These days I am having to pay a lot more for my fresh veg and fruits from local wet markets. There isn’t as much choice as before and the stuff doesnt seem to be as fresh as before. Anything to do with all this rain we have had recently and the growers affected adversely?
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Correct …Flooding…Also global supply issues…Price gouging.
Veg prices down South still cheaper.
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Farmers have to wear masks. Affects productivity.
[totally made that up but I thought I’d float it as a theory]
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They also can’t go to the beach and get much needed r&r, so stressed and overworked
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They already used those surgical masks when they spray the fields with toxins…one case of pro mask. Unsurprisingly they are less effective for limiting pesticide and herbicide inhalation as they are for preventing people from spitting on each other.
But yeah, flooding and price gouging. Right now guava are still around $ 5 to 8 per jin for the farmer, as an example. the gouging happens in the middle 
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As always.
What do they call the freezer owning middle men in Mandarin again? I remember someone saying there was some derogatory term for them.
I got to the markets really early about a week ago, before 7 am. I got to see some of the produce as it was delivered to a regular vendor of mine, it was surprising. A lot of the “gourds”, like bitter melon, zucchini, choko, capsicum arrive frozen. Also dou gan, dou pi, all rock hard frozen on delivery. Greens weren’t frozen though…
菜蟲
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Frozen? Really?
I can’t find any Italian mushrooms at all. Costco didn’t have them.
All I can find is Shitake mushroom, are they any good for pasta?
I doubt it. For sure a few things can freeze, but many cannot. Most likely they are either for a particular customer or they arent frozen but fridge and the packages got icy.
Most things when frozen will break cells and when thawed will be “mushy” and have
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Do you know what species “italian mushrooms” are? All the locally producedtypes are still easy and cheap. Certain imports may be affected.
I don’t know what it’s called. It’s the kind of mushroom used in pasta and stuff. All they have is shitake mushroom, but they are far cheaper than those pasta mushroom.
Portobello?
Crimini?
I use shiitake all the time in my pasta dishes. Also, I’ll use the dried ones as well, after soaking of course, and add the water to the sauce. No complaints yet.
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I hope using shitake mushroom won’t taste right, it would save a ton of cash too as it’s far cheaper.
Hope won’t be like this
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Probably porcini? What kind of pasta were you planning on?
Tell me about it 
The only imported mushrooms down south are from Japan or Korea, which doesn’t make any difference when you are looking for Italian mushrooms in vain. I make do with king mushrooms. Fine with pasta or for stir-fried, but risotto is a no-go. I’m still surviving on the dried porcini that I brought over last year (was it legal to bring them in btw? 
) for that.
The bitter melon has been mushy lately! I’ve stopped buying it. So too the cucumbers. But I hope you are right and it is just icy.