A better deal on drug-free cold cuts

Image by Abllo™ via Flickr

The Starbucks in Edgewater is the only one I know with outdoor seating.

We stopped at the Trader Joe's in Edgewater to pick up Applegate Farms cold cuts, which come from animals that are raised without antibiotics, and a few other items.


Sliced roast beef and sliced turkey were $3.99 for 7 ounces, and sliced ham was $3.79. That works out to about $8 to $10 a pound, compared to about $13 to $18 a pound for the same cold cuts at ShopRite in Englewood.


The cold cuts, called Applegate Naturals, are not preserved with nitrites or nitrates.


We also picked up Trader Joe's bacon, which contains no antibiotics, growth hormones or nitrites ($3.99 for 12 ounces); uncured, antibiotic-free hot dogs ($4.29 for 16 ounces); sliced yogurt cheese with jalapeno pepper ($4.79 for 12 ounces) and organic whole-wheat spaghetti ($1.39).


We had driven to a parking lot near The Crab House in Edgewater to walk along the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, parts of which are marred by barges sunken in mud, old pier pilings and a stench from stagnant water.


The smell was so strong my wife kept on urging me to turn back, but we eventually found a nice spot in front of some condominiums, with a view down river of Jersey City.


In the Edgewater Commons shopping center on River Road, we found a Starbucks with outdoor seating, albeit with a view of the parking lot.


As I sipped my dark-roast coffee of the day, I watched two men play backgammon and listened to several foreign languages being spoken by people at nearby tables.