 4-6 weeks, with not many available. Funny though, colored peppers seem to be fine. Guess they are coming from different places.

 

[Linda0818]

The green bell peppers have looked really rough for the past 4-6 weeks, with not many available. Funny though, colored peppers seem to be fine. Guess they are coming from different places.

I've noticed the same thing. When I pick up green bell peppers, I find myself having to dig through the lot to find a couple of decent ones, whereas the red, orange and yellow peppers are beautiful.

 

[pepperhead212]

The last couple of batches of ripe peppers I've had were gorgeous, and only 50¢ more than the green, and for most things I want the ripe. For some, like creole, the green is preferred, but most I like the ripe in, but I wait for the good prices!

 

[caseydog]

The last couple of batches of ripe peppers I've had were gorgeous, and only 50¢ more than the green, and for most things I want the ripe. For some, like creole, the green is preferred, but most I like the ripe in, but I wait for the good prices!

The Cajun "Trinity" usually uses green bells, but I much prefer red (ripe) bells.

CD

 

[blissful]

In the closest town to us, we have woodman's (employee owned), meijers, picknsave(kroger), aldis, walmart, and smaller odd grocers.
The first one we use because they have the biggest produce dept. Meijer's is pretty good too. The rest, not so much and they let things get older.

The reduced produce bags we get will sometimes have things we need to use right away, not always. The batch of peppers we got for $1 (9 peppers) we let sit out on the table until they turned red, for a week-10 days. This week we bought 2 bags of green peppers, huge ones and they are sitting out until they turn color or start looking like we need to use them, we bought them monday. @caseydog green peppers are generally unripe, not as sweet as red, yellow, or orange peppers.
Woodman's has super fresh produce and if it is over priced it doesn't sell, they reduce the price and put them in the reduced produce area every week. That stuff disappears within hours so you need to show up and take your chances. We also bought a huge bag of apples $1, and a huge bag of green grapes $1. They are still looking good and that was from monday and today is thursday.
I should get pictures of woodman's produce section, it's big.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I’ve noticed a change in the quality of produce here too.

Much of the produce seems to be larger or damaged in some way, more of a institutional/utility grade.

I think the turnover/demand has slowed and the stores are keeping things on the shelf longer.

IMO it’s a sign of the times as people continue to tighten their belts and shop for the basics.

The local farmers market and flea market still offer good value but often times the quantity is too much for me.

I’ve been buying more basic frozen vegetables and freezing small quantities of onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc… to be used in casseroles, soups, etc…

I’m able to adapt but I feel bad for families that have to choose between highly processed fill-em-up foods and more nutritious fruits, vegetables, etc…