Feijoas cost $1.79 each at the supermarket
I didn't know Feijoas were sold in supermarkets. From my experience, they have a one-day window of peak ripeness, so they don't seem to be good candidates for supermarkets. These puny, shriveled feijoas cost $1.79 each at a supermarket here in Los Angeles. That means I've been eating at least $17.90 worth of feijoas every day. Luckily for me, they're free because I have a tree full of them.
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Interesting post!
I had never heard of a feijoa before, and now I really want to try one!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoa
Check out those Cactus fruit/Prickly Pears also.. they go for a dollar or two a piece in supermarkets, and apparently they are a big export to Israel. I happen to have a cactus that is full of the things-- Add some salt and lemon juice from the lemon tree, and you are all set. Careful of the needles when you eat it though, they'll get you.
The prickly pear fruit to the left of the feijoas look yummy, too!
Rub it in a bit more why don't you? I kid. Feijoas are just about the only reason I would ever move to SoCal from Minnesota. We do get them in the Co-Op this time a year, though. They're a little past ripe, and I think about $5.99 a pound. But delicious! I look forward to it every year.
Well lah-tee-dah. In Toronto, I get free, frozen fresh water that falls from the skies. Water plus the cost of refrigeration equals you do the math, but it's a lot and I'm better than most people (especially in LA) for it.
In all seriousness, if I could find a fresh version of the fruit, I'd be down for giving it a go. I don't want to try just any feijoa, for fear of an unripe or shitty specimen ruining my potential bourgeoisie adoration of them.
$1.79 each? Ouch, that's horribly expensive. One of our old neighbors had a row of them planted as a hedge, produced thousands every season.
I discovered the wonderful feijoa in college at the weekly farmer's market. Now every fall I look for them whenever I go to the store, only to see them priced around $2 each or $6/pound when I do find them. The only time I've found them sold at a reasonable price was in New Zealand. I'm going to have to get myself a tree. Besides being great scooped right out of the skin, they make an awesome fruit bread. Yum, yum.
Here in New Zealand you can pick up a 1.5 kg bag of feijoas for around $4.
We grow them at home, the tree is unstoppable. They bombard the top of my mum's car, littering the driveway.
If you like the flavour, try 42Below Feijoa Vodka, quite nice.
Considering these aren't indigenous to Canada (frankly I'd never heard of them before), I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them at that price. Mangoes and sometimes even avocados cost that much here. I've certainly seen pricier fruit than this in my day.
I for one welcome global warming. Tropical fruit and waterfront housing for all!
I have to pay $1.50 for persimmons in the grocery store so I have some idea of how Frauenfelder feels.
Last time I was in New Zealand I asked a barmaid for a Kiwi cocktail and she made me a Feijoa juice + 42 below feijoa vodka thing that was very nice.
maybe you could identify this fruit my great uncle's nephew found:
http://www.fantascienza.com/cinema/invasione-degli-ultracorpi/media/Brucia.JPG
The common varieties grown in New Zealand certainly have more than a one day shelf life and in the season, large amounts are sold in the supermarkets. They can last several weeks in the fridge.
Some of them in the picture are on the small side, but certainly don't look past their due date, since they still have a nice healthy green colour. Neither have they shrunk, the bumpy texture is perfectly normal for the varieties grown here in NZ.
Hmm feijoas, I have a couple of bushes in my garden. The fruit won't be ready until April, although they are in flower at the moment.
#2: they are called Tunas (opuntia). we get like 10 for those 2 bucks you mentioned in Mexico... indeed yummie. *goes to the fridge*
Looks to me like you've discovered your cause and effect.
Produce that has a very low shelf life adds a premium to the price of the produce, or it wouldn't be cost-effective for the supermarket to carry them.
So... How long before we get another Boing Boing offshoot site... Fruit Boing? :)
Feijoas (also called pineapple guavas) and prickly pear are just about the easiest two things to grow here in SoCal. I was also shocked to see the $1.79 feijoas in the market after feasting on bags of them given to me by friends with trees. Feijoa trees and prickly pear cactus don't need much water once established and are some of the tastiest things on the planet. The seeds in prickly pear fruit take some getting used to, but the cactus pads, called nopalitos in Spanish, are an alternative for those who don't dig the fruit.