11-06-2024, 11:11 PM
Food shopping takes so much longer now. I have at least two grocery stores I go to now. Does anyone else have to do this?
The first store is for things like dish soap, toilet paper, shampoo, paper towel, etc. I can get some food there, like the brand of milk I now buy, butter, and maybe one or two items of produce. It's the cheap store. I used to do almost all my shopping there. I can't really take advantage of the big warehouse stores because they're too far away and I don't have the storage space to make really huge purchases.
The second store is for most of my food. It's in the wealthier part of town. It has mostly edible produce, staples like nuts, granola, cheese, pasta, etc. It's more expensive, but the food there is better. It's smaller, and doesn't seem to have much overlap in brands with the cheap store.
There only one store I can go to and get bread that is edible, and another for meat, which I rarely eat any more.
The official data says inflation food prices have gone up 27% in the last five years, but that's not my experience. Prices for the same brand of food have gone up at least 50%, although I have no numbers to prove it. https://www.officialdata.org/Food-and-be...19-to-2024
But when I take quality into account, food prices seem to have about tripled. The same brand of potatoes I used to get five years ago now make me ill. If I buy locally grown organic potatoes, I'm okay, but they're more expensive. Same with just about everything. Milk I've always been picky about, but now I can't abide anything except the grassfed stuff that's $5 a half-gallon. I've almost completely eliminated bread from my diet, because it's just impossible to get anything that doesn't knock me out anymore. There's only one place I can go and get bread that is made fresh without glyphosate; I think that's what the problem is. I get pasta that's made in Italy now, because the Barilla I used to buy has turned to crap, and it doesn't put me to sleep like American wheat does, but it costs twice as much. Peanuts and cashews from the cheap store are packed in some rancid oil now that makes me sweat, and the ones from the rich people place cost three times as much, but that's what I buy now.
Produce is hit or miss, even when I choose carefully. I've noticed organic apples with weird wax on them, and I've learned that "organically grown" doesn't mean it isn't sprayed in chemicals and preservatives after its harvested. I've learned to soak rice and beans and discard the soaking water before cooking them. It's a real pain, and it's more expensive to boot. There's a farmers markets around here, seasonally, and that's an option, although I've heard that some farmer's markets are having problems with fake stands that just sell supermarket produce at a higher price.
Most meat seem right out now. Strange water injected fish that are like sponges. Chicken that is like rubber somehow? There one market, again one of the 'rich people' places that has decent meats, but I swear they're 3-4 times as expensive. I'm not paying $40/lb for steak. The pasture-raised eggs I used to eat now have occasional batches that are somehow plasticy? So I don't eat eggs much any more.
I can't find statistics for this. It seem like inflation is working in two directions: each dollar buys less, which is documented. But at the same time, the baseline of what you're getting floats. Quality is going down. The same brand from 2019 is not the same quality in 2024. So, to get the same thing you got in 2019, you have to switch to a more expensive tier of food. I never had to worry about that stuff before. I spent over $300 for three bags of groceries a few weeks ago, and I'm still bitter about it. (Not small plastic or paper bags, but bring-you-own totes I have that are fairly large, but still).
Okay, fine. I actually don't mind that whatever crappification is going on is making me have to be more aware of what I eat. That actually seems good. And I'm not unwilling to pay for quality. There's two things that are frustrating though: first, there's no guide on any of this. If I search for "declining food quality", no useful results. Try looking up why cheese made in America is getting kinda nasty but European cheese is still okay, no real results. Maybe there's some domestic ones that are still good? I dunno. I'd rather not have to buy flour from Poland, but no one is even admitting the problem, much less giving alternatives. Second thing is, time. What the hell, do rich people have food-butlers or something? It takes hours, not to mention fuel, to get from store to store and find the particular stuff that isn't garbage at each one. Can't just do a quick stop at the one store along the way and be set for the week any more.
Thanks for letting me vent. Anyone want to confirm my experience about the cost and quality of things? I really have no way of knowing how much of this is an everyone problem and how much is me getting older or more allergic to toxins or whatever.
