Why Did These 5 Locally-Grown Potatoes cost $7.06 At The Food Co-op?
Why Did These 5 Locally-Grown Potatoes cost $7.06 At The Food Co-op?
by nyuhqe
16 Comments
Careful-Subject1535
Because you paid for them… A fool and his money are easily parted.
Drugsarefordrugs
Small growers yield small harvests yet have a relatively high overhead compared to large-scale farming operations. Small growers can also bring to market varieties of produce that mass merchants generally don’t, which can call a higher price due to scarcity. Boutique coops and markets also upcharge given their location, clientele affluence, and point-of-sale fees. This looks like 2-3lbs of potatoes, so charging $2-$3 per pound isn’t shocking.
Edit: That said, I’m not passing judgment on whether a person chooses to purchases items like these; only trying to provide some info as to why they are relatively expensive.
SaintUlvemann
Apparently that’s how much the local potato-farmer values his own labor. You don’t have to agree.
I typically don’t buy staple foods at my local co-op. They’re expensive and not really better in quality. I do go there for specialty items, though. Venison, chickpea miso, they’ve got some actually-good canned Indian meals for when I’m lazy. Purple sweet potatoes, broccolini or romanesco. Mung beans. They have an excellent selection of spices. No one else in town sells things like that and the price is reasonable besides.
The one staple food that my local co-op has where the quality actually justifies the price is milk, there’s a good local dairy that only sells there. But your mileage may vary on that.
cropguru357
I love selling produce to folks who will pay this sort of money.
Because mass-production makes prices lower. That’s why we have factory farms.
jws717
Probably from the local Costco
TicklishRobot
We’re all slaves to capitalism, duh
KindaFondaGoozah
That’s a curated collection of pommes de terre. Gotta sell that sizzle.
MrsCastle
Because you don’t have a car in the photo for scale?
jarfin542
One out of every ten has a five dollar bill hidden inside. Just keep buying them, you’ll get lucky eventually.
iaintdoingit
Do you want some sweet potatoes? Just dug 300 lbs.
Rich-Appearance-7145
Bigger question is why did you pay $7 DLLs for 5 potatoes, no way they got that expensive in the states, 5 potatoes cost me 30 cents here.
Faerbera
The sad fact is that big ag companies have convinced us that potatoes can be grown in Idaho, shipped, bagged, cleaned, chilled, and delivered through a network of distribution facilities for $0.99/lb. They Hoover up subsidies, have massive tracts of land to ensure stable crop production, have vertically integrated supply chains, and grow boring-ass flavorless potatoes.
Local farms don’t need huge supply chains, petrochemicals for transportation, marketing departments, and exploitative CEO salaries. But they also don’t receive as many subsidies, have to frequently pay rent on their land, and, at $7 for five potatoes, still can’t make enough money competing with $0.99 potatoes to feed their families.
We need farmers and we need locally grown food. Buying $0.99 potatoes is contributing to the problem.
immagetchu
Really struggling to remember the last time I saw cooking advice on this sub
16 Comments
Because you paid for them… A fool and his money are easily parted.
Small growers yield small harvests yet have a relatively high overhead compared to large-scale farming operations. Small growers can also bring to market varieties of produce that mass merchants generally don’t, which can call a higher price due to scarcity. Boutique coops and markets also upcharge given their location, clientele affluence, and point-of-sale fees. This looks like 2-3lbs of potatoes, so charging $2-$3 per pound isn’t shocking.
Edit: That said, I’m not passing judgment on whether a person chooses to purchases items like these; only trying to provide some info as to why they are relatively expensive.
Apparently that’s how much the local potato-farmer values his own labor. You don’t have to agree.
I typically don’t buy staple foods at my local co-op. They’re expensive and not really better in quality. I do go there for specialty items, though. Venison, chickpea miso, they’ve got some actually-good canned Indian meals for when I’m lazy. Purple sweet potatoes, broccolini or romanesco. Mung beans. They have an excellent selection of spices. No one else in town sells things like that and the price is reasonable besides.
The one staple food that my local co-op has where the quality actually justifies the price is milk, there’s a good local dairy that only sells there. But your mileage may vary on that.
I love selling produce to folks who will pay this sort of money.
“Locally-grown” “food-co-op” that’s why they’re expensive
Economy of scale
Because mass-production makes prices lower. That’s why we have factory farms.
Probably from the local Costco
We’re all slaves to capitalism, duh
That’s a curated collection of pommes de terre. Gotta sell that sizzle.
Because you don’t have a car in the photo for scale?
One out of every ten has a five dollar bill hidden inside. Just keep buying them, you’ll get lucky eventually.
Do you want some sweet potatoes? Just dug 300 lbs.
Bigger question is why did you pay $7 DLLs for 5 potatoes, no way they got that expensive in the states, 5 potatoes cost me 30 cents here.
The sad fact is that big ag companies have convinced us that potatoes can be grown in Idaho, shipped, bagged, cleaned, chilled, and delivered through a network of distribution facilities for $0.99/lb. They Hoover up subsidies, have massive tracts of land to ensure stable crop production, have vertically integrated supply chains, and grow boring-ass flavorless potatoes.
Local farms don’t need huge supply chains, petrochemicals for transportation, marketing departments, and exploitative CEO salaries. But they also don’t receive as many subsidies, have to frequently pay rent on their land, and, at $7 for five potatoes, still can’t make enough money competing with $0.99 potatoes to feed their families.
We need farmers and we need locally grown food. Buying $0.99 potatoes is contributing to the problem.
Really struggling to remember the last time I saw cooking advice on this sub