My personal Costco Effect

[Midpack]

If it wasn't for massive human-involved genetic modification/coercion, there would be no corn at all, it would just be grass.

What are you talking about? I tried Google and I'm mystified by your statement...North American Indians were engaged in GM in the 1600s?

 

[donheff]

Yeah, we have been going to Costco for years. Meats, poultry, fish, veggies, cheese, wine, big screen TVs. And most of my ER wardrobe.

 

[marko]

What are you talking about? I tried Google and I'm mystified by your statement...North American Indians were engaged in GM in the 1600s?

Ok. Most people know that corn (maize) comes from the grass teosinte which was heavily, heavily genetically modified by the Native Americans starting about 6000 years ago.


Quotes from "1491" page 196 by Charles Mann:
"...modern maize was the outcome of a bold act of conscious biological manipulation--arguably man's first, and perhaps his greatest feat of genetic engineering.......it makes 21st century scientists look like pikers.....somebody who did that today would get a Nobel Prize! If their lab didn't get shut down by Greenpeace..."

I just chuckle when people want 'non genetically modified corn'. It's been a GMO for 6000 years.

IIRC, corn today cannot grow/germinate without human intervention.

 

[Midpack]

Ok. Most people know that corn (maize) comes from the grass teosinte which was heavily, heavily genetically modified by the Native Americans starting about 6000 years ago.

I guess I'm one of the few who didn't know that...though it was 10,000 years ago.

The Evolution of Corn Interesting nonetheless.

And I didn't realize that hybridization and GMO were universally considered the same http://www.pbs.org/pov/hybrid/getinvolved_article.php.

Genetic engineering is the process of breaking the natural boundaries that exist between species to produce new life forms that will produce a variety of desired traits. For example, genes from salmon can be spliced into tomatoes to make them more resistant to cold weather, thereby yielding a larger crop when the weather is less than favorable. Hybridization is the fertilization of the flower of one species by the pollen of another species-or artificial cross pollination (right?).

Many argue the two are essentially the same thing. "Here's the secret of hybrid corn. Hybridization is just crude genetic engineering," says the technology commentator Robert X. Cringley.

However many scientists, like the Cambridge-based Union of Concerned Scientists (http://www.ucsusa.org/index.html) argue that there needs to be more research done on the effects of these new crops on the environment and on the people eating them in the long term.

 

[FIREd]

I am pretty happy with Whole Foods. Yes, it is pretty pricey in general, but I buy only basic ingredients there - meat, fish, and veggies mostly. Better quality ingredients than Safeway IMO, and better service for sure. Our food bill is about the same as it was in AL where we shopped at Publix.

 

[donheff]

Almost nothing we eat is "natural" in the sense of growing wild without human modification. We have achieved massive change in plant and animal genomes through centuries of breeding. Virtually none of this stuff existed in pre-historic times. All that is different in the 21st century is we just have more precise tools today. I can see some value to the "organic" focus on how the plants are fertilized and pest controlled but have no particular problem with GMOs.

 

[ERD50]

For us the full "Costco Effect" can only be had when one lives in a city that has both Costco and Trader Joe's. It saves us enough money that both stores being present are now part of our retirement destination requirements when/if we return to the U.S. (we're currently full-time in Mexico). At Costco the savings on olive oil, organic chicken and real (Reggiano) parmesan alone more than pay for our membership, while at TJ's the wine, beer and chocolate (see, I've covered all the essential food groups) probably save us 40-50% over all other options.

I'll need to investigate further. I do agree on the Costco/Trader-Joes synergy. And filling in with some ethnic markets for variety and sometimes amazingly cheap stuff.

But it sounds like we do it backwards - we've been buying Olive Oil and Parm at TJ's rather than Costco. Wine & beer is split, but mostly from a large liquor store near here (Binnys), plus home-brew.

