Live data from Hacker News

Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

wsj.com

221–230 of 246 posts

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#221
post #7

I live in the south bay, but whenever I have a business meeting in SF it's requested that I stop in Chinatown for veggies and meat, because it's so much cheaper and better than what we can get even here just 45 miles away.

"Just 45 miles away"? Why doesn't anybody sell good food where you live? It's California, not Greenland; everything should be plentiful.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#223
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They definitely missed the point about ugly fruit and vegetables. From speaking to some of the vendors of cheaper fruits and veggies at farmer's markets, some of them (but not all) buy the second dibs (what the supermarkets and their other obligations don't buy) as well as more irregular fruit and produce. Now, of course there is a growing ugly fruit and vegetable movement[1]. It's becoming more mainstream and even W…

Can't restaurants just use the ugly food?

Restaurants do use the ugly food, there's many grades to choose from when you're a wholesale buyer purchasing from specialty suppliers.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#224

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.

Sorry, I had no idea where this word came from (or was spelled!). I should have just said "ripped off". In the states, the word has completely lost its original context (and more so in China).

Many people don't

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/242429836/...

>"I encounter a lot of people who tell me that they never knew the word 'gypped' had anything to do with gypsies, or that it's offensive — especially when the word is heard not read," says University of Texas at Austin professor Ian Hancock, who was born in Britain to Romani parents. "My response to them is, That's okay. You didn't know but now you do. So stop using it. It may mean nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts."

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#225
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slav and slave have different pronunciation, not just different spelling (and actually, 'slav' in the meaning of slavic people was also spelled 'slave' - not sure if that was with a silent 'e' on the end or not). It's also as I understand it a name given to the slavic people by themselves: "Slav \Slav\ (sl[aum]v or sl[a^]v), n.; pl. {Slavs}. [A word originally meaning, intelligible, and used to contrast the people so…

Because the American speakers who use it don't have a history of discriminating and abusing Roma people? There are barely any Roma people in America to abuse. Certainly in much of Europe Roma people have been treated very badly. It's certainly true that many portrayals of black people in continental Europe often look very odd or offensive to American eyes.

I'm not sure that makes much sense. By that logic I should be fine using "indian" rather than Native American or First Nation, because it's been a thousand years since Norwegian Vikings first killed Native Americans? (Which makes doubly no sense, as there were a number of Norwegians in the early settlements of the west, and I'm sure there are a few tales of horrors to be told about some of their exploits).

As for Roma in the USA, it appears that their invisibility is more the result of an almost complete eradication of their culture, more than anything else: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/22/american-gy...

There's plenty of racism in Europe - that doesn't mean it's ok or should be accepted.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#226

I can't help but think that this article, and other comments, gloss over some major, obvious factors: 1) More than anything else - high volumes, low margins, and intense competition. People travel to Chinatown from all over NYC to buy at those prices. When they do, they're often making a long trip (in many cases, over an hour), and so they buy in much higher quantities than they would at a local grocer or supermarket…

The other piece you are not paying for is the store, both the square footage in perhaps a more expensive location, code compliance, air conditioning/refrigeration etc.

[Edit] also, farm conditions, and supplier audit trail probably do not stack up well in realtive terms vs. mainstream grocery store

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#227
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from the US. "Dots and feathers" is not a common way in the US. It feels pejorative as well. If it's ambiguous, I say "Indian (from India)" or "Indian (subcontinent)" vs. "Indian (Native American)". Or I'll just say "from India" or "Native American", and avoid that ambiguity. That said, even "Native American" is controversial. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_name_controver... for full details.…

>I am from the US. "Dots and feathers" is not a common way in the US. I am from the US, I have heard people say things like "I picked up some Indian artwork this weekend, dots not feathers." I've also been asked "dots or feathers?" when I was talking about something Indian. I've also been asked in gestures, pointing to the forehead to represent a bindi then saying "or" and covering and uncovering the mouth while maki…

A Google Book search finds only a 2002 Weekly World News opinion piece by "Ed Anger" and a 2009 book "Stealing Ganymede: A Novel".

There are ~150 hits in DDG for "Indian" plus any of the four combination of order and choice of {"and", "or", or "not"}. There are 94 hits in Google for "dots or feathers" and 120 "dots and feathers". This includes "polka dots and feathers."

Almost every single one referring to people uses that phrase in a derogatory way.

None of the 6 phrases exist in Google's n-grams.

That makes it decidedly not common, at least in the written word.

> Being casually racist in informal conversation ...

... is not appropriate for HN.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#228
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I am from the US. "Dots and feathers" is not a common way in the US. I am from the US, I have heard people say things like "I picked up some Indian artwork this weekend, dots not feathers." I've also been asked "dots or feathers?" when I was talking about something Indian. I've also been asked in gestures, pointing to the forehead to represent a bindi then saying "or" and covering and uncovering the mouth while maki…

A Google Book search finds only a 2002 Weekly World News opinion piece by "Ed Anger" and a 2009 book "Stealing Ganymede: A Novel". There are ~150 hits in DDG for "Indian" plus any of the four combination of order and choice of {"and", "or", or "not"}. There are 94 hits in Google for "dots or feathers" and 120 "dots and feathers". This includes "polka dots and feathers." Almost every single one referring to people use…

Correct, I never, ever, ever said it was appropriate, it is decidedly not. If you look up a couple posts I highlighted the problems with using it on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11985794). I don't expect that it would be in written word to often either. Point is its common enough that I've heard it several times over many years from several different people. Perhaps you don't talk to too many casually racist people or it is regional.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That "small text page" weighs in around 2.1MB.

I thought you were referring to the HN page, which is what the comment seems to suggest to me.

HN is probably small, but often suffers from bad latency.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought you were referring to the HN page, which is what the comment seems to suggest to me.

HN is probably small, but often suffers from bad latency.

Depends on where you are - HN uses cloudflare, so it can be incredibly quick (even on 3G on a mobile) if you hit a cached page.
Post reply on HN