We all know organic food is expensive, but I am often unprepared for just how expensive it is in certain stores. I stopped by a very pricey neighborhood supermarket, which I don’t do often, to get some red bell peppers for a stir-fry DH likes (beef or chicken, butternut squash, and red peppers). What I witnessed made me whip out my phone and photograph produce, which is perhaps kind of nuts:
Notice that the organic prices are EACH, which means per pepper. The regular prices are per pound, which is roughly 3 peppers and yields an approximate price of $1 each. Unless these organic peppers come with gold specks or something, WTF?
Nicoleandmaggie have a very cool list of links this weekend. Go check it out.
If you are not reading dr24hours at Scientopia, I recommend it; the latest post (linked to) tells how to sell your academic papers in a nonacademic interview. His personal blog, Infactorium, is even better — introspective, honest, and well written.
This post on domestic violence blew my mind. (It may be hard to digest for some.)
xykademiqz 
I usually buy organic and local (an advantage of living on the Central Coast of California)—the additional price is usually about 20–40% over commercially grown stuff. Sometimes the markup gets higher than that and I’ll buy stuff that isn’t organic, but the markup you were seeing to $12/lb for peppers was obvious price gouging.
If the family can accept a certain lack of control with choosing which vegetables to get creative with, a CSA Co-op (Community Supported Agriculture) can be a really great deal. I’m a member of one and I get a crazy amount of local and organically-grown (but not certified, I won’t go into certification issues, but seriously, just ’cause it’s called “organic” doesn’t mean it was raised healthily) food every Tuesday from the beginning of June through the second week of November for $1000. I’ve done the math…this is a year’s worth of veggies if I use everything (ok, the bitter melon this year was not successful) and freeze, dry or pickle what I can’t eat right away. I’ve got about 25 quarts of tomatoes in my freezer now. And 10 quarts of greens, blanched and ready for quick sautees and soups. I also ended up with nearly a pound (!) of oregano dried.
I’m still working on the cabbage. I think I’ll probably make kimchee.
Gah! $12 for a pound of peppers!!??!