-ERD50

 

[noelm]

Don't know where ya all but my local Costco is pathetic. I just could not justify paying $110 for the membership. Very limited selection and sometimes the items are never to be seen again. As simple as pitted dates, I have been looking in the store for last 3 months and no sign of them. The grocery section is total crap and expensive. My round the corner small grocery store sells at that price. ShopRite is cheaper than Costco. Organic produce, no sign of it.

Good that I got their card otherwise I was not planning to renew the membership.

This is near NYC if anyone thinks which corner of the US I am talking about.

 

[kevink]

I'll need to investigate further. I do agree on the Costco/Trader-Joes synergy. And filling in with some ethnic markets for variety and sometimes amazingly cheap stuff.

But it sounds like we do it backwards - we've been buying Olive Oil and Parm at TJ's rather than Costco. Wine & beer is split, but mostly from a large liquor store near here (Binnys), plus home-brew.

-ERD50

While the basic Kirkland extra virgin olive oil in the 2 liter plastic containers is good for cooking and serviceable for salads, the real prize is the vintage-dated Tuscan olive oil at about $11 per liter. It's better than anything sold at Whole Foods (with the exception of ~$40 for 500 ml. Laudemio - not in our ER budget!)- really fabulous stuff.

They have both regular and the extra-aged (stravecchio) Reggiano Parmesan at unbeatable prices. Yes it's a large piece, but if you cut it and double-wrap it in foil it'll keep for months.

Costco's Kirkland Signature private label food products are, across the board, really top quality stuff - and ditto with their wine selections under that brand. Unlike Wal Mart/Sam's which just focuses on price, or Whole Foods which wants you to believe that high price is some sort of quality statement Costco is really serious about delivering high quality in their private label products. It's also worthwhile to shop for food online at Costco.com. You can get things like saffron and really good balsamic vinegar, and this time of year there are pretty amazing deals on things like prosciutto, prime meats and other special occasion foods.

 

[audreyh1]

While the basic Kirkland extra virgin olive oil in the 2 liter plastic containers is good for cooking and serviceable for salads, the real prize is the vintage-dated Tuscan olive oil at about $11 per liter. It's better than anything sold at Whole Foods (with the exception of ~$40 for 500 ml. Laudemio - not in our ER budget!)- really fabulous stuff.

Thanks - I'll have to try that OO.

They have both regular and the extra-aged (stravecchio) Reggiano Parmesan at unbeatable prices. Yes it's a large piece, but if you cut it and double-wrap it in foil it'll keep for months.

If you have a Foodsaver, my experience is vacuum packing smaller pieces of the cheese makes it last a very long time. Yes, the parmesan is incredible.

Costco's Kirkland Signature private label food products are, across the board, really top quality stuff - and ditto with their wine selections under that brand. Unlike Wal Mart/Sam's which just focuses on price, or Whole Foods which wants you to believe that high price is some sort of quality statement Costco is really serious about delivering high quality in their private label products. It's also worthwhile to shop for food online at Costco.com. You can get things like saffron and really good balsamic vinegar, and this time of year there are pretty amazing deals on things like prosciutto, prime meats and other special occasion foods.

Apparently Costco does a lot of product testing, chooses their products based on that, and also makes lots of suggestions to the manufacturers on how to improve their products.

 

[Donzo]

Costco is awesome! For many products. I got my 2nd credit card, an American Express just to use there - they don't accept any others except for Discover maybe. They are very good for produce, fruit, bread of all types, nuts, canned goods, pet food, dairy - the list goes on. But, I rarely buy meat there. We have Belair/Raleys and Safeway in my area and we buy meat from them on sale. Today I bought 5 black angus six lb cross cut roasts(bottom round) for $1.99 a pound. We had a pot roast for dinner and I am finishing up a batch of my "famous" sweet/hot jerky from one of the roasts
You can save alot by going to Costco and get quality food - but shopping JUST the sale items at the local grocery stores can pay off as well.

I do appreciate the Costco products and and prices.

