BIDENOMICS - WILL AMERICA STARVE? - Inflated Food Prices Forcing American Families to Change Eating Habits

 

15 Reasons Why Your Grocery Bill Is Sky-high Right Now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2gwLG6GA-8&t=6s

Feel like your grocery bill is high? You’re definitely not alone. At this point, it’s hard to remember when grocery prices were “normal”. Every time we wheel the cart down supermarket aisles, we fear which unwelcome surprise we might find next. In recent years, many of us have become accustomed to doing quite a bit of mental math when we go shopping because with each passing month we continue to see the cost of everything continuously climb. The items we used to toss into our carts without a second thought about the cost have become way too expensive to make their way into our pantries.  Over the past year, food prices have jumped by 11.4%, according to official numbers. But U.S. consumers are seeing much higher increases in a wide range of everyday staples. Bread, for example, surged 16.2% in the past 12 months. The cost of meat, poultry, and fish is about 16% higher since the start of 2022. Meanwhile, egg prices soared by a shocking 39.8% - and we’re being told that this is just the beginning. The compounding challenges of labor shortages, soaring energy prices, and shortages of commodities and raw materials have resulted in a significant production slowdown that’s been affecting virtually every sector of the industry. But the food sector, in particular, has been disproportionally impacted by this deceleration. Many processing plants had to slash headcount to avoid crowded working conditions amid the pandemic, but since then, some have never resumed normal operations. In turn, food producers had to increase the price they charge consumers to make up for their higher operational costs. After the global health emergency exploded in 2020, food retailers have seen consumers stockpiling essentials at a staggering pace. Many of them tried to boost their inventory levels to meet the unexpected surge in demand, but up until this day, they are still having difficulties finding reliable suppliers, and even when they do, they might not be able to order the volume they want.  Food inflation is a trend that is likely to persist. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri- Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University said during an interview with Bloomberg that: "People will have to get used to paying more for food. From now on, it’s only going to get worse.” For low-income families, the outlook is particularly troubling. Skyrocketing food prices are regressive and particularly damaging to them, given that they are forced to spend a greater share of their monthly income on food compared with upper-income households. Their trade- offs are not just foregoing a non-essential expense or not paying a utility bill. It might be far worse, such as not going to the doctor, or not getting their full dietary needs, such as an adequate protein intake,  because it’s simply too expensive . Some of them will have to  find a side income  just to cover their extra grocery costs. By now, it has become a common thing to start making calculations in our heads at the checkout line to determine what other things we might have to sacrifice financially because we just got hit with a high food bill. Many Americans who have never struggled with money before are having to make difficult decisions, such as turning to food banks for the first time in their lives.  Unfortunately, there's not only one problem or one solution that could fix this situation -- analysts say it will take time for consumers to see relief, which means that, until then, our grocery bills will keep shooting higher and higher. There are many factors pushing food costs to stratospheric levels, and they're combining to create a nightmare scenario for our food supply chains in 2023. That’s what we’re going to expose today. For more info, find us on: https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Inflated Food Prices Forcing American Families to Change Eating Habits

Getty Images/estherpoon

ETHAN LETKEMAN

25 Sep 20220

2:33

Surging food prices due to historic inflation are forcing American families to adjust their eating habits by choosing cheaper options.

Cutting back on buying meats, shopping at high-end grocery stores, and dining out are among the many ways consumers are trying to save extra cash to avoid financial instability.

One Massachusetts father, Rick Whitman, told CNN that his family was enjoying eating at home more frequently because of how expensive eating out can be but is now grappling with the reality that eating at home is also becoming pricey.

Whitman noted he was spending 25 percent more for family groceries, forcing him to shop at cheaper grocery stores, such as Costco and local chain Market Basket, instead of Whole Foods or Stop & Shop.

Food prices have not only increased for the Whitman family but for the nation, as the consumer price index shows grocery store prices have increased by 13.5 percent since last year under the Biden administration, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, food prices have increased by 11.4 percent.

Polling has shown that 63 percent of American families with children are changing their eating habits, compared to 31 percent that are not, Breitbart News recently reported.

Seventy-two percent of families with children recorded paying more at the grocery store for items such as eggs, milk, butter, and bacon.

Another family also highlighted that current food prices had forced them to significantly adjust their eating habits by cutting down on dinner gatherings they used to enjoy hosting at their home.

“Before, we at least found joy in being home and having friends and family over, cooking and sitting around the table and just being content,” said Carol Ehrman from Montana. “Now, I’m not entertaining at all. It’s really sad.”

She noted that her family is trying to save money by cutting back on meats and is buying bulk foods more often.

Even if changing habits requires only giving up certain simple pleasures, it can still be jarring to any family, William Masters, a nutrition science and policy professor at Tufts University, told CNN.

“Not being able to buy the foods that people are used to — that your children are asking for, that your family wants — that’s a really hard thing,” said Masters.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.