Thursday, November 13, 2008

Convenient...But Expensive!

I'm making garden vegetable soup for dinner tonight. It's a weekly staple at our house during the colder months.

The recipe calls for 2 cups of broccoli florets. I would normally buy whole broccoli, but I was feeling kind of lazy today so I just bought the bag of florets.

Last week, while in Chicago, I bought a 3 lb. bag of broccoli florets at Costco. I paid $4.49 for the bag. The price stuck in my mind because I remember being amazed at how cheap it was. Seriously, it would have been enough broccoli to feed me and Mrs. TBF for five nights. And while I'm thinking about it...

If you're one of the many people complaining how expensive food is, here's my advice to you:

STOP BUYING JUNK FOOD! THEY ARE EMPTY CALORIES! YOU CAN BUY 3 LBS. OF BROCCOLI AT COSTCO FOR $4.49 FOR CHRISSAKE! IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THAT YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!

If you're somebody who doesn't complain about the cost of food...well...then just go ahead and keep buying junk food.

So, the 3 lbs. of Costco broccoli florets at $4.49 comes out to about $1.50 per pound. And the 300 gram bag of broccoli florets at my local grocery store? It cost CHF 3.50. After a little quick metric and currency conversion, that comes out to...$4.50 per pound.

Yes, broccoli florets cost three times more in Basel than they do in Chicagoland!

Of course, I'm not complaining. After all, I did also buy a bunch of roasted nuts and a large bag of tortilla chips. I mean, come on! It's almost Friday!

6 comments:

Barry said...

Read an article recently about the current economic crisis and the fact its coupled with a drop in food prices. Every food that is except broccoli!

Supposedly its the new "superfood" and so it's demand and price has gone up. You're buying designer veg!

The Big Finn said...

tsj - Well it sure is cheap in the U.S.

Unknown said...

I don't think food is all too cheap in Canada. I buy mostly raw foods and veggies and they are rather pricey here... But I don't have a specific price to go by (sorry).. I know cheaper food is in China town, love the bok choy the most. It's about .99 a pd.

CanadianSwiss said...

What bugs me more than the price for veggies here is the choice. In N-A, you get most everything all year round (with price differences, of course). But still... Why do I have to go to the Chinese store to buy spring onions (aka scallions)! I've never seen them at Coop or Migros!

Mark said...

Even I am sometimes still amazed when I look at the prices in Swiss stores. Especially fresh vegetables, it's a crime what the stores sometimes dare to charge! And I am plain stupid buying it, paying for it because I like it anyway. Chicagoland huh? Sounds good to me...

The DP said...

I think the reason americans don't buy produce is because the produce there tastes bad. I eat apples like an apple machine here, but back home I can't stand them, they taste like flour.