Caryatid

Found this on "Stuff" in relation to Nordic Diet article
Ben_108 hours ago
I love how we should eat blackberries and raspberries in NZ to stay healthy.

Except 5 sad little raspberries in a tiny white container are $5 bucks here. In most of continental europe you can buy bucket loads of berries for pennies.

Let's really talk about the issue with healthy eating ... it's too expensive.
$5 gets you a full meal at a takeaways or fast food.
Super markets are raking profits of over 800% on farmer grown goods and even farmers markets are at a healthy profit for the 'entrepreneurial' weekend market farmer.
I'd love to have some cherries or raspberries, I grew up eating these in kg's per day bulk, but since moving to NZ the only way I can have them is frozen.
I was in the US 3 weeks ago, and in the wholefoods organic stores there you can buy any fruit / veg / meat is around 50% of what we pay in a regular supermarket (didn't even compare it to organic stores here) and tastes a ton better.
I love NZ but this food issue is just getting ridiculous!

BEVS

Note to all posters

I have moved this post from the 'weird kiwi cuisine' thread simply because raspberries are not weird to me.

Caryatid . You appear to have 'cherry picked' from the responses to highlight your own view, so for everyone else HERE is a link to the actual article on Stuff. Please do page down to read the responses people.

Whilst I do feel that NZ has become a more expensive place to live .That my grocery bill has increased & our wages have not. I do wonder where in New Zealand you are Caryatid ,to only be able to buy raspberries more precious ,in a price to weight ratio, than a black truffle.

At the moment raspberries & other soft fruits abound & will do all over Christmas. We planted them into our garden . Pick them now & freeze the glut. Go to a Pick Your Own and have a pleasant few hours.

Caryatid

Dearest Moderateur
I didn't know where else to post this article but as it was posted by an expat who had lived in another part of the world I thought it was valid. I stated where the comment was from. I thought this whole site was all about sharing views. Must have got something wrong somewhere. Of course if you can grow all your own fruit this is preferable but not everyone can or perhaps are not even able to go and pick their own.

bourbon-biscuit

Raspberries are still mentally expensive here in Waikato - I keep salivating over the thought of them! I don't think raspberries do so well in the Waikato cos it doesn't really get cold enough.

On the other hand, apricots are now 2.99/kg.

BEVS

No worries. It is it's own topic so it's own thread is more relevant don't you agree.
Perhaps better to have started your own thread with your own view & experience on the price of soft fruit with perhaps an article on the subject, rather than draft in a quite random comment from an article about diet.

So, if the chosen quote is not by yourself. Do you have a view on the price and availability of raspberries in New Zealand. Have you found raspberries to be $1 each.

We are certainly all free to share.

jmh

Good point - I don't think I've even seen any raspberries in the shops here - I'm doing the shopping later so I'll have a look. Strawberries are in though - 2.99 or $4 for two punnets. Tasty too.

When does the raspberry season start I wonder.

BEVS

Not quite yet. Almost there though.


edit...

and as an afterthought. Boysenberries ripen a little after raspberries it seems. Funny the things you learn.

Catchafire

$5 for 500g raspberries at our local farmers market. Pretty good deal, somehow I don't think the grower is making a huge margin gain.

You can eat very healthy in NZ, without breaking the bank. Seasonal veggies, are always very cheap this time of year and there is heaps of varieties to chose from.

As someone who is married to a Scandinavian and has actually lived there, the local raspberry season is about 4 weeks in summer and all the raspberries in the supermarkets come from Poland, which have all been liberally doused in pesticides.

If you think food is expensive here, try shopping in Sweden.............

jmh

In the interests of furthering the sum of knowledge on this worthy site I asked the guy down at New World. No Raspberries in yet but they are expected to be here by the end of the week. $5.99 for a small punnet which I think is about half the size of a normal one you get strawberries in. It will probably come down as the season progresses.

I was over in the UK in July and took advantage of the summer season. As I recall the raspberries were about GBP3 for a larger punnet which is pretty good - cheaper than it used to be. I remember paying the same for a tiny punnet a few years back so they have come down in price. I didn't notice where they came from though.

Bo-Jangles

I like a raspberry or three but they are sensitive little things and prone to spoiling very easily and they always seem relatively expensive to me. They need a long period of Winter chilling conditions to produce good fruits, hence why they do so well in the likes of Scotland and therefore don't do very well around the Northern NZ regions.

Those little punnets weigh about 120g and $5.99 sounds about right. I don't think I have seen them for less than that unless they have gone on the turn and sporting furry coats.

I rarely get fresh ones and usually keep a bag of frozen ones on hand, usually about $5 to $6 for 500g and like to mix them in with apples for crumbles, add to muffins with coconut and white chocolate and very often have handful in my yoghurt and muesli breakfast.

Caryatid

NZ has a temperate climate with few extremes. Water is readily available, soils are volcanic or alluvial. Growing conditions cannot be compared with those in Scandinavia. NZ food prices went silly from around the year 2001. I'm not sure why. I think labour and fuel prices account for a lot now. $5.00 is excellent value as these are very perishable fruits but I think generally if prices were a little lower perishable foods would sell faster in greater volumes and there would be less waste and higher turnover. Many growers just fast freeze their soft fruits.

j19fmm

Strawberries from the local fruit shop are now $1.99 a chip and one of the school bus drivers is selling big bags of them for $5, Guess you just have to know where to go.

Bellasmum

TommyLuck

As a regular eater of green vegetables, other seasonable vegetables, lean protein meats and fish and fruits in New Zealand, I wouldn't say it's expensive.

It's not cheap, nor was it in the UK. But then one must pose the question;

How much do you value your long term health?

The nutritional value of a $5 fast food takeaway is such that you might get a better nutritional value out of eating the $5 note.

Clearly I'm being facetious, but if you think Raspberries or [insert any other food here] are too expensive, don't buy them. No one is forcing you to.

bourbon-biscuit

Well, while it's lovely for you that on your budget fresh food doesn't seem expensive, it's a bit ignorant to deduce from that that buying fresh food is therefore simply a matter of making a 'right(ous)' health choice.