Preposterous Produce Prices!

We eat a lot of salads at my house these days (who can afford MEAT anymore!!??) so I buy quite a bit of fresh produce.  (well, as fresh as it can be, considering the time between when it was picked, versus when it ended up on the grocer's shelf!)  I am always amazed at the price fluctuations of produce!!  And this is barring any unforeseen, catastrophic 'acts of God' that would affect their growing seasons!

Last week, huge heads of iceberg lettuce were selling for $1.68 each.  This week, the heads are so scrawny they're not much bigger than a GRAPEFRUIT, and the cost of each is $1.75.  Last week, a bag of stalk celery sold for $2.00 per bag.  This week, those same bags are only $1.00.  Radishes are holding their own at .88 cents a bundle.  (funny, though...once you bag them, the cashier can't tell how many bundles you've got in the bag.  She always has to ask.)  Good thing I'm an honest person!  Seems to me, it'd make more sense to sell radishes by the POUND, and take the guess work out of it....but what do I know??

A large bag of carrots sells for .94 cents...unless you want organically grown carrots.  THOSE sell for $1.25.  I swear, when you put the two bags side by side....I can't see a significant difference.  They look the same; they smell the same; they weigh the same.  WHY do I care that the soil they were grown in was fertilized with cow crap and kitchen scraps, instead of Miracle-Gro??  Anyway....I always opt for the .94 cent NON-organic package, and we've had no ill effects to speak of!  (I think my vision is even improving!)

As a general rule, I avoid buying tomatoes, altogether.  No matter WHAT you pay for them....they all taste like cardboard!! You will never find a tomato in a grocery store chain that tastes like a tomato!  But then, for folks who've never had a home-grown, vine-ripened tomato, those store-bought imitations may be just fine! (They're obviously using them mainly for 'color', anyway...'cause it certainly isn't for flavor!)

We don't normally like bell peppers in our salads, but I like to cook with them, and sometimes, just for variety, I would like to use red or yellow peppers in my recipes, rather than the green ones.  UNTIL I LOOK AT THE PRICES!!!  Good grief!!!  Can ANYONE tell me why a red or yellow pepper costs nearly double what a green one costs????  They're ALL grown the same....they taste the same.....what's the damn deal??? You'd think the growers had to work extra hard to get those colors added, or something!   And WHY are peppers sold as "each"....instead of by the pound, like a lot of other produce?  Why would I want to pay $1.88  for a small, petite, yellow or red pepper, when I can pay the same thing for a big ole honker, softball-sized one??  Go figure!

The cost of bell peppers is outrageous to say the least!  Even the green ones are .99 cents EACH!! Needless to say, I selected the largest ones I could find in the bin!!  The big ones cook up just as nice as the little ones & I can freeze any leftovers for the next recipe!

And speaking of freezing.....if I can FREEZE my produce at home.....WHY can the growers demand higher prices from consumers,  when their produce freezes in the field??????????????