 

[Ronnieboy]

I am not a "warehouse shopper" by nature, but I find the Costco environment just fine - especially now that I know where everything is.

That won't last long, they like to move things around pretty often. That allows you to keep 'finding' things everytime you shop.

 

[haha]

Ok. Most people know that corn (maize) comes from the grass teosinte which was heavily, heavily genetically modified by the Native Americans starting about 6000 years ago.


Quotes from "1491" page 196 by Charles Mann:
"...modern maize was the outcome of a bold act of conscious biological manipulation--arguably man's first, and perhaps his greatest feat of genetic engineering.......it makes 21st century scientists look like pikers.....somebody who did that today would get a Nobel Prize! If their lab didn't get shut down by Greenpeace..."

I just chuckle when people want 'non genetically modified corn'. It's been a GMO for 6000 years.

IIRC, corn today cannot grow/germinate without human intervention.

Sure, in the same sense that dogs and cows and horses and cats and every other domestic animal or crop are genetically modified.

But selective breeding and manual pollination are not what people are talking about in the current debates over GMO crops.

Ha

 

[Marita40]

Another "Aldi Effect" person here. Costco is too far away and, being single in a condo, I don't want bulk items. I can walk to Aldi and find many things I need there that I eat on a weekly basis: oatmeal, yogurt, nuts, cheese, fresh produce of all kinds, eggs, etc. I don't eat a lot of processed or packaged food and you can get by at Aldi just fine without doing so. The quality is great and the savings are kind of incredible. . . I just wish my cats liked their brand of cat food.

 

[LakeTravis]

Ha ha! You can't argue that. We used to live in Austin TX (headquarters for Whole Foods) and shopped there for years before they launched on to the national scene. And we also called it Whole Paycheck. After years of full-timing I got used to not having a Whole Foods all the time, otherwise I might not have been able to settle down here!

But it's good to know Chicago is a major Whole Foods city. It's really an amazing store, and I'm glad they've been wildly successful. Actually, the TX HEB chain is so great because they have to compete with Whole Foods Market.

I suspect my grocery bills were the highest when I lived in Austin........

Well, I do live in Austin and have to agree - I've been in WF just twice, neither time did I spend any money, just walked around in awe at how much they were charging. And the people scarfing up the product.......

I find myself doing the majority of our weekly grocery shopping at HEB, with less and less from WalMart and even less and less from Sam's (which I really don't see having any price advantage at all over WalMart) and Costco (which I'm starting to question the value of the annual membership).

Yeah, HEB is turning out to be our primary source of groceries. We eat very well on about $100 a week and rarely eat out.

And yes....it does seem groceries are much higher in Austin - when we are in San Antonio or Corpus, the same items in HEB and Walmart are almost always priced 10-15% less.

 

[audreyh1]

Interesting, LakeTravis, that groceries are more expensive in Austin in general. A few years ago Austin ranked as having the highest per-capita net worth in the US. I don't know if that's still true, but I'm sure it's still up there. Retailers know Austinites are well-off.

HEB is my main grocery (after Costco). And they beat in several key areas, and they have a wonderful store line (Central Market and Central Market Organics) that can't be beat in terms of quality. So between the two stores I feel like I really get my money's worth. Both businesses are on-the-ball and extremely well run.

 

[Midpack]

Another "Aldi Effect" person here. Costco is too far away and, being single in a condo, I don't want bulk items. I can walk to Aldi and find many things I need there that I eat on a weekly basis: oatmeal, yogurt, nuts, cheese, fresh produce of all kinds, eggs, etc. I don't eat a lot of processed or packaged food and you can get by at Aldi just fine without doing so. The quality is great and the savings are kind of incredible. . . I just wish my cats liked their brand of cat food.

