Has anyone noticed the grocery store produce departments is getting smaller. I have forgotten the last time I saw radishes in the produce department. No broccoli today I was told to look in the frozen food section. I wanted a head of cabbage but there was only 4 sad looking cabbage in a space big enough for about 15 cabbage. I wanted a Fuji apple or Honey Crisp apple but the price is $2.99 per lb. = $1.95 per apple. $2 per apple is too expensive no wonder the produce department is getting smaller. The produce department is being taken over by higher price items that sell, bakery, deli, cut flowers, nuts, pizza in a box.
The best sellers in the produce department seem to be 2 rows of potatoes, red, white, yellow, 5 lb, 8 lb, 10 lb bags, singles and baking potatoes. 1 row of assorted onions, white, yellow, red, in bags or singles, garlic in bags & singles. 1/2 row of tomatoes, bags, bunches, singles. 2 rows or salads, coleslaw, spinach, kale, lettuce, is bags. 2 rows of strawberries, grapes, blackberries, in 1 lb packages. A 10 lb bag of red apples is $3.99 but 1 Honey crisp apple is $2.
I think it does depend on the market. I agree some markets are shrinking their produce section, but expanding their organic and hydroponic options. Packaging has changed as well. Some packaging protects the goods from being crushed like the lettuce but at the same time the packaging can hide less than perfect fruit.
For myself, I feel a little guilty and get sticker shock, because I am used to growing a lot of the more perishable things myself like herbs, green onions, eggplant, peppers, lemon grass, ginger,bay leaves, kaffir lime, and some araimo. I also like komatsuna, broccoli, corn, tomatoes, and summer squash seasonally. I also have lemons, limes, satsuma mandarin (seasonally), and calamondin. I do buy things I can't grow enough of and do fine in storage like onions, carrots, and garlic. I can't grow enough of them for a constant supply and I don't grow them very well.
We have farmers markets at least once a week somewhere on the island and more people are choosing to buy produce at the farmer's market and less from stores since the produce is often fresher. Costco and Sam's also have a lot of bulk produce that is a lot cheaper, providing you can eat that much or are able to split the package with someone.
For myself, I feel a little guilty and get sticker shock, because I am used to growing a lot of the more perishable things myself like herbs, green onions, eggplant, peppers, lemon grass, ginger,bay leaves, kaffir lime, and some araimo. I also like komatsuna, broccoli, corn, tomatoes, and summer squash seasonally. I also have lemons, limes, satsuma mandarin (seasonally), and calamondin. I do buy things I can't grow enough of and do fine in storage like onions, carrots, and garlic. I can't grow enough of them for a constant supply and I don't grow them very well.
We have farmers markets at least once a week somewhere on the island and more people are choosing to buy produce at the farmer's market and less from stores since the produce is often fresher. Costco and Sam's also have a lot of bulk produce that is a lot cheaper, providing you can eat that much or are able to split the package with someone.
I don't see it happening in my area, and in particular, in the locally owned and operated stores that sell produce that is grown in our region. But then again, we do have a year long growing season, so almost all the seasonal stuff is easily attained with things like some fruit coming in from California and Mexico.
I'd venture to guess that in the 2 supermarkets close to my house, one locally owned and the other a national chain, the produce sections contain well over 100 different items between fresh fruits and vegetables.
I'd venture to guess that in the 2 supermarkets close to my house, one locally owned and the other a national chain, the produce sections contain well over 100 different items between fresh fruits and vegetables.
Being the most perishable item in the store, in order to protect profit margins, produce must be ordered and handled very carefully. If the sales of certain goods do not warrant space, especially if the costs are so high it creates a loss. Seasonal and short life produce may not generate sales enough to carry.
The old marketing conundrum: if it isn't there it won't sell and if it doesn't sell it isn't worth having on the shelf. Here in the midwest only the larger city markets have organic produce; in the more rural areas there is only produce. We have not been fooled by the double prices for the word 'organic.'
The old marketing conundrum: if it isn't there it won't sell and if it doesn't sell it isn't worth having on the shelf. Here in the midwest only the larger city markets have organic produce; in the more rural areas there is only produce. We have not been fooled by the double prices for the word 'organic.'
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thanrose
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I lived in central Florida for a while, now in northeast Florida. I'm used to having some fruits and things that don't travel all that well but can be grown easily in the local area. I like having four avocado varieties and five or six mangos to choose from. In other parts of the world they have many more choices. In Jacksonville, the only mango I can buy is the Tommy Atkins. It's inferior flavor and gritty fibers are offset by the shelf stability. Of course, when I lived up north in apple growing areas, there could be ten different varieties in the supermarkets.
Sometimes people don't want to pay for fresh green beans, but they will buy frozen steam in bag, or flash fried/dried, or dehydrated for soup green beans. They don't know what to do with beet or radish tops, or an entire head of cabbage, or how to trim the tough part of asparagus. I just found out that my sister has been throwing away the stem of fresh broccoli, almost up to the florets.