The first store is for things like dish soap, toilet paper, shampoo, paper towel, etc. I can get some food there, like the brand of milk I now buy, butter, and maybe one or two items of produce. It's the cheap store. I used to do almost all my shopping there. I can't really take advantage of the big warehouse stores because they're too far away and I don't have the storage space to make really huge purchases.
The second store is for most of my food. It's in the wealthier part of town. It has mostly edible produce, staples like nuts, granola, cheese, pasta, etc. It's more expensive, but the food there is better. It's smaller, and doesn't seem to have much overlap in brands with the cheap store.
There only one store I can go to and get bread that is edible, and another for meat, which I rarely eat any more.
The official data says inflation food prices have gone up 27% in the last five years, but that's not my experience. Prices for the same brand of food have gone up at least 50%, although I have no numbers to prove it. https://www.officialdata.org/Food-and-be...19-to-2024
But when I take quality into account, food prices seem to have about tripled. The same brand of potatoes I used to get five years ago now make me ill. If I buy locally grown organic potatoes, I'm okay, but they're more expensive. Same with just about everything. Milk I've always been picky about, but now I can't abide anything except the grassfed stuff that's $5 a half-gallon. I've almost completely eliminated bread from my diet, because it's just impossible to get anything that doesn't knock me out anymore. There's only one place I can go and get bread that is made fresh without glyphosate; I think that's what the problem is. I get pasta that's made in Italy now, because the Barilla I used to buy has turned to crap, and it doesn't put me to sleep like American wheat does, but it costs twice as much. Peanuts and cashews from the cheap store are packed in some rancid oil now that makes me sweat, and the ones from the rich people place cost three times as much, but that's what I buy now.
Produce is hit or miss, even when I choose carefully. I've noticed organic apples with weird wax on them, and I've learned that "organically grown" doesn't mean it isn't sprayed in chemicals and preservatives after its harvested. I've learned to soak rice and beans and discard the soaking water before cooking them. It's a real pain, and it's more expensive to boot. There's a farmers markets around here, seasonally, and that's an option, although I've heard that some farmer's markets are having problems with fake stands that just sell supermarket produce at a higher price.
Most meat seem right out now. Strange water injected fish that are like sponges. Chicken that is like rubber somehow? There one market, again one of the 'rich people' places that has decent meats, but I swear they're 3-4 times as expensive. I'm not paying $40/lb for steak. The pasture-raised eggs I used to eat now have occasional batches that are somehow plasticy? So I don't eat eggs much any more.
I can't find statistics for this. It seem like inflation is working in two directions: each dollar buys less, which is documented. But at the same time, the baseline of what you're getting floats. Quality is going down. The same brand from 2019 is not the same quality in 2024. So, to get the same thing you got in 2019, you have to switch to a more expensive tier of food. I never had to worry about that stuff before. I spent over $300 for three bags of groceries a few weeks ago, and I'm still bitter about it. (Not small plastic or paper bags, but bring-you-own totes I have that are fairly large, but still).
Okay, fine. I actually don't mind that whatever crappification is going on is making me have to be more aware of what I eat. That actually seems good. And I'm not unwilling to pay for quality. There's two things that are frustrating though: first, there's no guide on any of this. If I search for "declining food quality", no useful results. Try looking up why cheese made in America is getting kinda nasty but European cheese is still okay, no real results. Maybe there's some domestic ones that are still good? I dunno. I'd rather not have to buy flour from Poland, but no one is even admitting the problem, much less giving alternatives. Second thing is, time. What the hell, do rich people have food-butlers or something? It takes hours, not to mention fuel, to get from store to store and find the particular stuff that isn't garbage at each one. Can't just do a quick stop at the one store along the way and be set for the week any more.
Thanks for letting me vent. Anyone want to confirm my experience about the cost and quality of things? I really have no way of knowing how much of this is an everyone problem and how much is me getting older or more allergic to toxins or whatever.
"I cannot give you what you deny yourself. Look for solutions from within." - Kai Opaka
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