I am a vegetarian and I am cheap. I will shop at 2-3 different supermarkets to get all the produce I need cheap. Apples at $1.49 are not cheap when Walmart has them for 99 cents and so on. One indicator I have noticed is carrots. Carrots are grown in soil... you can't organically grow them or over-produce them on your land... they need space. They need space, topsoil and time to become carrots... you can't rush carrots. Carrots have been a bellweather for the state of crops... they define whether a farmer ends up above or below water. My threshold for a 1 lb. bag of carrots is 99 cents- I will never pay more than a dollar a pound for them. I just want to point this out because it's about to change.
My hunny and I will go to several different stores for our groceries too, although he refuses to shop at Wal-Mart because they are the killers of small business (I've tried to convince him to at least go for our canned foods because they are usually much cheaper there, but he's so stubborn!) We will go to at least three different grocery stores and check out the ads and sales on produce and meat every week. We've found that our local Albertson's has some great prices and a lot better quality produce though. He likes to get most of our meat at Fresh and Easy, especially when they have a good sale going, although we will still get quite a bit of our meat at Fry's because you just can't beat the prices. Sometimes we choose great deals over the quality of the item and sometimes we pay the extra cash for nicer quality. Overall though I'd say were pretty good about saving and about finding nice quality groceries. I sure hope prices don't go up too much for fresh produce because we get a fresh batch of green beans, broccoli, or asparagus every other day for our dinner's and lunches. =(
I don't mind paying more for my produce if the extra money goes to enrich the farmers but we all know this is simply not true- the gas the truck that delivers the produce dictates that more than anything else. I remember a few years ago the price of milk went up statewide and the excess went to transportation costs, not the dairy farmer. So the farmer ends up with a black eye for something he cannot control. I shop at Walmart. Why? It's cheaper. Although I have noticed in the past couple of years their food prices going up, they're still cheaper than almost anywhere else. So I have no problem giving them my money.
I buy most of my groceries at an ecologik super market. I NEED fresh produce. And natural processed foods. They have many "natural" grocery stores, but most of them are just a bunch of hype, and it is only slightly more natural that regular supermarkets. Local farmers markets are also good. Americans are funny. They only go to the food store every 2 weeks, and stockpile a huge cart. I do not know how you can do this. perhaps they just eat mostly packaged food, does not seem very healthy
carrots never have a consistent flavor but I always have high hopes and am often disappointed, similar to strawberries actually. Usually the only way I know I'm eating a carrot is because it looks like one, which is also no unlike strawberries texture and all that. the only consistency to find in the flavor of carrots is the in what you cook them in or eat them with. how you routinely flatter the carrot and/or the strawberry is the key to consistency
