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"$1 Aldi's high-fructose-corn-syrup cereals"

A few comments:

First, Aldi doesn't seem to sell cereals for $1. At least in our market, they tend to run $1.69 a box or about ten cents an ounce. Try to match that at other grocery stores. And they are not cheap knock-offs. They are brand name cereals packaged under their own label.

Second, if you'll buy junk foods at Whole Foods, you'll buy junk foods at Aldi. And vice versa. Do they not sell products with high fructose corn syrup at Whole Foods? (Before buying cereal, I take a quick look at the nutrition facts. If it is over 6 grams of sugar for about a 30 gram serving size, I don't buy it. If the fiber is less than, say 1 gram per serving, I also don't buy it. Life is too short to eat Froot Loops.)

Third. I stopped buying the brand name Bite Size Shredded Wheats ("Mini-wheats") when they added high fructose corn syrup to them. I buy the Aldi brand which still does not use high fructose corn syrup.

Fourth, Aldi (not "Aldi's") really seems to keep quality high on their priorities. They are, after all, owned by the same establishment that brings you Trader Joes. Aldi is my go-to place for European foods and candies since I don't have access to Trader Joes or other shops like that where I live.

Fifth, I don't work for Aldi, I just have shopped there since back in the early 90s when I lived in Europe and now in the eastern half of the US. It's allowed us to stay within a food budget through times when we didn't have the financial option to join a CSA or shop for expensive organic elitist foods. (I mean, honestly, over $6 for a dozen eggs?)

This is a great post with many thinking/talking points. Quality food will always be my #1 priority - I will sacrifice where I live or the kind of car I drive inorder to (continue to) purchase organic/natural/local foods. This trade-off is always worth it, in my world.

In my area of the country (New England), the cost of vegetables at the farmer's market is usually the same as products on the grocery store (sometimes more, sometimes less). Carrots are a major exception. Eggs and meat are more locally produced, milk is the same at the store (organic milk).

On the one hand, I cheer rising prices on because it will help egde Wal-Mart out of the organic food market (although, it might just make their presence even worse). On the other hand, it will make quality food that much more unaffordable to low-income individuals/families than it already is now; that means continued subsistence on grains and fast/processed foods which are cheaper than fresh foods.

So I don't know what to think about this... I could blather on for 10 pages. But, anytime a market shifts to helping promote local farmers, I am in favor.

I haven't bought eggs in a few weeks, but I seem to remember that last time, Whole Foods cage-free organic eggs were $2.89/dozen. I live in the DC area, where prices are usually high. Not as high as Seattle, I guess!

It's interesting that there is no discussion of grass-feeding organically raised animals in the article, since the price of organic animal feed seems to be the biggest issue for those with livestock.

I'd like to think that the ethanol juggernaut could force us to rethink our dependence on cheap corn, which would be an upside to this upheaval.

I understand people feeling pinched, but I don't feel bad about spending the extra money myself if I understand where the costs are coming from (and I am by no means wealthy). I worry that these price increases will push the idea that organic food is "elitist," which doesn't help anyone.

I'm actually glad that Wal-Mart is selling organic, despite concerns about who they're squeezing in order to keep prices so low, because I think that everyone, not just upper middle class folks in urban areas, should have the option of feeding their families in a way that is sustainable. If Wal-Mart and other big chain grocery stores can help to convince farmers that there is still a big market for organic, that's a net good. If the price increases encourage more people to take a look at their local farmers markets in the hope of finding a few deals, even better.

I was surprised by the eggs thing too. I just recently switched to organic cage free eggs, and was surprised by how LITTLE markup there was. A regular dozen is about $2.50 and organic cage free (and local) is about $2.99-$3.25 -- definitley affordable to me. And i'm in Brooklyn, btw, shopping at a Met Food (middle range). I'm surprised that they found a C-Town (low end grocery) in Brooklyn that even HAD organic eggs! No wonder they were expensive...

Very interesting article!
My husband works at a family-run fruit market outside of Seattle, which I blog for. Organic vs. conventional comes up all the time, on the blog and in person.

