[randomdata]

> basic necessities like [...] food are significantly more expensive than they were just two years ago.

Here on the farm, the price I'm getting when selling food is half of it was two years ago. If I, the farmer, am selling the food for less than two years ago, while you are paying more than two years ago, then it seems experiences are you problem – e.g. you are paying more for the experience of shopping in a grocery store.

[raincole]

... people didn't shop in a grocery store two years ago?

[randomdata]

People seemingly value the experience of shopping in a grocery store more now than two years ago.

[hattmall]

What is the reasonable and less expensive alternative to shopping in a grocery store though?

[randomdata]

If your time is worthless, the least expensive option will be to produce your own food.

If your time has value, the least expensive option will be to buy from a commercial kitchen.

What is reasonable is subjective and depends on the experience you want to have.

If you enjoy cooking as a hobby and are able to afford the high cost of operating your own kitchen, then that will be the only reasonable choice in your mind, and in that case the grocery store will provide a pretty nice experience in simulating wholesale distribution in quantities the hobbyist can manage.

A number of reports suggest that commercial kitchen use is on the decline, so, assuming people aren't eating less, it seems that cooking is gaining in interest as a hobby. Thus it stands to reason that the grocery store can charge that elevated interest more than in times past. That's just basic supply and demand.

[yterdy]

I'm upvoting you because your satire is biting. British, Vonnegut-level.

(To be clear, obviously that's not the case. Which leaves the alternative, that corporate food suppliers are screwing everyone.)

[mgaunard]

You're presumably in America, where they essentially have two kinds of produce: cheap and expensive. Not too much of a middle ground there.

If you produce the former, the shop will purchase large amounts and distribute them to a large audience. You couldn't possibly sell that quantity yourself. The value added is obvious, and their margin is relatively low anyway.

If you produce the latter, the shop will be taking higher margins, but they're much more involved in marketing your product, since they're taking a risk by associating it with their upper-class lifestyle brand. Again clear value added.

[mcv]

Best price for the farmer is always to sell it themselves, but you can only sell a limited amount that way. In Netherland, some smaller farms have a little stall outside where they sell their produce. It's very cheap and fresh for the customer, and the farmer gets a much better price. But the total amount they're selling that way is never going to be big. I suspect it's just a nice bonus to them.

My brother in law has cows, and he recently switched to producing organic milk. That gets him a much better price, and he also recently started making his own cheese and grow his own grain. I love the diversification and we buy directly from him, but his reach is more limited than when he just has Campina pick up all his milk (which still happens).

[randomdata]

> they essentially have two kinds of produce: cheap and expensive. Not too much of a middle ground there.

In fact, there is middle ground as the least expensive product goes for animal feed. The middle ground is the lesser quality, but still high enough quality, product that human consumers are still willing to purchase.

You, of course, set out to grow the highest quality product you can – it fetches the highest value, after all – but Mother Nature often has other plans.

[musicale]

Whose pockets is the money going into? Fuel companies? Shipping companies? Distributors? Retail grocers?

The last time I shopped at a farmer's market the quality was great, but the selection was limited and it was still expensive.

[randomdata]

The pockets of the entire economy. Ultimately, food is mostly sold on futures contracts, so realistically the end consumer is currently paying the price from one to two years ago when the farm gate price was double what it is now. Within the next year or so, retail food will no doubt crash hard as those old contracts start to clear and the much lower contracts of today start to come into force.

[musicale]

Great reply, thanks!

[DeathArrow]

Or it means that the farmer and buyer are both screwed up by third parties.

[randomdata]

The third parties provide an experience.

[DeathArrow]

I rather not have that experience. That experience is forced upon me. Like how paying taxes is forced upon me.

[randomdata]

Hardly. If you do not pay your taxes, other people will seek restitution. If you do not engage in the experience provided by the food middlemen, nobody is going to care.

One can always by directly from the farmer, or produce their own food, if they truly do not want the experiences provided by the third parties. But I expect most people will find out that the experiences are actually pretty great.