YOUR FARMER'S MARKET IS A GREAT PLACE TO GET HEALTHIER PRODUCE and SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS BUT CAN YOU AFFORD IT?

One of the ways that we support the American Farmer and the American Economy is by shopping at our local Farmer's Markets.  One of them is "Organic Only" and very pricey (we'll say double than our Ralph's on many items) though the very fresh eggs are comparable in price.  Another doesn't have the Organic requirement of it's sellers, though many of the stalls do feature produce that is without the use of pesticides.

We previously mentioned that we are often unable to shop at Ralph's or the like - Von's and Albertsons for instance - due to the price increases and, though we support Union workers by purchasing at businesses that have Unions (and livable wages and retirement plans)  and we want to buy American made food as well as our first choice, we have found ourselves shopping a local "Dollar" type stores as well. 

By being willing to explore a bit further out (we know GAS PRICES) to say about a five mile radius of our neighborhood, shopping in markets owned by and targeted to Americans of Hispanic, Asian, and Armenian origins,  some recent immigrants to the United States, we have found a place that has produce that is fresh enough to last a couple weeks in our fridge for not too much more than the "dead the next day" produce from the Dollar type stores.

We still run into our Ralph's to see what's on sale and also what might appear in the back where they have racks of beat up canned goods, day old bakery items, and items that maybe never made it to the shelves in the first place.

KROGER COMPANY : RALPHS UNION EMPLOYEES TOLD TO TELL YOU TO CASHIER YOURSELF OUT!

Friends, we're getting sticker shock when we go grocery shopping at our local Ralphs, which is one of the grocery companies owned by Kroger Company.  We can tell you that we an barely afford our groceries if we try to shop exclusively at Ralphs. 

As a result we are venturing into more ma and pa ethnic groceries, such as an Armenian market we found that shows the source of each vegetable (USA, Mexico, etc.) and meat (CANADA, China), so that we can eat right.

Several years ago employees of Ralphs and some other grocery stores went on strike.  At that time, in order to break the union, some employees of Ralphs worked while providing someone else's social security number and identity for the paychecks to go to.  We understand that some of these people went against the Union because they had rents and mortgages and children to feed, yet...

We were out and about and met a couple people who claimed they had come to town from out of state to work the jobs non-union, to keep the store up and running, who said they were able to rent motel rooms and do this, but later in the news we learned that Ralphs had been caught on the Social Security numbers by the IRS and had to pay a million or more in fines.  We couldn't believe the company was willing to even try that!  Millions of dollars or not, we saw the prices go up to cover the payment.

Now gas prices are killing and the transportation costs are probably part of the increase in prices.  We get the weekly sale sheet and loaded up on Campbells Chunky Soups, which have been on sale for a dollar a can but as much as we loved all but one recipe, we don't think we can afford the $2.69 each that the store has the shelf marked with as the regular price.

The other morning, when there were only two cashiers at their check stands and we were only the second in line, a young woman who may have been a supervisor told the cashier right in front of us that she needed to tell anyone that was waiting to go to the automated check out!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS ? If we went to the automated we would do the work of a cashier and still pay Ralph's prices.  At first we thought, hey if we are going to do that work, we want a "check yourself out" discount (at Food for Less, which is also owned by Kroger, supposedly the prices are lower because you bag your own groceries).  Then we realized that the cashier had to cooperate in the elimination of her own job.

Think about this!  We grew used to doing our own BANKING through the use of the automated, and as a result we rarely have any relationship between us and the bank in the form of a live person unless we are trying to get a loan.  We have taken over the role of the post office by bill paying on line.  And the only time we call to speak to a live person is when we need to order new service or something goes wrong with the online bill payment. 

We miss the days when you could go to the grocery and tip someone to help you take the groceries to your car and help you load them.  We miss the days when someone working as a cashier could pay their rent, at least with a room mate.  We miss the days when we could actually respond to advertising for new food products by going to the store where we could afford them.

We told the supervisor in front of the cashier that come the day that there are no live persons to check us out at Ralphs will come the day we no longer purchase at Ralphs.

KROGER COMPANY's RALPHS selling RECYCLED BAGS MADE IN CHINA

Recently I made a purchase at Ralph's Grocery company of some organic plastic bottled drinks. The offer was a steep discount on the bottled drinks with a Ralph's Grocery card - more than a dollar off per bottle - as well as the gift of a Ralphy's grocery bag subsititue for plastic throw aways if you bought five of them. The problem was that this bag is MADE IN CHINA, imported by a company called "EarthSound" (Which sounds very earthy!) which is found at www.intramericanproducts.com (no mention of Asia on that .com). I don't know how these two products were teamed up, but Kroger company owns Ralphs as well as Food For Less, and with that kind of buying power, you would think they could come up with a MADE IN THE USA resource!

USING ECOBAGS ? YOU MAY BE SUSPECTED OF BEING A SHOPLIFTER!

MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST LET THOSE ECO-BAGS THAT ARE SO HANDY ROT ON THE SHELVES and go back to PAPER OR PLASTIC ! USING THEM CAN GET YOU SUSPECTED OF THEFT!

This morning I packed one of those inexpensive but very lightweight ecobags that are being pushed to sub in for paper and plastic by almost all the grocery stores in Southern California - maybe around the country. I packed it with three library books, a bottle of water, a wallet, some fruit and a can of tuna I had bought for lunch. Also a folding umbrella, and a couple work files. It's lighter than any purse or backpack I have.

I went into my local grocery store - a RALPHS - to see what they had for sale for Halloween; cakes, cookies, candies, candles, pumpkins, all those things in various departments. So I was roaming all around the store. I don't think I was in the store too long. And no employee approached me to ask me if they could help me locate anything. As I was heading out, there was a woman with a full shopping cart ahead of me. She was older and slow. The alarms went off. I hesitated behind her. Then we both went out, though I was still behind her.

Suddenly an Operations Manager, three employees (likely baggers) and a Coke-A-Cola representative were accosting me on the sidewalk, because supposidly I set off the alarm. I told the Operations Manager that it was not I who had set off the alarm, but the woman ahead of me. I threw my ecobag to the pavement. Let her pick it up and search through it, I thought. I suggested she check her CAMERAS TO SEE WHO SET OFF THE ALARM. She said that "People don't walk around the store with ALREADY FULL ECOBAGS!"

By now customers were coming out of the store and taking looks my way. I said I was embarrassed and humiliated to be thought of as a thief. I pointed at one customer and then the guy who turned out to be the Coke- A-Cola guy. I told her that lots of people use the bags for other things.

"SO WHY DO YOU SELL THEM THEN?" I said.

In the end she was not going to put her hands into my possessions. And in the end I will not be shopping at Ralphs until I get an apology from corporate.

AREN'T WE SICK OF SHOPPING IN STORES THAT TREAT CUSTOMERS AS CRIMINALS?!