What's the deal with the price of onions?

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:12 pm

I used to pay pennies per pound a few years ago and now a plain old yellow onion is $1.17/lb at Walmart and $.89/lb at Winco. They cost more than tomatoes and apples! What the heck is that?

Insider question: Should I be investing in onions or is this going to correct itself soon?

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:15 pm

Funny you should mention that. I just bought 2 large yellor onions at my local shit grocery store (there ya go pp) and it was $4.25 for both of them. Only thing I can think of is at the local farm store (yes, it's called Rural King) they are all selling little onions for planting. Just not in season so they bring them in from further away.

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:21 pm

I'm thinking of a Seinfeld joke about fruit but I don't think it would be very funny so I'll skip it.

I wondered about the seasonality of it over a year ago. Around here the price just keeps inching up regardless of season. I was fit to spit when I paid $.75/lb but now it's up 50% over that and every day I hate myself for loving onions. We don't grow onions in the Rockies. The season is way too short for a crop that doesn't mature for over 100 days.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:22 pm

I don't know if onions were affected* but i do know that a really cold week here in CA wrecked the price of oranges!! I was shopping and noticed an unusually high total at the checkstand and was looking at my receipt when I noticed I had purchased $12 worth of ORANGES. WTF. This time of year?? They should be like 5 lbs. for a buck or something!! How many oranges did I buy? NINE. NINE ORANGES FOR $12. WTF.

* I would have used the ae thing but I don't really know how to make it happen and didn't feel like looking it up.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:25 pm

Yellow onions here are $1.99/lb. That, my friend, is highway robbery. Like pp, when they rang up, I got that look on my face like someone just passed an SBD.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:33 pm

Noticed the same thing here, last trip to the store. I can only imagine what the Walla Wallas are going to go for if this keeps up.

Geez...maybe I should break my halides and HPS lights out of retirement, for a different purpose.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:05 pm

Rootbeer wrote:I'm thinking of a Seinfeld joke about fruit but I don't think it would be very funny so I'll skip it.

Would that have entailed the mention of Mackinaw peaches? I'll divy a pre-emptive rack.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:12 pm

As far as the onion pricing goes, I'm not entirely sure of the reasoning behind the spike in pricing. But I do know that India and the regions surrounding are one of, it not THE highest onion producing areas in the world. They had a bad year, to say the least. Couple that with the onion being one of the most demanded crops in teh world, and you have a recipe (forgive the pun) for a price spike.

Just a hunch.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:54 pm

Ken wrote:But I do know that India and the regions surrounding are one of, it not THE highest onion producing areas in the world.

Possibly so...but Oregon is where much of the onions come from in the US(#2 onion state...I think Washington is #1, but I forget). Prices seem to be on the rise here, too, yet I haven't heard word one about any particular problems with the onion crops. They usually cover the main crops around here pretty well in the media, and we usually hear "BEST YEAR EVER," or "DISASTEROUS **______** HARVEST," or whatever. Haven't heard word one about any onion problems, though, although my livelihood doesn't depend on knowing all of the details of the state agricultural crops.

Seems like yellow onions (the red headed stepchild of the onion family) were like 38 cents a pound within the last few weeks...forget what they were last time, but it was a lot more than that.

There should be some green/sping onions coming along soon(one of the greatest smells ever from the fields, and I'm going to where they grow them tomorrow), but I'm not sure how much of that tastykind harvest reaches too far away...some things, we keep for ourselves(like the Walla Wallas and Marionberries).

I'm just going to have to go ahead and blame Bush, just to be safe.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:17 am

Dinsdale wrote:
Ken wrote:But I do know that India and the regions surrounding are one of, it not THE highest onion producing areas in the world.

Possibly so...but Oregon is where much of the onions come from in the US(#2 onion state...I think Washington is #1, but I forget).

Not only is India and the region around it the highest onion producing area in the world, but they also have the highest demand for onions. Couple that with a very poor yielding year and you have a high demand in that region. Some of that demand is met with the importation of onions from other countries, possibly the US (although not sure about that). Even if not exported by the US, the trickle down effect is probably strong enough to affect domestic pricing.

Again, all of this is guessing on my part based upon the fact that those areas of the world had a very poor year.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:11 am

Ken wrote: Again, all of this is guessing on my part based upon the fact that those areas of the world had a very poor year.

So, we're in agreement that it's Bush's fault?

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:24 am

Probably more the fault of the bees than Bush. Can we agree that both are contributing factors?

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:34 am

As long as we toss a "lack of latent heat" on the pile, I think we're cool.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:57 am

Dinsdale wrote:There should be some green/sping onions coming along soon

#1 crop in my fucking lawn.

Fuck them. While cutting grass smells good, I hate the shit in my lawn.

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:22 am

IndyFrisco wrote:
Dinsdale wrote:There should be some green/sping onions coming along soon
#1 crop in my fucking lawn.

Fuck them. While cutting grass smells good, I hate the shit in my lawn.

