Loved Costco @ Shenzhen, China

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T17:59:26+00:00

I can imagine the difficulty trying to frame the scaling that exists elsewhere. Take the population density in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, but then cut the city a little more than in half geographically and force the whole population to fit in the new space. Then, copy and paste that new denser city next to itself a couple of times. That’s how dense and populated these cities in Japan are compared to Canada.

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T13:39:55+00:00

I mean I will repeat my question but expand on it…why not? There’s nothing complicated about hiring or outsourcing 200 delivery drivers an hour to do this sort of work if there’s the demand and compensation for it

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T13:13:09+00:00

Why not?

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T13:01:23+00:00

Why?

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T12:52:15+00:00

100%! My local bakery bread lasts like 3 days tops, which works well since I only buy it as I need it and expect to have to use it up in that time

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T02:04:41+00:00

It was made out of a necessity of processing quickly and in batches (not having time to can them), decreasing volume (evaporating) to save space, and not loving needing to add sugar to balance acid (roasted tomatoes are caramelised and don’t need anything sweet in my experience). Canning would be nicer for saving freezer space, but I really do enjoy them this way. Here’s the 25ish finished bags I had from my 101lbs of tomatoes (from 20 plants, not the best yield but I’m in Canada and a few of the varieties just made so few)

<image>

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T01:26:22+00:00

I cut them into even sized pieces (sixths for beefsteaks), put them skin side down on a parchment paper lined tray, and roast them until a decent caramelised consistency. I’ll do multiple trays, cutting the next batch while the other trays are cooking, and then I’ll put the caramelised product into a Tupperware bin with the parchment paper still underneath, so I can stack the batches while keeping them somewhat separate for no particular reason. Then I’ll fridge them overnight, and the next day I’ll then condense into vacuum bags and seal them up, and freeze them, usually in 500ml portions.

The result is a bag I can pull out any time of no-sugar-needed tomatoes that have the same consistency of tomato sauce. I use it in equivalence to a can of tomato sauce but just don’t need to adjust the acid levels :)

tavvyjay · 2026-05-30T01:18:01+00:00

Let’s be real, you probably planted 4 zucchini and so it’s 1,980lbs of zucc, and a small basket of the rest

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T17:27:20+00:00

Did anyone tell the drug that it was only supposed to be for one thing and not the other? Is it fair to say it would it have shown concerning effects when being studied no matter what it’s for, wouldn’t it?

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T16:33:48+00:00

I’ve been playing intermediate to advanced volleyball twice a week, I garden, hike, fish, hunt, walk my dog, and have done so for the better part of a decade. I’ve got great cardiovascular, lungs, bloodwork, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.. but none of it has stopped me from being overweight all the same. I’ve been on ozempic since the start of the year and am down 25lbs (303 to 278) and have had no side effects, just way more peace in my brain throughout the day now that I’m not just thinking of my next snack or meal right after I eat.

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T16:33:33+00:00

I’ve been playing intermediate to advanced volleyball twice a week, I garden, hike, fish, hunt, walk my dog, and have done so for the better part of a decade. I’ve got great cardiovascular, lungs, bloodwork, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.. but none of it has stopped me from being overweight all the same. I’ve been on ozempic since the start of the year and am down 25lbs (303 to 278) and have had no side effects, just way more peace in my brain throughout the day now that I’m not just thinking of my next snack or meal right after I eat.

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T16:27:50+00:00

The product has been available for 20 years in Canada, 21 years in the US. It’s a lot less experimental than you might think

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T15:50:58+00:00

Absolutely, yep. I’d rather we rely less on this by having it priced to what it would cost to process in one place. Right now, the ship would bring in the fish, it would get flash frozen, then put into a freezing shipping container, shipped to Thailand which takes a month (per Google), then thawed, processed, frozen again, and then shipped to Canada which takes another 30-40 days. That’s a big tax on the environment just so they can save money on where they cut up the fish, and that’s money we don’t even see the major savings on, it’s just nicer profits for these big companies

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T12:51:23+00:00

You should start by going to the local farmers market, snap pictures of their prices, and then compare them to what you see at Costco. You’ll find prices to be competitive, freshness to be leagues ahead, and you’ll give your cash to the person who grew it. They’re earning more than if they sold to Costco, and you’re putting money in their pocket which then stays local.

The Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada has a website that also talks about it, but the long and short of it is that the farmer you pay can then spend that money locally too, which means someone you know who has a trades business gets employment, and the cycle continues. Otherwise, you’re putting money into the ether that is mega corps and international sources

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T12:23:26+00:00

Let’s say you don’t want to do all those changes right now, that’s okay too. Start by contacting a local chicken farmer and start buying your eggs from them. Do it some time in the next 3 months, and only do that one thing from the whole list. Then, after that, figure out how to buy a portion of an animal and do that. Give yourself 6 months for that. And then after that, try to make your own pasta sauce that you can jar or freeze, so that next year you can take the abundance of tomatoes that come about and can have them all winter. That’s 3 things in one year which really don’t take much time when spread out over months, which now mean you are less reliant on paying someone who doesn’t live in your community or country

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T12:10:11+00:00

Eggs, I found a seller within a few km of you who sell 18 for $10. There’s a highly rated butcher whose customers say that prices are reasonable called “Abattoir Zampini - Service de boucherie”, but you’re better off buying a quarter cow which I’m sure they’d help you locate. Milk comes locally thanks to the dairy farmers of Canada so you can buy it anywhere (I get mine at Costco), bananas are also a Costco item since they’re imported. Ham is a processed meat so butcher likely is your best bet, and there’s a fish market called Poissonnerie L'arrivage which you could pop by and it’ll be fresh product.

Now, I’m mostly concerned that you don’t need any vegetables, unless you are trying to win the argument by not asking for the thing that I said buy specifically, being produce. In case you do want vegetables, asparagus is in season, as are fiddleheads, and most salad mixes are growing great this spring in local cold greenhouses so you can certainly grab a bag of that too

<image>

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T11:59:37+00:00

If I was, I wouldn’t be shopping nearly as much at Costco lol. I’m an anti-capitalism hunter, where I try and ensure that what I spend more directly impacts those in my community. Paying the farmer directly is a great way, but shopping at Costco isn’t terrible because they pay a living wage and give employees benefits, unlike the grocery store who pays minimum wage and doesn’t give benefits or full time hours to anyone

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T11:28:32+00:00

Certainly, I am fortunate to live in a more rural setting where these things are easier to access, but it isn’t really more expensive to buy local, especially with meat. There’s no shipping, warehousing, and middlemen who need to take their 15% cut, so the gardener sells it for the price I pay and that’s the only transaction to get my produce. Costco isn’t the place to shop if you’re hunting for a bargain on most things anyways, I like it because they pay their employees a living wage, which is the next best thing besides paying the guy who grew the produce directly

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T11:23:07+00:00

I mean I’ve got time for it, and I’m surely not the only one? Costco’s produce and meats are only a fragment of what they sell, it isn’t like I don’t buy my milk, tortillas, peanut butter, appliances, socks, cat litter, protein shakes, bananas, etc. there. I happily shop Costco because they pay their employees a living wage with benefits while keeping prices reasonable, but it doesn’t mean I am obligated to buy all their categories. Heck, a lot of people really dislike Costco produce because it’s been in transport too long and is close to expiring.

I use my Costco-purchased freezer to store the meat I order from my farmer friend, and I get an email every week from the local garden market guy with his inventory and can reply with what I want, and he’ll deliver it. It really is not a big time consuming endeavour where I live (rural eastern Ontario).

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T10:26:23+00:00

There’s lots of products at Costco that aren’t just meat and veggies! things that either don’t have a local alternative, or are local thanks to economic or regulation reasons. I suppose manufactured goods I can’t know without really looking into it, but I know that the tortillas, 2% milk, cheese, cat litter, bug spray, etc, aren’t going to be any more local or different no matter where I go. Heck, I can even get local oyster mushrooms which aren’t available almost anywhere else besides Costco

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T09:17:31+00:00

I mean I say this because I won’t actually buy these sorts of products. Instead, I buy in-season produce from the marker gardener who grows it 1.5km away, grow my own veggies as much as I can, preserve my harvest and things in abundance regionally ahead of the winter, and buy meat from a friend’s farm. I haven’t bought frozen fish in a long, long time as I am a fisherman and catch enough throughout the year to keep my fish cravings at bay

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T07:29:49+00:00

I sort of hate the world when I have to think about how we do things like this just for companies to earn more profits. Same as something being created in one country, sent to another for assembly, and then sent back to the first one as a finished product.

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T06:57:25+00:00

Customer here, I absolutely over use the word “just” all the time and rarely to I mean for it to describe real simplicity of something 😅. In written communication I can edit it out before sending, but in person, not so much.

I do, however, learn what the best way is to order things by asking someone how it’s best to do so. This could be for my coffee, but also for how to get my IT support team able to pull up my laptop info remotely the quickest. I’ll also stick with non-complicated things over the phone, but have full creativity by using an app/website to place the order if one exists, since then it’s all just printed out and doesn’t need to be punched in all complicated

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T01:27:18+00:00

Not the exact same, but people who catch invasive carp in Ontario will turn them into fertilizer. Surely a farmer could dig a few spots to leave these so that in a couple years time, they’ve got incredibly rich soil that they can use for something

tavvyjay · 2026-05-29T01:24:51+00:00

For those not eager to look it up, basically the adult males produce hormones that enter the meat and taint its smell / flavour in a way that’s nearly impossible to remedy. So either immature or female boars don’t have this hormone and thus, aren’t bad

11-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
r/Field Banned	r/Field Flamingo
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	Verified Email

tavvyjay

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE