Once upon a time a group of friends and I would post pictures of our groceries and the occasional meal on Flickr and chat about food together. I know, totally and embarrassingly hipster. But it was interesting to see the food that other people buy for themselves and, even more interesting, how much the groceries cost depending on where you are located and what store you go to. Anyone shop at Whole Paycheck Foods? They’ve just been busted overcharging their customers. And have you seen the appalling data on food costs in Northern Canada? The Feeding My Family FB group is a great resource for information on food (in)security.
So I’m super curious, what does everyone else pay for groceries and what do you typically buy? Above is a photo of the small shop I did for myself today. Total was $60.36. Pretty pricey, but we only have one grocery store on the island – produce can be bought from local farmers for better prices in the height of summer but we aren’t quite there yet. I made an attempt to buy more fruits and vegetables from local sources last year and this year I will try even harder. (No guarantees things will be good this year though as we are in the middle of a record drought and water has become very scarce around here. I can’t imagine trying to run a large farm under the thread of running out of water. It’s scary enough thinking that if the well goes dry we won’t be able to flush our toilets or bathe. Yikes!)
How does this bundle of groceries stack up against the same products in other locations? The plums are local from Gabriola. The pasta sauces were on 2 for $8 and will be stored in the pantry. The frozen fruit, Tazo chai mix and the Mary’s crackers were all fairly pricey items being roughly $6.99 each. The bag of apples was on sale for $4.99, and the pineapple was $3.99. I was surprised to see that the small bag of dried apricots was $4.03 😦
I should probably note that I share my groceries with my bunnies – they will likely eat all that cilantro and parsley in the next 2 days. And they have already eaten one of the bananas haha. J buys lot of his own groceries because he eats more meat and bread than I do.
Fox on an Island 
Grocery prices on Gabriola are brutal. My boyfriend is stationed in Iqaluit right now and told me that a gallon of orange juice is currently $26.
Ahhh yeah those prices are total madness! I’m sad that Gabriola prices are high, I understand there is ferry cost but is it really that expensive to bring food over? One big truck could hold hundreds of items to spread the transport cost over. I figure it’s because they have a captive audience here, no competition.
Unfortunately, that’s probably true. Time to open another grocery store!
Yes!! I had hopes for the one that opened in the Twin Beaches mall but the groceries were very minimal, it’s mostly beachy snack foods. Dang.
That bill seems really high. I guess there’s a price for island living. Really what are going to do? They got you. I don’t know if Swanson vitamin ships but you can buy quite a bit from them like your teas for instance. Shipping is five bucks for as much as you want and if you buy over fifty dollars them shipping is free. I buy a lot of my health supplements, essential oils and food from them. Growing as much food as I can would be my plan. Btw, love your gardens and what you’ve been doing with the bunny house! Have a wonderful day! Koko
[…] the island and from other sources, as well as sharing my journey from vegetarianism into veganism. (Here is post #1 if you were curious, and post […]
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