[GardenSERF]

From:

http://gardenserf.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/razor-blades-and-chocolate/

After an update on canned sardines and tomatoes, I will address razor blades and chocolate. I know the title sounds like the name of a 1980s punk rock band, but please bear with me.

I went shopping today at the little country grocery store as well as the nearest Walgreens. I noted that the imported sardines were still on the shelf for the same price as last week, but now had a small sign stating “$1.39 as advertised!” above the row of 4.5 oz cans. Apparently, the run on sardines hadn’t gone unnoticed by store staff and they decided to do some additional promotion of their Bumble-Bee imports from Poland. The shelves were well-stocked.

However, I also saw on the next shelf a significant number of imported cans of herring in tomato sauce from Germany –6 oz for $1.39. Like I stated previously in my post on the economics of sardines, I don’t believe it’s possible for the Germans to still catch, can, and sell fish to Americans cheaper than we can do it here –especially given the Dollar-Euro exchange rate.
[snip]
There are different versions of a list of the Top 100 Things to Disappear First in a Panic/Emergency/SHTF, but chocolate for some reason is usually #77. Although I agree with the inclusion of many of the things on that list, chocolate becomes much harder to find than bullets. Ask any soldier who has served in any of the sh’tholes around the globe over the past century and they can confirm this is often the case. Furthermore, ask a female from any walk of life from anywhere on the planet to look over that same list and rate her top 20 items in rank of importance, and you can bet chocolate will be on it.

Likewise, whether it’s for soldiers’ faces or females’ legs, another wonder product of modern industry (which has also jumped in price over the last five years) are razor blades. The clean male face has been the hallmark of a professional soldier from the time of the Roman legionary who marched around the Mediterranean to the 21st Century specialist who steps off a helicopter in Iraq a few months from now as part of Operation New Dawn.

 

[Crash2]

There are other items also that tell us something: high cost of tomatos, signs in eateries that say tomatos are scarce and must be requested...& sliced thinner. Expect tomato based products to go up. White onions at $2.44 a pound and up. Green peppers $1.00 ea. Apples $1.40 to 1.95 per pound. Remember when we bought this stuff by the peck or bushel. Times have changed and evidence of economic change is shown in the things we buy and the scarcity of some things. I hope our farmers can hang in there and we need to support them.

 

[BrowserCat]

If I had to chose between a supply of sardines and a supply of chocolate, I would chose sardines; I grew up on the things, they are good on crackers, and they are a good source of protein. Chocolate is not on this woman's list of the most important things to stock up on; I only added some candies after I had beans, rice, lentils, canned and dehydrated veg and fruit, several kinds of flour, pasta, etc. and felt that our basic preps were in pretty good shape...GardenSerf, you are perpetuating a stereotype for no good purpose.

 

[FarmerJohn]

get a straight razor it will last longer than you will and in the long run will be cheaper

 

[messiah]

There are other items also that tell us something: high cost of tomatos, signs in eateries that say tomatos are scarce and must be requested...& sliced thinner. Expect tomato based products to go up. White onions at $2.44 a pound and up. Green peppers $1.00 ea. Apples $1.40 to 1.95 per pound. Remember when we bought this stuff by the peck or bushel. Times have changed and evidence of economic change is shown in the things we buy and the scarcity of some things. I hope our farmers can hang in there and we need to support them.

http://caputomarkets.com/

I'm not sure where you are in the midwest, but in the suburbs of chicago there are deals to be had. Today I bought Tomatoes on the vine for .69 lb, green peppers for .69 lb, idaho russets for .99 for ten pounds, ribeyes for 3.49 lb, skirt steak for 3.19 lb, and boneless skinless chicken breast for 1.39 lb. If I were to go to jewel or dominicks (safeway), I'm sure those tomatoes on the vine would cost 4 or 5 times as much. I'm very fortunate to have 3 stores in my area that have pricing like this all the time.

 

[Crash2]

http://caputomarkets.com/

I'm not sure where you are in the midwest, but in the suburbs of chicago there are deals to be had. Today I bought Tomatoes on the vine for .69 lb, green peppers for .69 lb, idaho russets for .99 for ten pounds, ribeyes for 3.49 lb, skirt steak for 3.19 lb, and boneless skinless chicken breast for 1.39 lb. If I were to go to jewel or dominicks (safeway), I'm sure those tomatoes on the vine would cost 4 or 5 times as much. I'm very fortunate to have 3 stores in my area that have pricing like this all the time.

You are fortunate. I need to make a trip up your way.

 

[GardenSERF]

Browsercat,

I know the humor in my blogpost is extremely dry, but I do believe it pokes fun at men just as much as women. Other than for a proper seal on a pro-mask, there aren't many reasons why men should have to shave. Facial hair (having it or not having and also the style it's kept in) has often been a way to separate one group of people from another (when skin color was not seen as sufficient).

But seriously ask yourself if you had all your other staple foods in good supply, wouldn't a little chocolate be good in trade? Chocolate is one of life's little luxuries and when people don't see it for 6 months, it becomes something very desirable.

messiah wrote:

I'm not sure where you are in the midwest, but in the suburbs of chicago there are deals to be had. Today I bought Tomatoes on the vine for .69 lb, green peppers for .69 lb,....

Food distribution focuses on cities first, then trickles out to the countryside --where the costs increase if items are shipped from other states out of season. The prices change when items become in season in our rural area before it's shipped out (such as sweet corn, apples, etc).

Another reason food may be cheaper right now in certain cities:

This is akin to the bread cart rolling through the streets of Rome in order to placate the people of the city. Likewise, when the Bolsheviks came to power, they made sure that the masses in the cities were keep fed. Chicago is the power center of the current regime in the US. They're going to do their best to keep their base happy.