I know food prices are going up but this is kind of ridiculous

[janradder]

Living in the Midwest, corn is rather abundant in the summer.  Usually at this point in the season, the local grocery store has deals like 10 ears for a dollar (and sometimes more).  Corn is cheap, plentiful, and practically given away.  Yesterday, while shopping, the "advertised special" on corn was 2/$1 -- that's 50 freakin' cents an ear!  As a treat I splurged on four ears of corn for two bucks (and the corn tasted like crap, too).

Comments

[glamberson.livejournal.com]

I think we're 5 for $2 - very similar.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

That's usually what it costs around here in the early summer, before the main harvest starts pouring in.

[deanarae.livejournal.com]

That's because your corn is going in my gas tank.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I know, and on top of that, the ethanol is still using a ton of fossil fuel in the form of natural gas which is pelleted and then used as fertilizer for the corn (and corn needs a ridiculous amount of fertilizer).

[rsheslin.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that ethanol is more polluting.... I really wish that more people/big corporations would put more energy (so to speak) into making life better rather than simply trying to solve narrowly defined problems in ways that cause more problems.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

There's actually a small company in MN that is exploring the production of bio-diesel from algae. It's much faster growing and takes up much less space than corn. Also, their refinement process can be done inside a few trailers. It's just starting to move beyond the experimental stage.

[sacwentie.livejournal.com]

Don't you usually grow some?

[janradder.livejournal.com]

No. We don't have enough room in the garden for it -- you need enough plants to get cross pollination, otherwise the ears turn out too small and only half (or less) of the kernels actually grow.

[pnew8.livejournal.com]

Road-side farmers are selling a dozen ears for $3 around here. Already the picking is getting slim though, meaning the corn season is drawing to a close.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

That's closer to the prices I'm used to. I was just really shocked to see 50 cents an ear at the grocery store -- usually they're practically giving it away.

[pierogi-queen.livejournal.com]

I haven't bought any corn yet this year - maybe this weekend (what is in the grocery stores isn't ever very good). However, earlier this week I went to a grocery store near work to buy something for lunch. I thought maybe an apple and a hard roll and some cheese or yogurt might be good. So, I head for the produce dept and the first apples I see are $4.99/lb. Apples like dellicious, empire, gala etc were 3.99 and 2.99 a pound. No apple for me. Oranges were priced the same way - peaches (which are in season now here) were 2.99 a pound as were Bartlett pears - small, bruised up ones. Other pears were $3.99/lb. Plums were the same. I ended up buying, of all things, half a pound of Black Velvet Apricots (that tasted more like plums - but were sweet and sooooo juicy)) for $1.99 a pound. The price of food is as out of control as the price of oil. I'll let you know what corn at the farm stands is here when I finally buy some.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

The corn at the grocery store here usually isn't that bad and sometimes better than what you can get at farmer's markets or roadside stands. I don't know why that is, but for some reason it is. The price of produce in CT sounds a lot worse than out here. I can actually get some incredibly tasty organic golden delicious apples (Éiden's favorite) for $1.99/lb.