Sure -- But take away the stew vegetables (celery, onions, carrots, potatoes) that are pretty low at each store, and what is left at under $1 a pound? A few loss leader fruits and some iceberg lettuce.
But I'm not seeing leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, green beans for $1 a pound. Even on sale they are usually closer to $2.
Like I said, it is November and not surprising that the root vegetables are the ones at the lowest prices.
Hey crusty -- I agree that produce is expensive. When I lived in Alberta, it was expensive AND poor quality because of the transportation costs / distances. When I saw how much it was of my grocery bill, (over 35%) I made a list. A list of produce "staples" and produce "treats". This list varies by season.
The staple items (starting now) :
Cabbage
Onions
Rutabaga (lower carb than potatoes!)
Potatoes
Carrots
Asian leafy greens (Sui Choy, Bok Choi) because these are cheap here, and grown locally
Bananas
Apples / Pears / Oranges -- depends on the seasonal price
Lettuce when it is less than $1.50 per large head of green leafy lettuce
Cauliflower (on sale right now and until mid winter)
-- and I watch out for prices on these. Celery dropped off my staples list 2 years ago because the drought spiked the costs.
- I will buy on super sale other items (sweet potatoes, butternut squash, etc). More items are on super sale in the summer, nearly nothing in the winter..
-- then I add maybe 1 "other" item or "produce treat" every other week.
-- I eat frozen veg, frozen spinach in the winter (I will prep my own carrots and beets in the fall, or buy other frozen items on sale, because they actually taste better than "fresh" winter produce), and lots of canned tomatoes.
Honestly, until I tried eating this way I did not realize how much produce variety there is in the list above, how tasty it can be.
Thinking that a list of "stew vegetables" is inadequate fresh produce variety is, IDK, arrogant?