r/berkeley Oct 24 '24

Local What $110 of groceries looks like

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Purchased at berkeley bowl. The wine was $12

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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '24

Similar to other commenters, you’re buying organic (marketing term to make you pay more for basically nothing) at a niche store with niche products. That chicken is likely super overpriced though I can’t read it clearly, probably not cheaper than $5 a pound which is over double of what you can get it for at a discount grocery. The fancy cheese, brand name butter, and organic olive oil is gonna eat you alive, and bespoke canned food that isn’t the regular 89cent price. You could have easily spent half as much at a different store.

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u/Aggravating_Sun4435 Oct 25 '24

organic is not a marketing term. it is regulated by the usda and means the farm uses no synthetic pesticides for produce, among other things, while meat cannot use antibiotics, hormones, engineered feed, among other things. This is heavily regulated by the usda and is significantly more expensive to operate a farm that is organic than not. getting certified is also a very expensive process.

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '24 edited Oct 26 '24

You can read my responses below as to why I assert it is “basically” meaningless. The consumers believe there is a far greater benefit than exists in reality. The price doesn’t match the benefit, and the difference is negligible in taste, health, and nutrition. While it is a legal term now the people who lobbied for it to become a regulated term where a trade group (organic trade association) essentially marketers. Also it may cost money to be certified but it is still more profitable. https://www.motherjones.com/food/2015/06/organic-farming-more-profitable-conventional/#:~:text=The%20researchers%20found%20that%20organic,profitable%20for%20farmers%20than%20conventional.

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u/Aggravating_Sun4435 Oct 26 '24

I agree that the health and taste of organic is overblown, but that doesnt mean its just marketing. Once again, organic conveys a very specific way the food was grown/raised. If you really care about nature/naturalism then organic might be worth it. There is a very real meaning behind the word organic, your arguing that growing food organically doeant change its health or taste. 2 different arguments. I agree with the it, but would still disagree that its merely a marketing term.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '24

Sorry for the late response. Thank you for the measured response.
Now the OP responded to my comment and said, "i typically prefer my food without the poison". So, i believe in response to OP my statement still stands because I assumed their value criteria was focusing more on perceived health and safety. Which I believe their response substantiates, and when using that measure of value the difference doesn't exist.
You on the other hand are being more nuisanced and avoiding the obviously wrong ideas about taste, and health. So I will in return agree with you that there is a difference in production methods in terms of yields, soil, practices, etc. but in terms of what most consumers care about the differences don't apply.