Same old story. Americans do not want to pay the price for products made in America up to American standards. So we buy from abroad to get it cheap and fast, and this is the result.
More generally, as we turn into a service/information economy, we lose our productivity. But most Americans do not care. "American Idol" is on. Or something. (I got rid of my TV a long time ago.)
Vitalchoice.com That's where I get most of my seafood. I get 'wild-caught' tuna sashimi from Whole Foods for *gasp* 23 bucks a pound. But even Whole Foods does not carry wild caught alaskan salmon even though thats what it says on the label. You gotta order ALL your Salmon from vitalchoice. Also, the fruit from vitalchoice is beyond excellent.
You cannot buy food from Vons, Staters, Ralphs, Albertsons or anybody else. Do not buy fruit from those places.
You're looking at 15 bucks a day per person to eat organic, US made products. The other day I payed 8 bucks to buy Driscolls US Grown Organic Strawberries.
There pricing the average American out. Plain and simple. Pay up or risk your health.
Here's a cabbageroll shopping menu....with prices included.....
Strawberries 2lb box 6-7 bucks when their in season, else I can't afford them.
Raspberries 4 bucks (when there in season and no I can't afford the 6.99 for organic raspberries)
Here's ingredients for 2-3 servings of Spinach Salad:
- Spinach grown in US- 4 bucks
- Home Raised Blue Cheese Crumbles 5 bucks
- Eggs (uhhh dunnos)
- Onions - 1-2 bucks
- Cucumber 2 bucks
- Organic US Grown Tomatoes I pay 6 bucks for like 6...but honestly they do taste amazing....
- And to get Dressing your looking at 6 bucks (but I usually get the cheap stuff)
- Spaghetti...well if you get the rice/wheat/soy or whatever the heck i buy its 4.99 for a itsy bitsy bag of pasta......
- Pasta Sauce...well for organic gluten free pasta sauce ur look at 7-9 bucks...but I get the 99 cent per serving can that I think is gluten free but I'm not sure......
Anyways....on the bright side though....You rapidly end up losing weight cuz you can't afford to eat anything!!
I tried making vegetable white bean soup in a crockpot with leeks and stuff...and I wasn't even using the top notch ingredients and I was paying 20 bucks for all the ingredients and the soup would only last me 2 days...but I guess that lowers my daily average to 10 bucks a day....
One more thing....I don't eat meat anymore cuz I can't afford it....free range steak is so expensive...you can get a thin slice good for a quick meal for like 6-7 bucks....but what I do is I buy calf liver for like 4 bucks....Calf Liver is in comparison cheap....I'm leaving now......anyone wanna go grocery shopping with me? 
I'm hungry...
Good points above.
It is more expensive to eat locally-grown especially organic foods.
And yes, Americans love their Chinese-made Wal-Mart merchandise, although the fact that it is often flimsy and shoddy means it has to be replaced quickly. I think that's part of the plan, too.
As far as the local fresh produce, for some people a vegetable garden is one answer. In our town there is a produce dealer who sells locally-grown stuff from the many farms in this area. And in the 'big town' 15 miles away there is a farmer's market, although with gas prices as high as they are, people think twice about the drive.
It's ironic and bizarre, really, that we bring 'fresh' seafood from the other side of the planet and it's cheaper than what is caught much closer to home.
-VA
Yes, I agree. Grow your own veggies. If you don't have the land, rent space from a community garden plot. You may want to read more about "Nine Steps Toward Family Food Security": http://distributist.blogspot.com...d-
security.html
I talked to my dr. today about drugs and supplements from China. He says that the name brand prescription and over-the-counter drugs are safe because they're made here or in the UK, France or Germany. He doesn't recommend the generics. The riskiest products are the Chinese produced vitamins and herbal supplements. He recommends researching the manufacture of the name brand drugs you're taking with the "Physician's Desk Reference" at your local library. You can find info on your generics by Googling the name of the product and the manufacturer or distributor.
He thinks that the FDA is on top of things. He sites them recently finding a bad batch of heart medication and notifying all patients on the drug within 48 hours.
Dear Vanishing American,
I am trying to keep the "Guard The Borders" coalition alive. I only have time to do about one article per month to send to the entire coalition, but you are welcome to copy anything you like from the GTB website meanwhile.
I don't have an email address for you. If you would like to receive TXT, DOC, and HTML versions of the blogburst, just send me your contact information in confidence to my "admceditor" email address. When I send out the broadcast email, I use blind carbon copies, so your info will not be exposed.
Sorry for this irrelevant comment, but I didn't know how else to reach you. Our current Burst is "Panic In Postville" which you could pull off the GTB blog if you want it, or just let me know and I can send the DOC and TXT to you.
I have to agree with VA. Gardening.
I was at Wal-Mart a few years ago and I thought I would buy some potatoes. Now I want to know how it is that a 10 lb. bag of potatoes can be shipped over here from France and sold for 4.99. I know I can't send 10 pounds of anything to France for 4.99, so how can anyone be making money on growing and shipping ten pounds of potatoes to America from France for 4.99? The bag of Idaho potatoes was 5.99. So it costs $1.00 more to grow and ship 10 pounds of potatoes from Idaho to WI than it does from France? There's not even an ocean involved, much less the paperwork and other customs stuff. How does that work?
Call Me Mom - that's the kind of thing that baffles me, too. Why is it so much cheaper to ship the stuff around the world? I may be ignorant on this subject but it makes little sense on the face of it. Maybe somebody can enlighten us.
-VA
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