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FOODPanorama of Produce PricingBY JEAN STERNLIGHTThere are tomatoes, and then there are TOMATOES! The former are those pale red orange things which are covered in cellophane, hard as a rock, about equally tasty, and available in any local supermarket. Real TOMATOES on the other handare big and red and delicious, and tend to pour out their juice all over you as you take an ecstatic bite. They are available in Brooklyn, sold by upstate, Connecticut and New Jersey farmers in Greenmarkets, also in some local fruit and vegetable stores, and sometimes even in supermarkets.But aren%u2019t they incredibly expensive? Not necessarily. Depending where you shop, bad tomatoes can be as expensive as good. Nor are tomatoes the only vegetable that suffers from poor breeding, lack of freshness, or other mistreatment. Compared to crisp, fresh lettuce, the stuff that New Yorkers usually eat is no different than green cardboard. The same is true for cucumbers, apples, beets, peaches, green beans, and basically any other fruit or vegetable you might think of.The following local supermarkets, greenmarkets, and fruit and vegetable stores were visited Wednesday July 25th and Thursday July 26th. In general Willie%u2019s at Pacific and Smith, The Heights Garden at 121 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, and the Greenmarket at Flatbush and Atlantic offered the highest quality produce. Of these three Willie%u2019s usually had the lowest prices, with the Greenmarket close behind. The Heights Garden was quiet expensive compared to these two alternatives, but may be a good choice for those Heights residents to whom money is no object.The Pioneer Supermarket located on 7th Avenue in Park Slope between President and Carroll Streets, has a large selection available in its vegetable department. Since practically all of their produce is pre-packaged in cellophane, it is a little hard to test its quality. In general Pioneer produce seemed to be of only fair quality. The lettuce, celery and zucchini now in season in particular looked like they had seen better days. Pioneer%u2019s prices are generally on the high side, so should only be patronized to save time.The A&Pon 9th Street between 5th and6th Avenues in Park Slope is similar to Pioneer in many ways. It too specializes in pre-packaged vegetables, offers only fair quality produce, and has pretty high prices. Like Pioneer its only real asset is a convenient location.The Sterling Market on Flatbush Avenue at 7th Avenue had a surprisingly slim selection of vegetables which varied in quality. Their prices were a little higher and their quality a little lower than those of Willie%u2019s and the Flatbush Avenue Greenmarket. However, Sterling is generally a better marketing choice than supermarkets surveyed. The tomatoes in particular were very good. But the apples were mushy, and the fruit was expensive.Willie%u2019s at the corner of Smith and Pacific in Boerum Hill offers a wide selection, high quality produce, fairly low prices, and such delicacies as mangos and plantains. When Willie%u2019s sells carrots they keep the greens on, which is nice since they go well in a salad.The Heights Garden on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights has a large variety of produce, and most of their fruits and vegetables look fresh and of good quality.However, they are expensive. Plums, zucchini, apples and green beans seemed particularly costly.The Brooklyn Heights Key Food at 112 Montague should be avoided since it has only a very small vegetable department. Their pre-packaged produce is fairly expensive, (about the same prices as other supermarkets), and is not of a particularly high quality.The Greenmarket on Flatbush Avenue at Atlantic Avenue is open on Wednesdays only and is the gathering place for farmers from all over the tri-state area who want to sell their produce. The quality of the produce was uniformly very high, and often quite inexpensive as well. However, in some cases green peppers, better buys seemed available -elsewhere. In general though, the Greenmarket really does offer a bargain to shoppers.On Thursdays there is also a Greenmarket in Red Hook at the intersection of West 10th Street and Columbia. So far, however, only a few farmers have brought their vegetables to this market. The produce available is of high quality and is relatively inexpensive.Here%u2019s How They Compare: Pioneera *< 4 I%u2022mme ft T Iw& Heights Gardenv %u00b0s c %u00a3 Willie's Atlantic Green%u00ad market Red Hook Green%u00ad market7th flve.at President 9th St. at 5th Ave. 7th Ave. at Flatbush! 121 Montague St. 112 Montague St. Smith at PacificWeds, on Flatbushat Atlantic0W. 10th St. atColumbia St.C arro ts394 bunch7 or 8894 bunch20 small39C bunch| l694 bunchmall, with greens394 bunch7 or 8454 bunchsmall504/bunchabout 10with greens654 bunchabout 7with greensC elery4 ft buncha little old494 bunchold, browning894 bunch 454 bunchlarge,freshr r >......;................................... 3 for 794pre-packed6 for 994in husks5 for 994in husks3 for 494 %u25a0pre-packed7 for $1%u25a0%u2014 1.....%u2014 %u2014 ...%u2014 --~------- ---2 for 494 3 for $1not too waxy, firm5 for $1 2 for 594 2 for 494 3 for 394 1 for 154 6 for 51%u2014k %u25a0K W & A H H A M I t e79Clb. 694 lb. 594 lb. 7941b. 394 lb. 504 lb. 334 lb.694 lb. 694 lb.soft594 lb. 5941b. 694 lb. 594 lb. 804 1b. 654 1b.im - ' M. ' -- V' i%u00a3 i III l - y\\i 594 headsmall794 headlarge and crisp594 head 694 headsmall594 headsmall59 4 headlarge and goad504 headlarge504 headrather small%u25a0%u2019..11\___________2 _594 headsmall and old394 lb. 594 headlarge594 headlarge504 headlarge594 headlargef i f i f 494 bunchabout 12294 bunchabout 5254 bunchabout 5554 bunchabout 12, juicy%u2014>%u2014 %u25a0%u2014 %u2014 %u2014 %u2014 ........... ....................%u2014894 lb.good594 lb. hard594 for 3 or 4,hard, unripe594 lb.good494 1b.1 good, also694 and 794 1b.594 lb.hard, orange104 eachgood, or394 lb. hard504 lb.good Jersey oror 804 lb. Mass.334 1b.good-2 for 294soft3 for 534 694 lb. 494 lb.or 3 for 724404 lb. 334 1b.A p p le , 594 1b.\694 lb.\594 lb.\694 1b.I \3 for 754\594 1b.\504 lb.Waddington984 pint 994 pint 1 994 pint 894 pint 51.50 pint$1.10 lb. 994 lb.old994 lb. I 51.191b.1 a bit old994 lb. 51 lb.good%u2022 7 - %u2019 o.v'is,-,. -; 494 lb. 594 1b.look good794 lb. j 994 1b. 494 1b. 504 lb.... - %u2014 ^ 7..... '394 lb.not ripe694 lb. 594 lb. 594 lb.not ripe304 lb.look good404 lb.very good654 lb.- - * 494 1b. 694 lb. 794 Ih. 994 lb. 894 lb. 694 lb. 494 lb.%u2022 o ripe reddish, medium large or 494 lb. for or 554 lb. for smallM smaller medium siieAug. 2,1979, The PHOENIX, Page 13