Goes to show that stores vary from location to location, Costco, Aldi and probably all others. You couldn't complete all your shopping at our local Aldi, you'd have to augment from other stores to get everything needed. What they have/don't have varies from week to week too, making it even more difficult. The prices at local Aldi are very low indeed, but there are so many no name 'brands' you never know what you're getting. Wish I lived near a quality Aldi's...

 

[donheff]

A little synchronicity here with all the talk about GMOs. I just happened to run into this blog post about the safety of GMOs this morning that is a bit disconcerting. In a nutshell, this doctor concludes that while we do not have convincing evidence that GMOs are wreaking havoc in humans we are a long way from being able to say they are safe and there are plausible reasons for concern.

 

[Sun456]

Wow! I jealous that your Costco has good fruits and veggies. Ours has ones that look pretty but usually are moldy when you get to the second layer or parts you can't see. As a result I refuse to buy any fruits or veggies there. We do better at our local grocery store.

However, we do have a Costco effect on our cooking. We tend to eat alot more at home because we buy things like their shredded chicken, Mexican cheese blend, stuffed acorn squash, spicy Indian chicken and other prepared items that make throwing together a meal easy. We read all ingredient lists and find they tend to stock some pretty high quality stuff.

We'd go more often but the lines are always long so we both tend to dodge going until were beyond desperate for an item. It's a miserable place to shop (but a fun place to browse - as long as you don't buy anything) and we both hate it. But until we can get their wonderful food other places we will continue our membership.

 

[ERD50]

A little synchronicity here with all the talk about GMOs. I just happened to run into this blog post about the safety of GMOs this morning that is a bit disconcerting. In a nutshell, this doctor concludes that while we do not have convincing evidence that GMOs are wreaking havoc in humans we are a long way from being able to say they are safe and there are plausible reasons for concern.

Drifting off-topic here, but....

'proving' that anything is safe is almost impossible. Relative safety is more important to me. From the linked article:

Analysis of Monsanto’s own research and independent research by a lab in France determined that mice and rats eating Bt-toxin producing corn sustained liver and kidney damage.

Sounds scary, but... how does that compare to the safety of alternative pesticide use? Bt is used by 'organic' farmers. I don't know, but maybe the levels of Bt in 'organic' produce is higher or more harmful than what we would get in a GM crop?

And what amounts were these mice/rats fed? Even water will kill us if over-consumed.

edit/add: And does that Bt survive whatever processing our corn takes before we eat it? I just watched a documentary on corn - does Bt make it through the cooking, mashing, fermenting and distillation applied to my Jack Daniels? That might be a concern

Maybe "sounding scary" was the point of the article? At least there are references, but maybe someone else will take the time to review it. I'm going to go eat lunch.

-ERD50

 

[Bestwifeever]

We had such a negative Costco effect on our budget (we don't need new luggage/shredder/couch but they're so cheap!) and our weight (let's eat this gallon of chocolate chip ice cream/jalapeno butter curls/circus peanut candy before it goes bad!) that we had to quit or grow up. So we quit .

 

[donheff]

Vice President Biden showed up at the grand opening of our nearest Costco yesterday.

 

[rescueme]

Vice President Biden showed up at the grand opening of our nearest Costco yesterday.

I have a "political comment", but I'll keep quiet ...

 

[FIREd]

I have a "political comment", but I'll keep quiet ...

Thank you.

 

[Sue J]

Another "Aldi Effect" person here. Costco is too far away and, being single in a condo, I don't want bulk items. I can walk to Aldi and find many things I need there that I eat on a weekly basis: oatmeal, yogurt, nuts, cheese, fresh produce of all kinds, eggs, etc. I don't eat a lot of processed or packaged food and you can get by at Aldi just fine without doing so. The quality is great and the savings are kind of incredible. . . I just wish my cats liked their brand of cat food.

My cat loves the canned cat food! The cat litter is also a good deal. I go to Aldi once or twice a month. For us the closest Costco is 30 miles so I haven't shopped there. We don't have Trader Joes or Whole Foods close by either.