What the hell is a Hipster, anyway?

HappyAndy wrote: One thing that irritates me about hipsters is thier love of faux farm markets like WholeFoods. When I was a kid we went to farm markets and farm stands to get a better price on fresh foods, not to pay more for a middle man to tell me its farm fresh. /end rant.

No E36 M3. berkeleying Whole Paycheck. You know where I buy my milk from? A rusty old refrigerator with a dented door inside a ramshackle milk house on the side of a twisty country road. With a cash box next to it.

It's the same price as the hormone-laced, ultra-pasteurized, shipped cross-country white water they peddle at the grocer.

volvoclearinghouse wrote:

HappyAndy wrote: One thing that irritates me about hipsters is thier love of faux farm markets like WholeFoods. When I was a kid we went to farm markets and farm stands to get a better price on fresh foods, not to pay more for a middle man to tell me its farm fresh. /end rant.

No E36 M3. berkeleying Whole Paycheck. You know where I buy my milk from? A rusty old refrigerator with a dented door inside a ramshackle milk house on the side of a twisty country road. With a cash box next to it. It's the same price as the hormone-laced, ultra-pasteurized, shipped cross-country white water they peddle at the grocer.

Sorry, I’ve got to disagree. We get as much as possible from the two farmers markets close to us (Royal Oak on Sat year round and Birmingham on Sun in the warm months). Most of the rest of our stuff comes from Whole foods and odds and ends from Trader Joes or a great local store(s) Market square and market fresh. We used to get our raw milk from a co-op, but that’s harder these days and 90% of our meat comes from a pasture raised organic farmer. With the exception of the meat which is more expensive at whole foods, and there’s a big debate over whether whole Food pasture raised meat is truly pasture raised or pasture finished, Whole foods really isn’t expansive. I and other friends have crossed shopped similar products from Whole foods to places like Meijer etc and W.F. is generally the same price or cheaper. Yes, it’s possible to buy much cheaper that W.F. but not for the same product/quality.

Eating good food doesn’t make one a hipster, I fail every single definition by being a fat middle aged guy whose wife sometimes has to tell him that item of clothing/color a) clashes badly with b) so I need to change before going to the office, it’s not an ironic thing, it’s a totally clueless thing.

Oh, but's here's the best piss take of WF's ever. An oldie but a goodie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UFc1pr2yUU

I’ve always loved the line about taking Kombucha off the shelf, but now it’s back on.

I understand that for some folks, Whole Foods is about the only access they have to the sort of high quality, local, fresh foods that those of us who live out in the country take for granted. But the prices are obscene. $3/ small bunch for beans I get at the local farmer's market for a buck. $7/ gallon for raw milk I pay $4/ gallon for.

Meat is weird, there's so many terms and so much misinformation its difficult to make a good decision. We basically just cut down on how much of it we eat, and try to buy meat that, if not organic per se, at least mentions something about no hormones and free range and that sort of thing on the package.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I understand that for some folks, Whole Foods is about the only access they have to the sort of high quality, local, fresh foods that those of us who live out in the country take for granted. But the prices are obscene. $3/ small bunch for beans I get at the local farmer's market for a buck. $7/ gallon for raw milk I pay $4/ gallon for. Meat is weird, there's so many terms and so much misinformation its difficult to make a good decision. We basically just cut down on how much of it we eat, and try to buy meat that, if not organic per se, at least mentions something about no hormones and free range and that sort of thing on the package.

You can't get raw milk in any shop or farm market in America. The only way to get raw milk is through a co-op where you 'buy' a cow or portion of, then pay the farmer, not for the milk, but for their labor to milk the cow and deliver it wherever.

Organic milk is another matter, it's available all over. Whole foods own 365 organic is cheaper than Horizon, organic valley etc.

I love raw milk, it tastes so much better than pasteurized, you can taste the difference through the seasons as the caws diet changes.

Back in England my parents are lucky, farmers, milk men and shops can still legally sell raw milk over the counter without the stupid hoops people have to go through to get it here. She gets raw milk delivered to her door step every morning.

OK, let's end the food / shopping / milk flounder and get back to jokes about Hipsters please. I absolute loved the hipster Olympic trials, any more out there?

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

other than being cheap, i cannot find anything good about the food from trader joes.

Don't get my Veterinarian wife started on the raw milk thing. Saw her go off on someone about E.Coli. She also doesn't believe much in Big Organic (WF) after visiting the farms.

I grew up on raw milk, so did millions of others, all with no issue. Pasteurizing milk allows farmers to be more lax with hygiene as they know everything’s going to get killed off.

As I understand it, growing up on raw milk and being exposed to pathogens over a long period of time to build up an immunity is quite different than suddenly at 30 deciding "I'm gonna drink raw milk!" and exposing yourself to E. Coli, Listeria, and the like.

