Harris Teeter VS Vegetable Bin: Which Has the Better Deals for Student Shoppers?

By Meredith Murphy

Buy my fruits and veggies at Harris Teeter? No thanks. Until recently, at the insistence of a friend, I had never been to the Vegetable Bin- the very unassuming tin building that sits next to the mammoth Harris Teeter. “It is one of the sites,” said my friend Stephen Grybowski, a local foodie who was born and raised in downtown Charleston.

Around the store we went, properly impressed by the endless rows and endless abundance of local fruits, vegetables and other farmed goods. This Charleston landmark is 100% locally owned. Supporting this local business offers a win-win scenario; for I am buying the best of what is available at the best price.

I grew up in a world of picture-perfect looking fruits and vegetables, where the peaches were the size of baseballs. Red, yellow, and green peppers were bell peppers shaped like larger versions of the silver bells I hang on my Christmas tree. Eggplants were gigantic, dark-skinned teardrops, glistening with moisture form the automated grocery store mist machines. All of these items, which I had grown accustomed to, were by the main, tasteless.

The Vegetable Bin has become my new grocery haven, for I am no longer tempted to buy ingredients that are overpriced, out of season, and tasteless. What more could I want? Even though the Vegetable Bins summer squash plants weren’t exactly oval, or round, in fact most of them appeared malformed, they still tasted sweet and savory.

And you thought that Harris Teeter would be the place to find the best deals on fruits and vegetables? Think again. I spent an afternoon surveying the produce prices at both the Vegetable Bin and the Harris Teeter located on East Bay Street. So to speak, I did my best to compare apples to apples, and got results that are worthy enough for me to draw general conclusions about my personal shopping. Here is what I learned at each:

The local Harris Teeter is classified as a “high-end” grocery store that stocks a variety of interesting items and the highest-quality produce of any nearby source. Harris Teeter sells a lot of organic foods, however the selection of produce is not generally centered on selling locally grown items.

Harris Teeter is expensive. Shoppers often justify paying the higher prices with Harris Teeters obvious competitive advantage: that it sells just about everything and anything we could possibly need for our homes.

The Vegetable Bin, located at the foot of Society Street, where it intersects with East Bay Street, supports the myriad of local farmers and small-time growers that provide their fruits and vegetables. You will not find out-of-season or out-of-region produce at the Vegetable Bin. Pineapples and acorn squash were nowhere to be seen, I did, however, find a dozen different types of tomatoes, and basket upon basket of fuzzy peaches that looked as if they had just been picked off the tree.

Vegetable Bins prices were beyond cheap. For example, at the Harris Teeter a petite jar of sun-dried tomatoes costs five dollars. At the Vegetable Bin, you could get six jars worth of sun-dried tomatoes for just five dollars.

At both the Harris Teeter and the Vegetable Bin I jotted down prices and observations of Charleston’s summer-seasonal fruits and vegetables. Here are the results of my survey:

	Harris Teeter	Vegetable Bin
Heirloom Tomatoes	2.49/lb	1.39/lb
Peaches	2.25/lb	0.99/lb
Watermelon	0.75/lb	0.25/lb
Asparagus	4.99/lb	2.99/lb
Basil	1.79/bag	0.99/bag
Beets	2.49/lb	0.79/lb
Blueberries	4.99/pt	2.99/pt
Blackberries	2.99/pt	2.99/pt
Sweet Corn	0.50/ear	0.20/ear
Eggplant	2.00/lb	1.00/lb
Peas	3.25/lb	1.49/lb
Zucchini	1.29/lb	0.99/lb

The choice of where to buy fresh produce is clear. Despite the one exception of the blackberries having the same price at both locations, the Vegetable Bin offers the seasonal selection at the best costs.

During the peak of harvest, the Vegetable Bin offers the cheapest supply of asparagus, blueberries, and watermelon. But come January, the Vegetable Bin will be yielding large amounts of cabbage and turnips. Around this time, I predict that I will feel the urge to pay a visit to Harris Teeter, with good intentions. For nostalgias sake, I will succumb and splurge on the out-of-season berry medley consisting of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. In consuming them, I may experience an ephemeral moment of summer bliss.