Either wild onions or wild garlic. Most likely wild onions as that one tends to be more of a problem in lawn, wild garlic in pastureland where it's ingested by cows and taints milk. Long story short, both suck. Big time.

Lemmee guess... you either have a lawn that tends to stay wet and soppy or one whose grass is thin. Your best bet at control is to improve the overall health of your lawn... that is, make it healthy enough that it effectively competes with and/or downright kicks the wild onion's ass.

You're in for a long fight, indy. Fertilize your lawn and mow it correctly. Correct mowing means taking off no more than 1/3 the length of the grass (read: don't scalp the damned stuff). Good luck w/herbicides on this shit. While many herbicides are most effective in the fall when weeds are storing 'carbs' for the long winter's nap, wild onions should be controlled in the spring. Even then, good luck. Expect marginal control. Mow just before application also. Use something w/ 2,4-D as the active ingredient.

Good luck with all that. There's still a li'l part of the Weed God that's right now saying, "Bwhahahahaha".

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:37 am

Oh it is definitely wild onions. I pull them constantly. And it isn't really my whole lawn, but one side of my house that gets direct heat all day long. NO grass grows there from about 18 inches from my brick to the lawn. Only thing that grows there is a patch of green onions. I have tried to plant grass but no dice. Dirt and onions is all that grows there. I plan on landscaping it next year with trees/plants.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:52 am

Ooohhh. We found wild onions on a hike up by Rock Creek in the High Sierras. The dude tried to yank them out of the ground but the greens kept breaking off, and we didn't have anything with us that would have been useful for digging. We brought the greens back 'home' with us and added them to that night's sauteed mushrooms. They were quite delicious and very strong. Yummy.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:06 am

pp,

Same goes here. You pull the onions and just the green tops breaks off. I just won't eat them because of the pesticide I put on the yard. I tend to trust the shit hole grocer I have as opposed to my yard.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:01 am

ppanther wrote:Ooohhh. We found wild onions on a hike up by Rock Creek in the High Sierras. The dude tried to yank them out of the ground but the greens kept breaking off, and we didn't have anything with us that would have been useful for digging. We brought the greens back 'home' with us and added them to that night's sauteed mushrooms. They were quite delicious and very strong. Yummy.

RACK the "Holes" reset (well...almost).

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:46 am

The ultimate bitch move is editing someone else's post.

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:26 pm

Diego in Seattle wrote:I'm sure the price of gas has nothing to do with the price of produce getting to market.

Yes, you can blame Bush (and the rest of the republicans).

Retard. Put down the HatorAde. Do you douchebags let your entire pysche be dictated by your hatred for a president? Good lord, Here goes Bush and his weather machine again...

http://www.cfbf.com/news/FoodAndFarmNew ... 6103C8F6C4

High onion prices to continue

Produce experts say dry onion prices are expected to remain high in retail stores until at least June. Supplies from the Pacific Northwest are shrinking and quality is reported only as fair. Prices will remain high until harvest begins in the San Joaquin Valley. Onions from the California desert are behind scheduled and harvest isn't expected to begin until May. Weather has caused onion crop quality problems in all growing regions, including Texas where the crop was severely damaged.

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:48 pm

Diego, the price of potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, etc have not experienced the same price increase. If it was fuel related I'd expect prices to increase across the agricultural industry at the same rate. Wouldn't you? Maybe certain farmer associations donated more to the Bush campaign and get their fuel for half price, eh? You're such a blind, blathering dickwad, Diego. You're a disgrace to Democrat ideology.

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Sat Apr 14, 2007 2:56 am

I just paid fiddy cents per pound for yellow onions at Walmart. Score.

On my way to the produce department I started wondering if the price went out of control because designer onions like Walla Walla and Vidalia(sp?) became so popular the regular yellow onions got pushed out and then the price of the special onions went up. I haven't had a good strong eyewatering yellow onion in a while. They're all super sweet something or anothers.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:48 pm

Diego in Seattle wrote:I love to eat little boys cocks.

At least you've owned up to what I've been saying for years. Now go fuck yourself.

OCmike · Post by **OCmike** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:25 pm

ppanther wrote:I don't know if onions were affected* but i do know that a really cold week here in CA wrecked the price of oranges!! I was shopping and noticed an unusually high total at the checkstand and was looking at my receipt when I noticed I had purchased $12 worth of ORANGES. WTF. This time of year?? They should be like 5 lbs. for a buck or something!! How many oranges did I buy? NINE. NINE ORANGES FOR $12. WTF.

* I would have used the ae thing but I don't really know how to make it happen and didn't feel like looking it up.

If you're getting ripe oranges in April, chances are they didn't come from the USA, or at the very least were shipped from Florida or some such.

BTW, you can do the nifty ae thing in MS Word and then c n' p it here.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:13 pm

We're still getting some ripe oranges at the Farmers' Market here, though not huge amounts. The blood oranges are especially good right now.