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There's a video of a grocery trip in Alaska, the prices are insane. https://youtu.be/3TVlmmVqgnQ https://youtu.be/3TVlmmVqgnQ

jrockway 7y ago
Some of the prices were insane, some of them are exactly what I pay at my grocery store in Brooklyn. $7.99 for a block of cheese? Yup. But as the weight/volume increases, their prices skyrocket where wight/volume doesn't seem to matter at all here. Obviously that's where the cost comes from. What is interesting is how similar the extremes are. In the middle of nowhere, the cost of the product is dominated by shipping. In the center of modern society, the cost is dominated by rent. It's only when you go out to the suburbs, probably one of society's least efficient constructions, that you see the lowest prices -- a perfect balance of efficiency, I guess. It is weird and I wonder if there's some lesson in here.
- so33 7y ago
  > It's only when you go out to the suburbs, probably one of society's least efficient constructions, that you see the lowest prices -- a perfect balance of efficiency, I guess. It is weird and I wonder if there's some lesson in here. I suspect the inefficiencies are just externalized! Rent is low because land is cheap(er) in suburbia, but society pays in increased average travel times* as well as the high costs of road infrastructure needed to support suburban living in general, which is paid for in our taxes and thus doesn't show up on the price tag at the store but rather as a line item on our paychecks. * I can walk less than five minutes to the grocery store in the urban core. Admittedly I have no data on this but based on my own experience, I'd bet it takes the average suburban household at least 10 minutes to drive to a grocery store - and 20-30 minutes to drive to a Costco-like store, placed where rent is even lower - and then 2-3 minutes on average spent looking for parking and then walking across the parking lot! Time is money, and given society's obsession with optimizing time, I find it strange how little attention we truly pay to travel times.
  - toast0 7y ago
    > increased average travel times* Not for the truckers delivering the goods.
  - bluedino 7y ago
    How many trips do you have to make to the store to equal one Costco run?
knolax 7y ago
At least Top Ramen's still $0.49.
arkis22 7y ago
Alaska still has fresh bananas... Incredible
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- rz2k 7y ago
  This photography book[1] about weekly grocery shopping around the world looks like a find the bananas puzzle. [1] https://fstoppers.com/food/what-week-groceries-looks-around-world-3251 https://fstoppers.com/food/what-week-groceries-looks-around-...
xeromal 7y ago
Thanks for sharing! What a fun and scary video!
deleted 7y ago
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jrockway 7y ago

Some of the prices were insane, some of them are exactly what I pay at my grocery store in Brooklyn. $7.99 for a block of cheese? Yup. But as the weight/volume increases, their prices skyrocket where wight/volume doesn't seem to matter at all here. Obviously that's where the cost comes from. What is interesting is how similar the extremes are. In the middle of nowhere, the cost of the product is dominated by shipping. In the center of modern society, the cost is dominated by rent. It's only when you go out to the suburbs, probably one of society's least efficient constructions, that you see the lowest prices -- a perfect balance of efficiency, I guess. It is weird and I wonder if there's some lesson in here.

so33 7y ago
> It's only when you go out to the suburbs, probably one of society's least efficient constructions, that you see the lowest prices -- a perfect balance of efficiency, I guess. It is weird and I wonder if there's some lesson in here. I suspect the inefficiencies are just externalized! Rent is low because land is cheap(er) in suburbia, but society pays in increased average travel times* as well as the high costs of road infrastructure needed to support suburban living in general, which is paid for in our taxes and thus doesn't show up on the price tag at the store but rather as a line item on our paychecks. * I can walk less than five minutes to the grocery store in the urban core. Admittedly I have no data on this but based on my own experience, I'd bet it takes the average suburban household at least 10 minutes to drive to a grocery store - and 20-30 minutes to drive to a Costco-like store, placed where rent is even lower - and then 2-3 minutes on average spent looking for parking and then walking across the parking lot! Time is money, and given society's obsession with optimizing time, I find it strange how little attention we truly pay to travel times.
- toast0 7y ago
  > increased average travel times* Not for the truckers delivering the goods.
- bluedino 7y ago
  How many trips do you have to make to the store to equal one Costco run?

knolax 7y ago

At least Top Ramen's still $0.49.

arkis22 7y ago

Alaska still has fresh bananas... Incredible

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
rz2k 7y ago
This photography book[1] about weekly grocery shopping around the world looks like a find the bananas puzzle. [1] https://fstoppers.com/food/what-week-groceries-looks-around-world-3251 https://fstoppers.com/food/what-week-groceries-looks-around-...

xeromal 7y ago

Thanks for sharing! What a fun and scary video!

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]