I watched the whole foods parking lot rap (hilarious) but you'd never catch me in a place like that. Looks like a place for people trying too hard to appear well off and better than others.

Raw milk is governed by state laws over here. I live in South Carolina, and you can absolutely buy RAW (unpasteurized, straight out of the cow's udders) milk in stores here. I have seen it on the shelf- and it's 7 USD a gallon. I buy it directly from a farmer down the street from me for $4, as I said he has an unmanned milk house with an old refrigerator in it he stocks daily with gallons of the stuff.

My wife was actually lactose intolerant- could not drink store milk. I remember the first day I brought home a gallon of raw milk, she tried some and...no problems! We drink it every day now, and I make a pretty tasty mozzarella out of it, too.

bastomatic wrote: As I understand it, growing up on raw milk and being exposed to pathogens over a long period of time to build up an immunity is quite different than suddenly at 30 deciding "I'm gonna drink raw milk!" and exposing yourself to E. Coli, Listeria, and the like.

Being British I grew up on it. over here No one I've met grew up on it, but I've never met anyone or know of anyone who's had an issue switching to it.

HiTempguy wrote: I watched the whole foods parking lot rap (hilarious) but you'd never catch me in a place like that. Looks like a place for people trying too hard to appear well off and better than others.

I really don't get what people have against WF's It's an admittedly high end grocery store that sells an excellent variety and quality of products. I don't go there to flaunt what money I do or don't have. To me it's the best all round grocery store in the area. There are others more expensive stores and many cheaper, but to me it's just the best availability of good produce.

Trying to de flounder this, even though I was one of the predominant flounders!

Back to Hipsters

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I really don't get what people have against WF's

The whole place screams pretentious. As soon as you see the place, that's what hits me. It's not just a place that sells high quality produce and food (a dubious claim at best, especially in the USofA), it's a place where people get their "I'm better than the lowly masses" on "even though I'm financed out the hilt on my pious".

HiTempguy wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I really don't get what people have against WF's

The whole place screams pretentious. As soon as you see the place, that's what hits me. It's not just a place that sells high quality produce and food (a dubious claim at best, especially in the USofA), it's a place where people get their "I'm better than the lowly masses" on "even though I'm financed out the hilt on my pious".

AAgghg must not respond, must not respond, must not…

Here’s a Hipster joke instead: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, will a hipster buy the soundtrack?”

P.S. Anyone who knows me knows my almost panoptical dislike of Turbot Poises and the like

Are you guys STILL commenting on this thread?! I stopped reading this thread way before the OP even started it. I'm only leaving a comment now because it's ironic. smooths mustache and cleans glasses

DustoffDave wrote: *smooths mustache and cleans glasses*

I knew you were a poser. Those glasses shouldn't have lenses.

In reply to Anti-stance:

How'd they get that picture to not look fuzzy?

In reply to yamaha:

HiTempguy wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I really don't get what people have against WF's

The whole place screams pretentious. As soon as you see the place, that's what hits me. It's not just a place that sells high quality produce and food (a dubious claim at best, especially in the USofA), it's a place where people get their "I'm better than the lowly masses" on "even though I'm financed out the hilt on my pious".

You anti-WF are the ones who sound pretentious, you realize that, right? All this "oh well the Farmer's Markets blah blah blah" geez, don't like it, don't shop there.

I agree with Adrian, WF is the best mix of easy, variety and quality.

Could I spend all Saturday driving to the different farmer's markets to save a bit? Probably, do I want to? No, I have better things to do.

The claim that people shop there for their image? I live in a metro area of 1 million people..........who do I look cool in front of? Who knows or cares? As for the money claim, well, if it hurt our finances to shop there, we wouldn't.

Huh. Weird. I go to Whole Foods sometimes. It's close to work. I've never seen anyone in there who looked like they had two dimes to rub together. Not sure how you could think it was pretentious. Must be different here.

Mostly Birkenstocks and women who don't shave their underarms around here. Totally a Hippy thing.

Eh... we have a Whole Foods and a Trader Joes. I've been in the Whole Foods once. Expensive, usually mobbed and the location stinks to get in & out of (which is the main reason I never go there). The TJ is in a better location, but since they opened it's usually packed with people and the store is small. I'll go in once in awhile, though (it's next to the Lowes I'm always at) since they sell some good beers. I'm sure there's plenty of hipsters in both, but it's mostly Princeton yuppies.

There's an Amish market (in central NJ?) on the way home from work, although they're only open Thu-Sat. I go there for good meat and veggies at decent prices if I have time.

I very occasionally go to Earth Fare (like WF). It is good (especially the cheese) but I am way too cheap to buy it often.