just being able to east something doesnt necessarily make it a food. Just look at Tofu. Or TVP. Or El Chapala.

Now, a Ferrari Cake, thaTt’s an entirely different story.

You look at tofu. I’d rather not.

Johnny Lemuria - 25 October 2009 12:07 PM

mat catastrophe - 25 October 2009 09:51 AM

Is this the wrong time to bring up “food should not be a commodity”?

What should be a commodity?

Anything not directly related to the continuation of a healthy life. Food? No. Food from a restaurant? Yes.

Water? No. Unless you are using it to water your 2-acre manicured lawn, in which case we are coming to your house to take your furniture and give it to the poor?

Electricity? No. Although you’d be surprised how cheap it is anyway once we take away all the 300’ plasma TVs and Blu-Ray Disc players.

Clothing? No. Although Eddie Bauer and Kenneth Cole will be reserved for inmates at the FEMA camps where we put the naysayers. Need those ex-yuppies to stay comfy while they breathe in the toxic fumes from their recycled FEMA trailers.

Health care? Damn right it is free. All doctors and nurses will be Federal employees. All hospitals, clinics, labs and other doctor’s offices will be seized by the Federal Government under Eminent Domain law and turned into Community Health Offices. No exemptions. Don’t like it? Move to Somalia.

I want one of those 300 foot plasma TVs.

Ken Hanke - 25 October 2009 08:56 PM

I want one of those 300 foot plasma TVs.

I was going for hyperbole and overshot that straight into ridiculous.

Admittedly, I don’t read these threads very thoroughly, but I think what Mat is saying, is that our high-tech electronics need to be more energy efficient.

mat catastrophe - 25 October 2009 08:59 PM

Ken Hanke - 25 October 2009 08:56 PM

I want one of those 300 foot plasma TVs.

I was going for hyperbole and overshot that straight into ridiculous.

Darn. Then come to think of it, I’m not sure how you’d fit it into my 932 sq. foot house anyway.

Ken Hanke - 25 October 2009 10:07 PM

mat catastrophe - 25 October 2009 08:59 PM

Ken Hanke - 25 October 2009 08:56 PM

I want one of those 300 foot plasma TVs.

I was going for hyperbole and overshot that straight into ridiculous.

Darn. Then come to think of it, I’m not sure how you’d fit it into my 932 sq. foot house anyway.

I hope you live with four other people or you are taking up too much living space, citizen.

One other person, a bunch of cats and two very large dogs (Russian wolfhounds).

mat catastrophe - 25 October 2009 11:36 PM

Ken Hanke - 25 October 2009 10:07 PM

mat catastrophe - 25 October 2009 08:59 PM

Ken Hanke - 25 October 2009 08:56 PM

I want one of those 300 foot plasma TVs.

I was going for hyperbole and overshot that straight into ridiculous.

Darn. Then come to think of it, I’m not sure how you’d fit it into my 932 sq. foot house anyway.

I hope you live with four other people or you are taking up too much living space, citizen.

Gosh Mat, I guess I kinda feel bad living in a 2,400 sq ft towne house with just my wife and daughter. Nope, I bought and paid for it. The condo was built 30 years ago so the environmental impact has been mitigated over time. Because I care we have replaced windows, weather stripping, doors, ducting, heat pump, lighting, and insulation. We recycle virtually everything and only have to take out one bag of trash a month, for a three person family, pretty impressive, huh.

Keeping in mind that housing square footage has doubled since the 1970s, my home built in the 80s must be reasonable to small compared to those built since 2000, right? Also keeping in mind that the Asheville preservation society believes ANY building over 30 years old is historic; I can’t tear it down and move into a smaller eco cell, simply because I would be destroying an historic home, shucks.

You want to help with the greening of older homes/condos? Get in touch with home owner associations like mine. I can’t put solar panels on my roof, sun tunnels for more natural light as opposed to turning one on during the day, or rain barrels and rain water recycling systems for better use of natural resources. Then you can sign on to pressure the NC legislature to pass legislation allowing gray water recycling for home use. Think of the millions of gallons saved if everyone used shower, sink, dish and clothes washing machine water to flush toilets. Add in optional by choice dual flush toilets and you have become the water savior of WNC, good for you.

Now Mat, I had a lot of information to pass along. However to be honest you were joking in a previous previous post so to be fair I am just kidding with you here. Don’t take this as as attack.

Back on topic, I guess my question is why is it wrong for a company to charge what it thinks it can get from any given area of town? This seems like a logical construct of a capitalist society to me.

I worked at Ingles corporate for 6 months, and learned a lot about how things operate in the grocery business. They definitely analyze each store’s customer base, and not only charge various prices based on the neighborhood, but they also offer different groceries. That is why you see a lot more organic & natural products at the Merrimon Ingles verses one you might visit in, say, remote Madison County. The demographics desire such food, and they have to compete with the Earth Fares and Green Lifes.

I’m wondering why you are upset at Ingles, a locally owned chain of grocery stores, when there are arguably much more “evil” targets worthy of attention and ire. For example, the Super Wal-Mart grocery stores and the foreign-owned Food Lion.

In my opinion, Ingles has done a superb job of not letting the impact of Super Wal-Mart reduce their profit and drive them out of town(s).

agreed, willc, er, im-poster

I have lived in a lot of places, and Ingles is by far the most unreasonably-priced grocery store chain I have ever seen. This is true of any Ingles in Asheville, not just the Merrimon Ave store. I have shopped at almost all of them and had sticker shock. Granted, the Merrimon Ave one seems to be the worst, and for no good reason whatsoever. They should not be competing with Fresh Market or Greenlive because they do not sell the same things. They are just a regular grocery store and they obviously think they are something more. The fact that they are all but monopolizing the grocery market in this town is bad enough. In the free market their should be more variety than there is here, and Ingles obviously wants this to not be the case.

Actually I do most of my shopping at ALDI and Bi-Lo, because they are MUCH more reasonably priced on most things. I also like to go to Amazing Savings to get a few things. ALDI is good for a few things, too. But really I think Bi-Lo is underrated by Ashevillains because they have basically everything Ingles does, for less money. Granted their produce dept. is smaller but their stuff is better quality. Meats are equal as well. Ingles is WAY overrated in this town, I have never been impressed by Ingles at all. I am also not a fan of grocery shopping at Walmart because their sales are crappy and their store-brand items are bad quality.

I am a VERY frugal person and I like to get the max I can for my money’s worth, so I have done plenty of comparison shopping. In this town, Bi-Lo wins big time. I wish Kroger would come here, too. This town really needs a 3rd choice when it comes to major grocery store chains. I don’t really count Food Lion anymore because I don’t even know where one is, plus I am not too impressed with them either anyway.

P.S. I do NOT and have never worked for any of these stores.

is it always in our best interest to seek out the ‘cheapest’ food we can? especially if that food comes from far away from our region?

It’s all in the same damn boxes! It all comes from the same place anyway! There are only going to be certain few grocery items from local growers/farms/etc, regardless of store. Do you really think of Ingles as a local company? They may have started here but they don’t care about this town. It’s obvious.