Are Hawaii residents that crazy for milk? (buying, living) - (HI) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

terracore · 03-30-2012, 07:02 PM

Most retail chains sell milk at, or below cost, so milk is the universal litmus test of how expensive things are. So when you see people complain about the price of milk, it is a metaphor for the cost of living. If something that is NOT marked up cost X amount, imagine how much things must cost WITH a mark up.[SIZE=3] In Alaska, I've seen milk for $10/gallon, and that was 3-4 years ago. Personally I don't drink the stuff, but understanding the metaphor, the place with $10 gallon of milk also charged $10 for a rotten cantaloupe, so passing by the milk aisle I shouldn't have been surprised at the produce markup. And I wasn't. The EXPIRED milk was only $5.00. I didn't know it was legal to sell it, but regardless, if you can't afford the good milk, you might be able to afford the expired milk in northern Alaska.[/SIZE]

HiloDiver · 03-30-2012, 07:05 PM

Thanks, Terracore, I was just wondering why milk was the chosen commodity since I know so few people who drink the stuff.

Now rum, price of rum, that I'd understand. LOL JUST KIDDING (or maybe not!)

Why not bread? Or gasoline? Or price of electricity per KW? (Which is lower in HI than what we pay in USVI).

sadie123 · 03-30-2012, 09:51 PM

Debbie:

I agree. I don't drink milk. I don't use milk except for guests coffee and baking, we drink our coffee black. I buy a small milk every week and throw it away most weeks. In fact, my husband and I are researching and buying soy milks, something shelf stable to use when necessary, but we don't like the flavor of powdered milk even for baking. I am open to all suggestions.

HiloDiver · 03-30-2012, 09:54 PM

Thank you, Dreaming.

There is nothing wrong with loving milk! Just because we don't like it (and I don't like liver, either, lol) doesn't mean I have an axe to grind, it's a personal preference, not a political stance. As someone with a couple of business degrees, I was truly wondering why our friends and people on this forum always point out that milk, something that has been off my radar for decades, was the first thing people brought up about living in Hawaii. I really thought that perhaps Hawaii residents were crazed for dairy products or something. I thought it was a legitimate, and lighthearted, forum topic. Apparently not???

Indeed, there were many intelligent replies. The trolling was strange, indeed. I wonder what that person's agenda is? And then the really weird comment about my question about conch in another thread...it came off as stalking behavior, very weird for a brand new forum member whose only other post is in a GUN thread.

HiloDiver · 03-30-2012, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sadie123

Debby:

I agree. I don't drink milk. I don't use milk except for guests coffee and baking, we drink our coffee black. I buy a small milk every week and throw it away most weeks. In fact, my husband and I are researching and buying soy milks, something shelf stable to use when necessary, but we don't like the flavor of powdered milk even for baking. I am open to all suggestions.

Sadie, dear, thanks. I don't have any alternative milk suggestions, it's not part of my eating habits. I was just wondering why everyone mentions milk when they talk about cost of living in HI. hotzcatz had a good answer early on.

I haven't liked the stuff since I was a kid and my mother didn't care that I didn't like it. However, my partner recently brought home a carton of vanilla almond milk...I have no idea why...and I thought it was delicious. Neither of us is into milk of any kind, we were just amused that people throw that at us the moment we mention that we are moving to HI.

sadie123 · 03-30-2012, 10:01 PM

Thanks Debbie. My husband and I are hoping to move to the volcano area soon. Maybe we will meet you in the future. We won't even have to talk about milk!

HiloDiver · 03-30-2012, 10:03 PM

Thanks, Sadie!!! We would much rather talk about fresh produce and fresh fish...things we have here, will have there, and LOVE!

OpenD · 03-30-2012, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sadie123

I don't use milk except for guests coffee and baking, we drink our coffee black. I buy a small milk every week and throw it away most weeks. In fact, my husband and I are researching and buying soy milks, something shelf stable to use when necessary, but we don't like the flavor of powdered milk even for baking. I am open to all suggestions.

Carnation condensed milk has a long history as a shelf-stable, baking friendly ingredient, and most coffee drinkers seem fine with using it as a creamer. I usually keep a couple of cans in the pantry just in case. I also found snap-on plastic lids that help keep an opened can fresh in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

I've never cared for the aftertaste from soy milk, and I'm concerned about the hormonal changes associated with extended use of soy products. But mostly I just don't like the taste.

Almond milk, however, surprised me. Pleasant and tasty, and it doesn't sour like cow milk. Hard to find in smaller containers than 1/2 a gallon though. So I usually just make a pint or two myself, using a blender and a recipe I found online.

sadie123 · 03-30-2012, 10:49 PM

oooh. I think I will try the almond milk. Thanks for the suggestion.

HiloDiver · 03-30-2012, 10:59 PM

The only milk we really like is coconut milk, and that's for cooking curries.

I was most pleasantly surprised about the almond milk, but only tried it that one time. FYI a half gallon of it is almost $6 here in a U.S. territory. I thought I'd mention that since this topic is actually about cost of living, and not about what people like to drink.