Posted on 07/02/2022 9:53:44 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
As food inflation worsens, a sense of desperation is seizing the minds of the American people, and some of them are lashing out in acts of violence against workers at grocery stores and other food retail locations. America is now seeing a shocking rise in retail location violence that seems destined to only get worse.
Joe Biden’s catastrophic economic and energy policies have led to a 400% increase in the price of fertilizer, a 100% increase in the price of diesel fuel, supply chain disruptions and food production shortfalls. Even infant formula has been in a supply chain crisis, and the cost of agricultural inputs today means far higher prices in the coming months.
The result is record high food inflation that keeps getting worse. Higher costs of food gobble up higher percentages of discretionary incomes for consumers, hitting low-income consumers especially hard. When food prices rise to the point of requiring 50% of a person’s income just to eat, history tells us that societies break down and lurch into uprisings and revolts.
(Excerpt) Read more at starvation.news ...
Vriginia in the Richmond Capitol region has seen price increases but not as high for items you have listed. Virginia does dairy, beef, pork and lots of seasonal vegetables are coming in now. I see the state you are from and understand now concerning some of the price increases you are seeing.
Looted stores, looted warehouse, won’t get re-stocked. Looted delivery trucks won’t have drivers.
Then what?
I imagine the EBT people are discovering even their generous allowances won’t let them buy the items they were used to getting now. I’m waiting for the rising chorus of complaints that welfare and WIC dollars are being stretched mighty thin and that their might even be shortages of things WIC would buy. Sure to hit at election time.
It’s about $15 round trip to the grocery store for me here in rural MO. Closest grocery store is over 20 miles away and my truck gets 15mpg. If gas gets over $5/gal, it will be $20 trips.
Anyone out here who commutes that distance, makes $15/hr and drives a full size truck, as many do, is paying a big hunk of paycheck for fuel. They basically work for an hour each day to pay for the commute.
If oil goes to $380, as someone at JP Morgan warns, gas will push $10/gal and people’s commute cost will double. A 45 mile round trip at 15mpg will be upwards of $30/day - $150/wk - $600/mth - $7,200/yr. Big chunk for someone who makes $30k/yr. Add other vehicle expenses and it’s 1/3 of their pay. More if they’re making vehicle payments. Tires go quick on these gravel roads.
Now double food prices and what do they have left to pay the bills with? Food is already up 20-30%. Good used 4 cylinder vehicles are hard to find right now too.
I've always been a thrifty shopper and am trying to be more so these days. It's costing about $100/wk for the two of us right now for groceries.
Double that for a family of four living off of one $30k/yr income. Then double it again if food prices do double. $150/wk in gas if that doubles + $400/wk in food if that doubles is $550/wk. $15/hr x 40 hrs is $600/wk before withholding and $15/hr is what all the factories pay around here and those factories are 28 miles from here.
Even if prices for food and fuel go up 50%, these lowest income people around here will be struggling. Think of the young family of four with both kids still in diapers or even one baby who's still too young for daycare. There's not enough jobs around here for both parents to work so there's a lot of stay home moms. Day care for two kids eats up an entire minimum wage or part time job. BTDT
It’s a real SHTF waiting to happen. The cost of diesel alone is going to make food prices keep going up.
My DH works in the restaurant business and he has started carrying at work. Businesses around him are seeing a rise in irate customers. Sadly, they blame the business owners and not the democrat policies that have led to rising food prices.
I got a real eye opener this week. I have a ROKU and went to the Piime app and watches episodes of Judge Judy now that stream on Freevee.
Mosy of those people sue each other over welfare money, EBT scams, stimulus money. None of them work.
One lady(she looked very healthy) was on disability and received a thousand a month, plus ebt benefits, had her son in law and his 4 kids living there and was paid SSI for all but the SIL. She had a charge card an allowed her daughter to get a 7000 dollar tummy tuck using that card and the daughter was supposed to pay her back. Then the daughter dumped the husband after the tummy tuck, moved out and took the 40000 dollar SUV that her mother signed for with her.
