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Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

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Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#161

Post by sosborn »

xorcist wrote: post #74
venomsnake wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets start with the obvious - a modern food is disgustingly safe compared to what a human immune system is capable of handling. No matter what Madison Avenue has tried to convince the US public - a single or couple of bacteria won't kill you. And if you mean prepared Chinese food - have you seen the burners under the woks - they look, sound and consume fuel at comparable rate to a jet engine. It is very intense style…

> couple of bacteria won't kill you That's naive. Enjoy your chicken sashimi.

I've had chicken sashimi. It was served with raw egg and it was delicious.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#162

Post by Spooky23 »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #67
driverdan wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At a Whole Foods... I'm curious why did you compare to Whole Foods? They are far more expensive than a regular grocery store and their food is not better.

I hear people say that, but I keep seeing things that are cheaper at Whole Foods than they are at Safeway. Identical products, like Endangered Species brand 88% dark chocolate and Racer 5 IPA beer are cheaper at my local Whole Foods than they are at Safeway. $3.29 vs $3.99 and $4.99 vs $5.99, respectively. Their produce and meat may be more expensive, but appears to be of higher quality. I'm not actually sure how muc…

Those sorts of things are loss leaders. If you pick 20 random items at Whole Foods, you see a 30-50% price difference.

My sister is a Whole Foods acolyte. She spends like $6 a gallon for shirt dated, ultra pasteurized milk because While Foods. Same product made in the same dairy at the local store for normals is like $2.79/g.

I used to like whole foods for the cheese and hot bar. But as they made the prepared food shittier and local groceries upped the cheese game, it's just a ripoff.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#163

Post by taneq »

jimmywanger wrote: post #85
peterbonney wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I think that one factor is that in the Chinese culture, you don't expect everything to be good and available during all seasons." I don't think that's a cultural thing, and certainly not an ethnic thing. I think it might have something to do with how many generations-removed one is from agrarian life (or close physical/logistical proximity to it)... Growing up in my (very white) hometown in New England, which still…

I don't think it's an ethnic thing. But I definitely think it's a cultural thing. I agree with you about how many generations-removed you are from food production. Rather, how many steps/middlemen you're used to. For example: China is still a developing country with a generally low per capita income. You're intimately familiar with the seasons, and what's available when, and what it takes to get your food. Few can af…

Was gonna say "ethnic thing means the same as cultural thing", but apparently these days people are using "ethnic" to mean "racial" rather than, well, ethnic?

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#165

Post by optforfon »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #90
throwaway_bob wrote: post #63

I lived on henry street for a while, and I can't say that I know anything about the back end of the distribution network, but I can say this article is missing a lot of things about the front end. The produce is cheaper than a standard western store, but the quality is much more varied. Moreover, the market (in the economic sense) seems really efficient. If you see something cheap in Manhattan chinatown in every stor…

And this describes grocery shopping in China, not just Chinatown. I look forward to the day I can just go to a western supermarket and not have to worry about getting jipped on veggies...save so much work even if they cost a lot more money.

The fruit in China, at least in the big cities, is pristine. Apples are individually wrapped, everything is generally impeccable. You can get cheaper beat-up fruit in some food stalls at a cheaper price if you want.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#166

Post by jpatokal »

sukilot wrote: post #89
sotojuan wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely true. My roommate was a Chinese international and he thought everyone in my college was crazy to pay so much for X Chinese dish or Y food at a restaurant or market. I started to agree with him once I began to go to places that aren't Whole Foods.

And McDonald's costs more in China than USA. Funny how that works, commodities and competition.

No, it doesn't? A Big Mac in China is ~40% cheaper than in the US.

http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#167

Post by jpatokal »

twblalock wrote: post #81
xorcist wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> couple of bacteria won't kill you That's naive. Enjoy your chicken sashimi.

Chicken and pork sashimi are not difficult to find in Japan.

Chicken, yes. Pork, no longer:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/27/national/health-...

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#168

Post by wutbrodo »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #144
wutbrodo wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Indian (dots) stores Huh?

It's a very impolite but common way that Americans differentiate the two groups of people that are called Indians when the context isn't clear. Native Americans (feathers) and people from India (dots). Feathers refers to Native headdress and dot refers to a bindi, the decoration commonly worn by Hindu women.

Oh, hadn't ever heard that. Thanks for the background.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#169

Post by MBCook »

khedoros wrote: post #155
JabavuAdams wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI "jipped" is actually spelled "gypped", which is a slur against Gypsies. I only raise this because I used to say it a lot, and was unaware of its etymology and connotations.

And "Gypsies", describing the Romani people, is sometimes considered derogatory because of its negative connotations, and because it is reflective of the mistaken belief that they were itinerant Egyptians.

Interesting. I'd never heard the Egyptian part before.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#170

Post by reflexive »

taneq wrote: post #163
jimmywanger wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's an ethnic thing. But I definitely think it's a cultural thing. I agree with you about how many generations-removed you are from food production. Rather, how many steps/middlemen you're used to. For example: China is still a developing country with a generally low per capita income. You're intimately familiar with the seasons, and what's available when, and what it takes to get your food. Few can af…

Was gonna say "ethnic thing means the same as cultural thing", but apparently these days people are using "ethnic" to mean "racial" rather than, well, ethnic?

Cultural things can be transmitted through geographic proximity rather than along ethnic lines, using "ethnic" in its original sense of "from a foreign nation" (ethnos).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%94%CE%B8%CE%BD%CE%BF%C...

There are rural New England cultural practices which transcend ethnic groupings (Italian, Irish, etc).

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