One brother, a former Eagle Scout who has done some survival skills type camping way way back, said he wants to eat more "paleo" style, so I suggested he eat store bought collards, then turnip greens, before he went on to wild foraged greens. One bite of turnip greens and he went back to Doritos.
The further removed people are from the food they eat, the worse they get at understanding what it tastes like, what it grows like, how it's prepared, and what it costs in human terms to get it to table. We grew up eating supermarket food, with a generous sprinkling of home canned food, fish and wild game, home grown food, field picked produce, wild things, etc. Still mostly suburban 1960s, origin of Tang and Jell-O salads and spaghetti in a can. The first yogurt I ever ate was around 1972, first bagel in '75. But I'd grown things and picked things with my own hands, scaled fish, and composted egg shells and onion trimmings. We actually liked the taste of the stronger tasting predator fish off the Jersey shore. Now, when I go shopping for fish, I have to know who to ask to bring out any of the oilier fish because the majority of people don't want a fishy taste. In their fish. Hmmm, suck on that for a while.
For the supermarket grocer it is always going to be about what the market will bear. If people will never buy catfaced tomatoes or puckered apples or anything that takes too much prep, then they won't stock it. You can ask, and maybe they'll have your favorite grapes the next day, but quinces will never be a big seller in Florida, nor kumquats in Alberta.
Sometimes people don't want to pay for fresh green beans, but they will buy frozen steam in bag, or flash fried/dried, or dehydrated for soup green beans. They don't know what to do with beet or radish tops, or an entire head of cabbage, or how to trim the tough part of asparagus. I just found out that my sister has been throwing away the stem of fresh broccoli, almost up to the florets.
One brother, a former Eagle Scout who has done some survival skills type camping way way back, said he wants to eat more "paleo" style, so I suggested he eat store bought collards, then turnip greens, before he went on to wild foraged greens. One bite of turnip greens and he went back to Doritos.
The further removed people are from the food they eat, the worse they get at understanding what it tastes like, what it grows like, how it's prepared, and what it costs in human terms to get it to table. We grew up eating supermarket food, with a generous sprinkling of home canned food, fish and wild game, home grown food, field picked produce, wild things, etc. Still mostly suburban 1960s, origin of Tang and Jell-O salads and spaghetti in a can. The first yogurt I ever ate was around 1972, first bagel in '75. But I'd grown things and picked things with my own hands, scaled fish, and composted egg shells and onion trimmings. We actually liked the taste of the stronger tasting predator fish off the Jersey shore. Now, when I go shopping for fish, I have to know who to ask to bring out any of the oilier fish because the majority of people don't want a fishy taste. In their fish. Hmmm, suck on that for a while.
For the supermarket grocer it is always going to be about what the market will bear. If people will never buy catfaced tomatoes or puckered apples or anything that takes too much prep, then they won't stock it. You can ask, and maybe they'll have your favorite grapes the next day, but quinces will never be a big seller in Florida, nor kumquats in Alberta.
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pepperhead212
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In my area the produce delartments seem to keep growing, with things that I used to have to travel to Philly for, or grow myself. But then, this is the most densely populated state, and there are supermarkets all over, so there is a lot of competition. And there are many population groups in the area - I used to have to go to the Italian market and Chinatown in Philly, to stock up on those, but now I can find not just those, but also Hispanic, Indian, Middle Eastern, and SE Asia ingredients in local supermarket produce departments. I usually don't buy these things, except ginger and especially cilantro, since I also have Asian, Indian, and Mexican markets around, but It's amazing how the superkets have evolved since back in the 80s.
I agree with Paul. The markets will carry what the customers are buying. I have seen smaller low volume stores that only had 15 potatoes in a basket and another basket of onions with the same number. It was run more like a convenience store which made sense since that is what was there before. In another location, the same store with a larger customer base had a lot more to choose from. The stores have a lot of competition for fresh produce and some meats and fish now from the open markets which usually have fresher, although some grade B produce, at better prices.
Oahu is a small island you can go from one end to the other in an hour if there is no traffic (these days that would be around 3 am). You can go around the island in about 6 hours, more if the surf is up and the road is washed out.
Most grocery stores here do sell the basics, if you want more ethnic produce or local fruits, people do not generally get them from the mainland stores. Chinatown,ethnic, and the local open markets are the better places to go for ethnic and locally grown fresh produce. If you go to the farms, many have CSA boxes for $15-$25 or you can get whatever the farm has available for that day. The egg farm usually helps the local high school ag students sell their produce.
Somewhere there is an open market almost every week. The city sponsors a mobile market that is only open for one hour in one location before it packs off and moves to another for the next hour.
When Schofield barracks had a lot of Mexican soldiers for 3 years, the local stores started bringing in more of the Mexican ethnic items. They pared down the offerings after they left.
More people now are trying their hand at growing some produce in containers. Except the socially aspiring. I remember a landscaper telling me he designed a house with a vegetable garden in the back and the homeowner did not like it because she said only "poor people" grow their own food. At another location he incorporated vegetable into the landscape and the homeowner's gardener talked her out of it, because it was too much for him to maintain. Landscapers here only want to cut grass, they don't like to have to take care of anything else.
