Hey everyone!? I hope you're doing well. We started out the week with a great video from Joe, Tracey, and Heather. I thought I'd stay with the video blog format for a while, as I've been capturing some outstanding stuff here in Chicago. (We're here until Thursday.)? Well, a few of the vids are "okay," but the bulk of them are absolutely amazing, so be sure to check in every day for these great Chicago vids. (BTW, I'll dub this series, "The Chicago Raw Food Scene," although partially misleadingly so, as the videos are not always *about* Chicago, per se. Rather, we shot all of the videos *in* Chicago. So, pardon the slightly misleading banner graphic.)

Anyway, here's one I shot at a place I almost can't recall the name of. It could have been called "Farm Fresh" or something like that. I only stopped there in hopes of finding something for my dog to eat, but was absolutely blown away by their produce department. It's like "You know you're a raw foodie when ... you get excited about a produce department!" More commentary after the vid:

So, as I was saying, maybe this isn't so impressive if you live in New York or, even better, L.A. But, to someone from Pittsburgh, this kind of variety and selection -- and of course pricing -- was almost unbelievable. I mean, we have our own co-ops, our large chains, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc. All of these look pretty much the same anywhere I've ever been. But THIS? Wow... a whole different league.

Seriously, pineapples for $1.49 !!? I think we had a special sale once in Pittsburgh where they were like $3.49 or something. And even in Pittsburgh, where the most common food-oriented question is "You want fries and cole slaw on your cheese steak," people still took advantage of the $3.49 sale. But, most of the time, they're $4.99 at the lowest. At $4.99, I ususally say, "Wow, let's grab a couple!"? But, $1.49 is absurdly cheap! And there are millions of them here at this store -- and there's no angry Black Friday-esque crowd trampling over each other to get at one!

I was just reading Jay Kordich's Facebook stream tonight. He posted that it takes two years to grow a pineapple. Honestly, I could spend two years just thinking about this and I wouldn't understand the math here. How could something that takes two years to grow sell for $1.49 ? I mean, I understand that things are cheaper in volume. But, these things still have to be planted, nurtured, harvested, packaged, sold to a middle-man, shipped, sold to a retailer, shipped again, unpacked, and repriced at a profit for the retailer. How can all of that get done at $1.49? And, if it's possible to do that at $1.49, then why are other fruits so insanely expensive? (That question is partly rhetorical, as I suspect I know some of the answer. Mostly, this is just my own astonishment showing through!)

Anyway, aside from the fact that I'll be purchasing about 50 pineapples Thursday before leaving here, I suppose it may also be showing through that we're having a good time in Chi-town. So, do stay tuned as much of what we have coming this week (and possibly into next week) is truly profound. I promise!? It's so profound that you'll be saying, "Wow, I'm SO glad I voted for Pure Jeevan as best raw food blog in that best of raw event!"

BTW, I'm also including this post under our category, "Produce Buying Tips," as I suppose one tip could be: Live in a huge city.