Getting What You Pay For

There's a good deal of, well, truth to this truism. And any good cheapskate knows that paying a small amount of money for an inferior product isn't really being cheap at all. That said, there are plenty of things you are paying for when you buy food, and it's up to you to figure out which of them are worth it to you.

Labor: Labor's a cost for your food production, and the harder you can squeeze the workers, the cheaper the end price you can offer. Here, some smart people talk about the role of labor exploitation in the food system, and come to a variety of conclusions.
Convenience: If your food's provided in a spot you can visit at your leisure, at a time of your choosing, you can expect to pay a bit more for that.
Marketing: If you're buying a brand name, you'd better believe someone is paying for the fact that you know what that brand name means.
Looks: Look at those perfectly formed tomatoes, carrots, and strawberries. No one's selling you the lumpy funny-looking ones (except at the farmers' market maybe, see below). Would you pay as much for the lumpy funny-looking ones? Well then.
Rarity: It costs suppliers more to stock the items that they don't sell many of, especially if they spoil. But conversely...
Popularity: If you have lots of people trying to buy a particular item whose supply has not yet responded, the price will go up. (Apples at the beginning of apple season, in my observation)
Prestige: Of the food itself, or of the venue where you buy the food.
Choice: How many kinds of breakfast cereal do you need? You'll pay for the ones you could buy as well as the ones you actually do.
Access: Do you want to leave the store with exactly what you came in for? Do you absolutely have to have a pineapple regardless of where pineapples are in season or whether the grocer needs to move their stock before they spoil? Well sure, you can do that, but you'll pay for that fact as well as for the pineapple.
And yes, Quality: Did your animal products come from creatures that lived as creatures rather than animal product factories? Turns out that costs more. How fresh are your vegetables? How were they grown? How far did they travel and under what conditions? If you're buying a prepared product, what went into its preparation, and how was it grown or raised?

So the big things that I try to economize on are convenience and access - I cook around what's available, whether that means what's in season or what's on clearance. I'm happy to economize on looks as well; I'm a big believer in ugly food. I try to avoid skimping on quality, and after quality, convenience is probably the biggest thing I'll pay for. I blush to admit how much I've paid for a bag of chocolate chips at the bodega when nothing would do but baking chocolate chip cookies at 11:30 at night.