Oahu is a small island you can go from one end to the other in an hour if there is no traffic (these days that would be around 3 am). You can go around the island in about 6 hours, more if the surf is up and the road is washed out.
Most grocery stores here do sell the basics, if you want more ethnic produce or local fruits, people do not generally get them from the mainland stores. Chinatown,ethnic, and the local open markets are the better places to go for ethnic and locally grown fresh produce. If you go to the farms, many have CSA boxes for $15-$25 or you can get whatever the farm has available for that day. The egg farm usually helps the local high school ag students sell their produce.
Somewhere there is an open market almost every week. The city sponsors a mobile market that is only open for one hour in one location before it packs off and moves to another for the next hour.
When Schofield barracks had a lot of Mexican soldiers for 3 years, the local stores started bringing in more of the Mexican ethnic items. They pared down the offerings after they left.
More people now are trying their hand at growing some produce in containers. Except the socially aspiring. I remember a landscaper telling me he designed a house with a vegetable garden in the back and the homeowner did not like it because she said only "poor people" grow their own food. At another location he incorporated vegetable into the landscape and the homeowner's gardener talked her out of it, because it was too much for him to maintain. Landscapers here only want to cut grass, they don't like to have to take care of anything else.
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thanrose
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Love the local realities! Really a fun and informative read, imafan. I've lived places that had similar caveats or conditions.imafan26 wrote:...Oahu is a small island you can go from one end to the other in an hour if there is no traffic (these days that would be around 3 am). You can go around the island in about 6 hours, more if the surf is up and the road is washed out. ...
Military can really affect the local food supplies, generally in a good way. Sometimes this state will have serious wildfires that have fighters coming in from all over. Nascar fans will often bring their own food and beverage, but bikers will buy local economy stuff, including all day cooking at a camp site. So if you want cabbage, better get it before Bike Week's coleslaw wrestling event. Migrant crop pickers increase the variety of veggies, too.
My sister is one of those who thinks gardening, especially for vegetables, is for poor people. She wouldn't even consider flowering kale as an autumn bedding plant.
We had a hard time finding kumquats this year. Odd. Rambutan, okay. Durian, check. But any mango other than Tommy, no way. I've been in the gamut of grocery stores here from bare bones to the ones that pamper you. I absolutely need to find a farm market or maybe a huge flea market. Local honey, real Georgia pecans, etc.
I don't travel much, I do it mostly in winter so I really only saw literally black and white with bare trees and few flowers. I did go once to attend my friends graduation in the Spring. It was the first time I realized why Hawaii days are considered short. The sun was glaring in the window at 3 am and did not set until after 11 p.m. All the trees I usually saw bare was in full leaf and people liked to plant annuals all along the curbing in neat rows.
I went to a farm one year at Christmas time and got some fresh oranges and grapefruit by the bushel for then $1.50 (that was a long time ago in Florida).
I also got to taste really fresh peaches. What gets sent here from the mainland in peaches, pears, and plums are usually only half ripe and hit or miss on taste.
The prices at the stores are a lot better than here unless you are looking for Asian goods. Those were more expensive. I saw 50 lb bags of potatoes, here, most stores carry 10 lb bags at most. Most of us buy potatoes loose or in 5 lb bags. We would buy 25,50, or 100 lb bags of rice though, because rice is the staple here.
Seattle 's Pike Market had a variety of fresh cold water fish that we hardly see here, except farmed or frozen. And a few other things like rooster fries that I have never seen here. Someone I worked with said the fish that a lot of people eat here are the ones that they toss back.
I went to a farm one year at Christmas time and got some fresh oranges and grapefruit by the bushel for then $1.50 (that was a long time ago in Florida).
I also got to taste really fresh peaches. What gets sent here from the mainland in peaches, pears, and plums are usually only half ripe and hit or miss on taste.
The prices at the stores are a lot better than here unless you are looking for Asian goods. Those were more expensive. I saw 50 lb bags of potatoes, here, most stores carry 10 lb bags at most. Most of us buy potatoes loose or in 5 lb bags. We would buy 25,50, or 100 lb bags of rice though, because rice is the staple here.
Seattle 's Pike Market had a variety of fresh cold water fish that we hardly see here, except farmed or frozen. And a few other things like rooster fries that I have never seen here. Someone I worked with said the fish that a lot of people eat here are the ones that they toss back.
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thanrose
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Yeah, all the New England fishing communities known for their lobster or their clams or what have you do the same thing. If they are going out for lobster and haul an eel or two and a few crab or trash fish, that's what the fisherman's family will eat. Let the tourists come to town and buy the premium stuff. I love that stuff, but will eat mostly anything. I don't want to prepare eel, though.
I'm betting the friend you saw graduate was near the Canadian border. Reminds me of summers in Edmonton. Now they had a different ethnic composition of the community there. Never saw so many places selling pierogies.
I'm betting the friend you saw graduate was near the Canadian border. Reminds me of summers in Edmonton. Now they had a different ethnic composition of the community there. Never saw so many places selling pierogies.