A moral question about broccolli

I agree with your brother.

Do you do the same with the bone in a joint of lamb? Or peel the oranges before popping them in the bag?

How much does this save you?

Cheers
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Paper Plane:
When I buy loose broccolli in a supermarket, I break off the unwanted (by me) thick stalk before bagging and putting in my basket. My brother, who used to work for a supermarket, said this was wrong. My point is that I'm paying for the veg by weight. I don't eat the stalk and would throw it anyway, so why should I pay for it in the first place?

Thoughts?

steve

We have three different broccoli options:
bunch - the full head with long stalks (cheapest)
crowns - smaller pieces with less stalk (mid-price)
florets - the parts most people eat, with minimal stalk (most expensive)

I expect the prices of those are set based on the weight ratio of edible to non-edible portion they contain, and the labor required to trim them up. So, removing the stalk in the aisle isn't something I'd do, just as I wouldn't peel the bananas or stand in the meat aisle and take the bones out of a chicken.

But is it wrong? Only if they catch ya'. : - )

Hi all,

My wife was one of 10 kids in a large Catholic family. She grew up on an island on Ranier Lake in the Voyager National Park, on the border of Minnesota and Canada. As such, her upbringing was a little 'different' and even today after 20 years of marriage I still chuckle at some of her idiosyncrasies.

One of her more delightful quirks is that she'll pick the grapes from their stalks in the supermarket. As it happens, she actually works in a supermarket (as a wine consultant) and everyone there has got used to it.

Best Regards,
Mark Dunn

Yeah, I do exactly the same removing tomatoes from the vine (every little helps ) and if I get my Sunday newspapers from a supermarket then I make a point of removing all the annoying advertising flyers and leaving them behind.

What Guinnless said.

Hell, peel the stalks and eat them. They're tasty!

quote:

Hell, peel the stalks and eat them. They're tasty!

Eat them raw - they taste lovely and peppery - just like raw cabbage hearts. Personally I wouldn't even peel them, just wash them first.

and they might protect you from a few nasty things

quote:

Originally posted by Derek Wright:
and they might protect you from a few nasty things

Like Conservatives?

Some interesting observations so far.

An attempt at answering some of the points:

Bones - I don't think I can comment about them as I haven't eaten meat (or fish) for over 30 years, so I have no reference point.

Fruit - I'm talking about stalks, not skin. Different thing altogether. Incidentally, when buying a cabbage the thick stalk is already removed, by the retailer. Surely my doing the same for broccolli is no different?

Saving - Dunno. It's a matter of principle, they are trying to make me pay for something I don't want.

One thing, although some of you say it is wrong, no-one has said why it's wrong. What law/moral principle am I actually transgressing?

The alternative use suggestions are food for thought though.

steve

One further suggestion. Make your own Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup.

I use mainly the stalk and about half the florets for this. Dead simple :

Boil a potato until soft in water with mixed herbs, black pepper and a vegetable stock cube. Add chopped (not finely, see below) and boil for 10-15 minutes. Attack with a potato masher (or liquidiser). Add blue cheese to taste. I usually use Danish Blue, but use whatever you fancy. Keep simmering and stir continuously until cheese all melted.
DO NOT ADD SALT (already plenty in the cheese).
Serve with a drizzle of fresh cream on top (or not, as you prefer). Delicious. Better than any shop bought product, and better than in most restaurants.

quote:

Originally posted by Paper Plane:
One thing, although some of you say it is wrong, no-one has said why it's wrong. What law/moral principle am I actually transgressing?

Oh, I'm starting to love this thread :-)

Hi Steve,

I'm eating on the 'leave it on' table.

As for the why do/do not:
1. it depends on what is standard
2. and depends if it is waste

Kind regards,
Fred Mulder

If it is standard, then leave it on.
- It would be a different story when the reseller would deleberatly increase useless weight (ie including the root)
- please think about the effect if everybody would remove the 'waste'.. since it is a commercial product, it would lead to and price raise. you'll end up paying the same per KG usefull broccolli. Or.. perhaps even more, when the removing of the stalk is inefficient and therefore cost increasing.

Is it waste?
- I'm not a broccolli expert, but I can imagine that the stalk contains a usefull energy supply, and therefore increases the expire date(which is good; less waste, cheaper product)
- in some kitchens the stalk is used, I know some one who also boils pieces stalk with the rest and bin them afterwards. It adds flavour, so it's said.

I would say "immoral" in response to the OP's thread title.

quote:

Originally posted by Paper Plane:
One thing, although some of you say it is wrong, no-one has said why it's wrong. What law/moral principle am I actually transgressing?

The grocer's price is set on a per weight basis, and they have figured out how much they need to charge for a broccoli bunch. That price includes the weight of the stalk. By removing the stalk, you aren't paying them the price for the broccoli bunch that they've determined they need to charge to remain profitable. It's cheating.

Even though you don't eat meat, surely you can agree the analogy holds. Boneless chicken costs more per lb. than bone-in. Removing the bones oneself then paying bone-in prices for boneless chicken is cheating.

Think about it this way: you decide to go into the store and buy $5 worth of broccoli. The grocer says, "I can sell you 5 lbs. of my broccoli for $5." You counter, "I prefer to break the stems off of 7 lbs. of your broccoli so that it now weighs 5 lbs. Here's your fiver - have a great day!" The grocer just sold you 7 lbs. of broccoli at a price he couldn't afford.

It ain't right.

I would say immoral.
If I were a retailer I would be upset at this practice and may have to charge the other customers more to pay for this "waste".
Would you walk into an old fashioned greengrocers and cut the stalk off in front of the shopkeeper? I think the answer to this question will answer the one you posed.
Regards,
Steve.

Immoral IMO. You make my nororiously tightfisted fellow Aberdonians look like spendthrifts in comparison.

Jim

The only way this practice would be moral, is if the OP would bring a friend along who is only interested in buying stalks and they would share the sectioned broccoli.

Regards...

oh, and I must ad that I appreciate the OP's honesty and the curiosity on the opinions of others in this matter. I hope they're usefull and help to determine if the broccolli moral needs some calibration.

Kind regards,
Fred Mulder

It's simple.

Just go to the customer service desk in the supermarket and ask them the question.

Following some of the articles in this Google search might encourage you to eat the stalks as well as the florets of Broccoli.

fficial&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">Google search

However YMMV