I know the fruit market has lost some of its customers in recent years to places like WF. The fruit market can't offer as much organic because their customer base simply doesn't buy them. As the prices start to climb, it will be interesting to see if some of those folks who left for WF (after making their opinion quite known about the small offering of organic produce at the market) come back. Esp. if the prices skyrocket as this article predicts.

Something I wish everyone recognized non-organic food: just because it's not "Certified organic" does NOT mean it was dipped in pesticide before hitting the display. Especially when we are working with locally grown items. Some times a small farmer cannot afford the cost of organic certification. Some items are grown nearly organic but don't quite meet the certification guidelines, for instance in winter maybe a farmer is forced to spray to avoid losing their crop, but the fruit doesn't come out until spring or summer.

Please don't get me wrong. Organic is very good. I love to buy it when it works with my budget. I just truly believe it's better to eat fresh produce (especially local!) than none at all. It will be very interesting to see what people say and ultimately, what they buy, as the prices start to climb.

As the prices climb, I buy less and less organic. Why? Because my rent more than doubled in October, and a roof over my head trumps organic produce in my world. If regular is a buck fifty and organic tops six bucks? Regular.

And no, rising prices don't spur me to learn more about organics, really. They just push me to the cheaper options. The only place I'm holding the line on organics no matter the price is milk and eggs. (Meat not a factor; I'm a vegetarian.)

I've found that, since converting to mostly organic, we're much more careful about actually eating more of the food we buy. Sure, we may have gotten more food for our buck in the old days, but we also threw out more (sad to say). I wonder if other people have found the same thing.

i pay 1.65 euro for 6 organic eggs in italy. with the conversion, it's not all that different. about $5 for a dozen.

it's just a matter of what you are used to...

here in Europe, food costs way, way more than in North America, where we have have quite cheap food.

Last week, on the French nightly news, they interviewed people in a supermarket parking lot, asking how much they pay for groceries on average per week -- answer was 260-300 Euros, up from about 230-250. That translates to about $1500 - 1800/month. I spent the first year almost fainting whenever I bought meat or fish (an average-sized whole halibut costs $60).

And as expensive as food is, the move toward organic food is growing by leaps and bounds -- the quality and taste really matter to people. (news story the next night).

The difference I think is that Europeans do not buy as many household items or as much clothing -- they buy a few pieces a year, and make them last.

Here are prices from one of the major Swiss supermarkets (lots of organic stuff listed -- US$ pretty much par with Swiss Francs):

http://www.leshop.ch/leshop/Main.do;jsessionid=884A4C1CFD54A59150BD69F90D09813A.dallas3?currentMenu=SHOP_SUPERMARKET

and just to add to Doppelganger's post -- there was a study done a few years ago that revealed the US wastes half its food:

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=56376-us-wastes-half

...and the British throw out a third of the food they actually buy from the supermarket:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1460183,00.html

Darby --

you make some great points. i hope that you have signs about those distinctions at your fruit stand. i am the kind of customer who can't afford to only buy organics, but i do try to be mindful (especially with milk, meat, and eggs, but also with veggies). i would love to know how "not-organic" an item is, and i would pay some price premium for semi-organic (mindfully-raised? you know what i mean) goods.

i find it's often difficult to know which products fall into that category. i wish i could figure out whether the eggs i see labeled as "raised on a farm, not a factory" were cage-free, for instance (i'm guessing not). at the farmers' market, i can ask the farmers, but they're usually pretty busy. i wish there were signs explaining things. it would make me more likely to buy, not less.

I agree 100% with monika1. In america food has always been cheap, carbs even cheaper - hence the obesity rates. People have not generally put much emphasis to the quality of produce - the way it tastes. American's don't have time to eat properly - they run when they eat, hence no need to taste the quality of food. I am convinced that the reason french/italians do not get fat is that they have the most flavourful food in small quantities, eat slowly, which means the brain gets the signal on time that the stomach is satisfied. If one eats empty carbs, in a non-mindful way - eats less quality more quantity - hence the need in the US for a LOT for cheap. Time magazine had a GREAT article in the last 6 months about exactly what monika1 is talking about - the average 4-5 people family and how much they spend on food per year. Guess what - Americans still where paying less then any of their counterparts in the industrialised world.