Re: Groceries
 

Indeed. A barrel of oil has dropped so much & cauliflower gone up so much that we can talk about a barrel of oil being worth 5 cauliflowers!

Although I did manage to buy two for $6 last weekend as Dominion (Superstore) had 'em on special.

Re: Groceries
 

Don't move to Newfoundland. Groceries are expensive here!

Re: Groceries
 

That they have, I don't see eating much vegetables in the near future, takes up too much of the food budget leaving nothing left for the other things....


The celery stalks are the ones with the leafy part on the top, and the sticks have been processed and cut into halves. They didn't have much of either in stock so I got a bit of both since we snack on them. Usually I buy the cheaper stalks and cut them myself, but had to take what they had.

As prices have gone up the stores seem to be stocking less produce, and out of stock a lot more often, suppose at the higher cost they are trying to reduce waste, and I imagine the higher prices is reducing demand.

We are staying in BC, at the end of the day it's too risky not having the safety net we have here for the times when health issues prevent working or working enough.

Re: Groceries
 

I did some shopping the other day at Walmarts for my son, as he wasn't feeling well, stocking up on a few bit and pieces. Not a typical shop but I'll try and remember to post next time I go.

Pkt of 5 chicken breasts - $10.00
Villagio bread - $3.38
Heinz Tomato Soup - $0.78
Can Tuna fish - $1.88
Dry pasta - $1.24
Cheese - $7.97
Phili cream cheese $3.97
Carrots - $1.97
Bag of Onions - 1.97
Bananas -$1.02 (1.48kg)
Teabags (own brand) $1.97
Digestive Biscuits - $2.00
Baked Beans (Heinz) $0.76
Folgers Coffee - $10.97
Ginger - $0.18
Ham - $5.00
Eggs - $2.85
Salad dressing - $2.77
Frozen Fries - $1.97
Dads Cookies - $1.97
Marmite - $3.56
Iceburg lettuce - $2.97
Tomatos - $2.42 ($6.55 kg)

Re: Groceries
 

That is cheap marmite- I paid $4.99- either one is a rip off tiddly pot of it- way cheaper and plastic squeezeable large containers in the UK

Re: Groceries
 

Why have the price of veggies gone up?

Re: Groceries
 

No expert on this one, but it would seem that in Canada, since out of season veggies are imported from the USA, the fact that the Canadian dollar has dropped, veggie prices are more expensive, a reason to increase prices to whatever folks will pay or the greedy distributor can profit.

Re: Groceries
 

It's partly down to exchange rates and partly down to climatic conditions (drought) in agricultural bits of the USA.

As I mentioned in a previous post, people could mitigate the rising cost of groceries by not buying stuff they won't use.

As an example, my wife decided to make a curry last night (she'd picked up some chicken on sale). We had several jars of curry sauce in the pantry. Having checked the dates on them, they all went in the bin. That's about $20 of wasted food.

Re: Groceries
 

Sharwoods, VH, those sorts?

I thought I was the only one that used 'cheats' like that. :unsure:

I just found a couple with December on. I was surprised at that as I thought they all went some way ahead. I must have used some past their dates before with no ill effect.

Re: Groceries
 

That sort of stuff, yes.

December would have been OK. Stuff with a 2014 date, probably not.

That's just an invitation to :sick:

Re: Groceries
 

That's essentially it.

The other mitigation strategy is to eat seasonable vegetables & fruit rather than expecting to eat strawberres & salad 365 days of the year. So root vegetables are the thing for the winter!

I keep meaning to research a better vegetable storage solution - other the the fridge. Back in the day, root vegetables were kept for months in root cellars. Yet potatoes in a bag in the garage sprout in a month or so. Some sort of dark, insulated storage box vented to the outside air is what I'm thinking of.

Re: Groceries
 

We looked at buying some land on which there was a root cellar. The owner had created it by digging a big hole, maybe 20' diameter, and then lining it with tyres filled with earth. The tyres continued above the ground, leaning in to form a roof. It was large enough to stand up in. He gave us some garlic that he said had been in there for two winters; it was fine.

So, if you happen upon a couple of hundred tyres and are inclined to dig ...

Re: Groceries
 

I neither have 100 tires nor the inclination to dig. (Although I do have a friend with all kinds of excavation equipment). No I'm thinking of something I can build in one of the garages.

Re: Groceries
 

Brown paper bags seem to be the thing. Mustn't let stuff freeze through.

Re: Groceries
 

We ate vegetables from the garden up to the end of November, I believe one presevation trick was to use buckets of sand for carrots and parsnips. I'll ask.