General Discussion

Even here, there is plenty.

My wife was on a short vacation with a girlfriend on the German-Swiss border. It was one of those areas where you could just walk over a small bridge and be in Switzerland. Since the Swiss Franc is now worth far more than a Euro, she said that food stores on the German side were full (many Swiss shoppers), where the ones on the Swiss side were nearly empty.

We vary our shopping a lot. There is the farmers market in the town square three times a week, plus the Aldi chain, cheap, but sometimes good fresh stuff due to rapid turnover. The farmers market is usually expensive, but always fresh. It has been there for the last 800 years or so, and it’s a tradition that is likely to continue. There is also the sort of but not really upscale Edeka supermarket, and the more midscale ReWe in town.

I suspect something similar in the States. When I go with my brother food shopping in the States (Virginia), he mixes up trips to Costco, Aldi, Giant and Safeway, and he researches prices beforehand. He’s now retired and has the time to do that. My daughter in Manhattan says food prices are through the roof. Though between her and her husband, they pull in a decent income, taxes (Federal, NY State and NYC) take about half of it, and they have started watching their food budget.

The big test comes next month, when we head for the USA for five months. We’ll mostly be on the outer tip of Cape Cod, so we expect outrageous food prices. Before we head out, though, we will spend the first night in Boston, and visit the open air market in the North End. We first went there two years ago, and were blown away. Huge eggplants $1. Four lemons $1. A pound of almost any fruit or vegetable, $1 or less ($2 for high end cherries). Fresh corn on the cob, four for $1. We spent something like $26 and had so much fresh produce, we could barely carry it back to the hotel. We don’t understand how these people can sell at those prices and cover their costs, but they must, since they are always there.

On the Outer Cape, prices are, as is to be expected, many multiples of the prices in Boston. Fish is high, but always fresh. Due to the warming oceans, the lobsters are moving north, and the local catch is continually diminishing. Prices of $70 a pound for lobster meat are no longer shocking, so we don’t indulge in that very often. $35 for a lobster roll, gimme a break! The Stop & Shop in Provincetown is really the only game around. There are small food shops in Truro and Wellfleet, but their prices are so high, you’d think they bought their stock at Stop & Shop and marked it all up 30% for their captive audiences. They probably make 90% of their operating profit between June and September, so they most likely have to do that to survive. We’re used to it, expect it, and take it into account. First time visitors probably gape in shock.

Lots of people seem to pay by credit card, too, so the stores have build in a 3% or 4% loss for every purchase paid by card. We pay cash where we can, but with lots of family and friends coming to stay with us, food budget cash disappears like water through a sieve at those prices. Including snacks in town during the day, food can eat up between $500 and $700 a week. Most people don’t stay five weeks, of course, but I still bust my ass for work the rest of the year, and at age 73, I claim the right. This August marks exactly 50 years on the job for me. It ain’t gonna be 60.