In the last few weeks I've noticed local restaraunts using ingredients that seem much less fresh than in the past, especially with regards to fruit and produce.

Additionally it seems stores are carrying items that much closer to their expiration date than I ever recall seeing.

Anyone else noticing similar trends?

yes I have. I was shocked today in Walmart when I walked past the meat counter that there were TONS of yellow reduced decals on everything, that normally happens near the end of the month, not the 1st! (snapple get their cards refilled)

Yep; I don't buy meat at Wally, but it's been especially nasty-looking of late.

We've got a discount store near here where we buy all our meat. They have the best prices around.

Surprisingly, they grind their hamburger fresh (or even to order) and you can watch them feed the cuts of beef into the grinder. No pink slime there.

Not particularly low fat hamburger, but when it's 50 cents a pound cheaper than the same quality elsewhere...

Well. It adds up a LOT when trying to feed 6 people.

You don't want low-fat hamburger anyway. The fat is what makes it taste good.

Yea... I just hate making big ass hamburgers and have them end up 2/3 the size after cooking.

Agree though on flavor.

We bought microwave popcorn there the other day...got home and found it was expired. This is the 2nd or 3rd item in the last couple weeks (pop, etc.). Their bread is always mostly expired or past expiration. Have to watch out...cutting corners everywhere.

Buy your meat from a local producer.

Just put in my order for (30) 1 pound packages of grass fed beef to pick up Saturday at the Farmers Market. (Chili, burgers and meat sauce for the winter)

The **** costs 6 bucks a pound.... but it taste great and I don't give a **** about the cost.

I got snails on my organic kale. Is that good or bad?

(I traded the snails to the chickens for eggs)

Walmart meat states in small print 'Product of USA, Mexico, or Canada'.

Here in Texas, I'm betting on Mexico to win-place-show.

No thanks.

The only thing I want from Mexico is crude oil(and some of that stuff on Telemundo).

local supermarket sell mexican beef at like $4.50 a lb for rib eyes/ t bones, yet local steaks are twice that...

Yes. I have noticed this as well. Especially with milk, bread and cold cuts.

Just had Wendy's chicken nuggets (used to be best "quality" if that term can be used with nuggets) after a five year absence. That's my last one. Pretty sure the discount decals are ground up in there too. Albertson's always has buy one, get two free (NY steaks?). Those babies must be on their last minutes before nugget land or skillet ville.

I can't wait until the massive Salmonella (or worse) outbreaks...

I shop at Wegman's and the only quality problem I have noticed was about 3 weeks ago when the heirloom tomatoes were looking pretty poor and one was rotten. I pointed it out to two produce managers who were having a discussion about department operations. They immediately stopped the conversation and cleaned out the tomatoes themselves.

Other than that, they have such a high turnover of stock that we don't get too close to the expiration date. Once in a great, great while, if you are there relatively early in the morning, you might get a couple packs of meat on "last day sale", but it doesn't happen much. There's a reason Wegman's was rated number 1 - again! - by Consumer Reports readers.

What I have noticed at other places are higher prices, especially the local butcher where they butcher the cows, age them, and sell them, along with chicken, cheese, and some deli items. Prices are $2-3 higher per pound than last year, which a lot of people predicted, so I'm not surprised. We have a gift certificate to there and I'm going to use it soon before they go up more. The farmers' markets have been higher than in the past for the last 2-3 years.

My girlfriend is Comptroller at a large restaurant in south florida. From what I've heard, food costs have been rising from about 30% to about 36% over the last couple of years. She is friends with people in similar positions at other restaurants both in Florida and elsewhere. This trend is the same at all restaurants. Basically what this means is that as food prices have risen, restaurants have been unable to pass on the higher costs to customers, and therefore have just been absorbing the increased costs to keep customers.

There is a constant effort to substitute to cheaper products at hopefully similar quality at all restaurants. At some point, quality must be sacrificed if costs must be held down.

Substitute that iPad for your steak, same price, no inflation!

I go to my local Safeway in N california because it is close to where I live. This year the produce quality has been terrible. Even at Whole Foods now the produce sucks. Strawberries rotten the day after they are purchased.

I always keep my receipts and take back the rotten stuff for a refund. $5 isn't a lot but it adds up over time, and I am not working hard to buy stuff that isn't fresh, especially when all the stores advertise how their stuff is right off the farm and they have five levels of QC (which is all BS of course).

I dropped by a Harris-Teeter Today, just out 0f Couristy, I wanted just 2 cheapie steaks to grill out on...

I had a Honest-to-God, *Come to Jesus* Moment, as I looked at thier meats..
30.00 for 3 steaks! & they were NOT even "prime" cuts...
I have to stop back in there & get some pics to post here...
Ya think there were Gold Nuggets in'em...

This fall and winter are gonna be tough for the FSA.

Second the post on Wegmans...altho I don't spend more than about $50 a month at the grocery store. I buy my beef from a friend who pasture raises it, grow most of my own vegetables, buy raw milk/yoghurt/cheese/kambucha from a Mennonite farmer locally, and "grow" my own eggs. The only problem I have is with chicken -- I have a really hard time justifying $6-7/lb organic chicken. I'm not allowed to raise my own meat chickens The child unit objects.

I have noticed food prices are higher but not noticed any reduction in quality. Of course we only buy items that are on sale and stock up if they are extremely cheap. Got 2 huge jars of skippy pb for $5 each the other day. Would have bought 5 if the wife would have let me lmao. That along with 5 loaves of bread for .69 each that we freeze and the kids have their favorite lunch/snack for cheap as hell for a month or two. Food is more pricey but if youre smart you can cut costs pretty easy. And no way in hell i buy anything from walmart that isnt in a box or some other completely sealed packaging. No bread or meats or cheeses from there for me.

I've seen some *insane* bargains at these local pop=up farmer's markets - at least for NYC. Mangoes for 75 cents, corn 8 for $2, twofers for nearly anything. Good stuff. Thought Bernanke was going to kill it but we might do okay for once (cashholders) this autumn.

For bread, we go to a local sara lee day old bread store and stock up on 20 or so loaves at once.

They freeze great and are perfectly normal when unthawed as long as they're not in the freezer long enough to freezer burn (4+ months, in my experience.)

Yeah - I buy loaves at a farm and freeze them. Wrap twice and they are good for at least a couple of months.