How do they do this and nobody works? charge cards and cosigning loans, all that?
I just got back from the grocery store. I was shocked, SHOCKED! to see how high some of the prices were now as compared to just two months ago.
I quit buying paper towels. I keep plenty of old dish towels and face clothes around and we use them. Red Baron frozen pizza that we normally got has gone from $4 to $6 so I’m making pizza from scratch now. Doesn’t save a whole lot due to the price of cheese but saves a little. I use cheap canned spaghetti sauce because pizza sauce is ridiculous in price.
I remember when a shopping cart full was $100 maybe 10 years ago and now, I could easily fit $300 in it and I’ve downgraded on things. Don’t buy brand names. Haven’t hardly had a tender steak in forever, t-bone, ribeye, KC strip etc. We mostly eat chicken for meat these days. Pork isn’t my favorite and my son hates it. Eating more beans + a grain, usually rice. Meatless meals or meat as a minor ingredient is a thing now.
“I notice container size or quantity in ozs. of many products ..... decreasing”
I noticed that years ago during the Carter years. A bottle of dish washing soap suddenly went from a straight sided bottle to an hour glass shaped bottle. The come on from the maker was...”NEW! EASIER TO GRASP BOTTLE!”
I noticed Powerade is no longer a quart bottle, and suddenly Gatorade has gone to the hourglass bottle. No longer a quart.
In Leftafornia you can shoplift up to 1k beforte prosecution is a threat.
“How do they do this and nobody works? charge cards and cosigning loans, all that?”
Remember ‘08 when banks would give a zero down payment loan, plus expected appreciation to any person who could fog a mirror? Another blessing from Pelosi: the sub-prime mortgage debacle.
I noticed the shrinking products in the lovely Obama years. Scotties tissues was one. The box was the same size but the tissues inside were smaller than the box, they used to fit the box end to end but they were shorter. The companies really think consumers are stupid and won’t notice. Scotties tissues have disappeared from stores around me since the pandemic crap started.
That’s true. There are things that stun me. Milk 5 dollars a gallon in Florida. Chicken wings 32 dollars for 24 wings. Apples are pricy. Weird things that just are really ridiculously priced.
I started using rags, clean rags from auto stores, washing them back in the TP crisis of 2020. Still do that but occasionally need the towels.
Like you i don’t buy name brand anything and keep stuff to a minimum but today was your lucky day because I just decided to buy the same way( almost) I bought a little over a year ago to price and compare. It was astounding and I bought some sale items but it was easily 50% higher and like towels and other items much smaller. Bread was smaller, way smaller, lighter.
I’m a good shopper, good cook so for now, things won’t change much. Probably by December I’ll feel the pinch or really have to start buying flour in bulk( etc) and see how it goes.
Oh yeah, this state is full communist and worse. I live in the dairy area but it doesn’t make anything much cheaper because of regulations and taxes. I’m at the point though I’ll have to start planning shopping and stores like my grandparents and parents taught me. It can be done but if one wants to just eat and buy the same stuff bought last year the pinch is in.
another thing that is happening is lookouts will single to folks in a car, who will block in a customer who has carts full of meat products and other things- and steal the contents by force in the parking lots- women in areas where crime is high, should not shop alone if they can help it-
Beats me.
I just brought home a package of ribeye steaks. They were 50% less than two weeks ago for the same fresh cuts of meat.
I am told that a sudden drop in fresh meat prices is a strong warning signal of imminent food shortages. The reasoning is that ranchers and farmers are culling their herds and flocks, anticipating that they cannot afford feed grains to sustain them.
I am topping off my other stocks now. Paying special attention to non-perishable (canned) goods, as I understand we may see rolling electrical outages in July and August.
Steaks are going on the grill tonight. No sense holding on to them.
With the lockdown panic buying, I would drive by several hundred head of beef cattle only to find the meat section empty. The beef here sucks too. Used to get much better beef in FL than I can get here in MO where I'm surrounded by beef cattle. I guess they send the good stuff to the cities and coasts. We get the flavorless tough cows.
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