[spirit557]

Is food really that expensive? I eat mostly beef, yogurt, eggs, small canned fish like sardines, a few vegetables and fruits and I find sell by mark downs all the time on beef that I stock up on and freeze. Like just a few dollars per pound. Same thing with eggs, they have price spikes sometimes but a lot of times they are about 10-20 cents per egg. So like 8 oz serving of beef and a few eggs is like $4 per meal total.

Maybe olive oil prices have gone up and some others or lots of packaged and processed foods. But from a PRICE PER NUTRITION standpoint (real food like beef, eggs, etc), I dont find food costs all that bad.

Price per calories for junk processed foods like snacks and juices is a different argument I guess.

I will also add when times are tough you can quit spending money entirely on carbohydrates. Your body cant produce fats or proteins but It can produce all the glucose it needs endogenously. You can supply yourself fats and proteins your liver will take care of making glucose just fine.

[zknicker]

I find those discounts too, but it's annoying that I have to.

The prices pre- and post- pandemic are undeniably higher for staples. I used to pay $4.99/lb of ground beef at regular sticker prices at Trader Joes, Whole Foods, etc. back in 2019. Those same offerings are consistently $5.99+.

To some it's certainly a small increase, but I see similar impacts across other products as well, and it all adds up. For example, Kerrygold butter used to go for $5.99 and now regularly goes for $7.99. Almond Milk used to be $3.99 ($2.79 on sale), and now routinely goes for $5. Most Cold Brew products I purchase have gone from $5.99 to $6.99 or $7.99. And Cream Cheese is one of the worst - 2 bars of Philadelphia Cream Cheese used to be $6 and now regularly sell for $9 - $10.

It's everywhere. I'm in NYC / LA, so might be different elsewhere (I'm sure these prices look insane to most people outside of cities).

[2600guy]

Not sure where you are near NYC, But I regularly buy 10lbs of chicken breast or boneless thighs for 1.99lb. for chopmeat I buy in bulk and most of the time for 1.99 lb at 10 lbs a pop. If I run out of the beef, can still get for 2.99lb. During shoprite sales I get enough canned veggies, pasta, tuna and tomato sauce/pureed for a year for under 200, then really all for the year is some meat, fresh veggies and fruit. Take the time and effort and you can save hundreds or a thousands a year or two on your shopping costs. Trader joes, king kullen and some others are the most expensive places you can shop, and when dealing with meat I will go to grocery store or the local butcher when they have a sale and stock up for months. I am single dad feeding 3, so every dollar counts in the end.

[throwup238]

I'm in Southern California and do most of my day-to-day shopping at Trader Joes and even I agree. Even with a diet that is really heavy on the expensive stuff like steak and avocados.

The most expensive beef I buy is prime top sirloin steaks at costco for $9-10/lb and ribeye roasts (that I cut up into steaks) at the local halaal market are $8/lb or less. Tenderloins for kebabs and filet mignon is $6-8/lb at Ranch 99 or Shun Fat. The most expensive chicken I get is Costco tenderloins for chicken tenders that sometimes rise to $7/lb but otherwise chicken breast is $3.5/lb or less. The oxtails and neckbone for good beef stock are more expensive than most of the meat I usually eat!

I suspect I'm just really privileged and don't know the meaning of a food desert. The number of ethnic grocery stores here in SoCal guarantees that it's easy to find a cheap source for every ingredient imaginable. The key is to shop there and not at the big names like Safeway, Vons, Ralphs, Albertsons, etc.

[boringg]

Food prices have escalated a significant amount in the last couple years. You would notice it if you have to feed a whole family. In many cases you subsidize to lower quality items or don't purchase items you used to in the past.

Unit prices have gone up for processed foods, core protein and vegetables considerably and, in many cases, the quality has decreased.

[mlindner]

Food prices didn't escalate, the dollar became worth less because of intentional inflation (needed to offset the massive federal spending spree during covid). Food prices are the same as they were pre-inflation.

[boringg]

No they aren't inflation from the Fed was much lower than food price increase.

[newsclues]

Depends on your income, and many low income people find food (especially healthy food) to be expensive.

[ProllyInfamous]

One of the best "simple cooking healthier" tips I've ever received is to cut up onion, bell pepper, etc. and then freeze majority for sparing use in other dishes. After becoming college poor, this began my exploration into healthier eating. I now add onions/peppers to every hot dish.

The additional flavor makes food seem more filling, and isn't expensive. Also: potatoes.

[bequanna]

I hear this repeated all the time, but it rings false.

Convenient junk food is quite expensive compared to “real food” like meat, uncooked pasta, fruits, vegetable, etc which are healthy but require some preparation.

The argument then goes: “well, ok, but poor people don’t have time to cook”. Which again rings false. The poor people I’ve known have an abundance of time and are not working 3-4 jobs to make ends meet.

[somenameforme]

The 'no time to cook' stuff is also plainly false because of handy inventions like pressure cookers. Spend 10 minutes prepping the ingredients, toss them in, do whatever, when you're ready to eat - the food's ready to go. And it's not like roughing it or whatever - you can make some hella delicious meals with precious cookers, and you can get a reasonable one for about a day of minimum wage work.

[spirit557]

I agree, thats why chose to put PRICE PER NUTRITION in all caps because there is a huge difference when someone spends $4 for a carton of eggs vs $4 for a bag of potato chips for example. Everyone seems to complain about food prices but everytime Im at the grocery store I see carts filled to the brin with nutritionally worthless processed foods.

And prep is easy, I guess my tastes are simple - beef, eggs, salt maybe a litle hot sauce. I can cook 3 pounds of ground beef and add about 10-12 eggs in a 12" fry pan and have 3-6 meals in containers in about 45 minutes.

[newsclues]

It can be expensive but it’s also pretty cheap.

I have some food allergies and cook everything from scratch at home so I know it can be cheap to cook yourself but there are some processed foods that are just cheap for the calories especially things on sale.

Other factors like limited transportation and space in a backpack or bag to carry home can make bulk savings harder.

Yeah you can eat rice and beans for cheap, but that’s not really a completely nutritious diet. I’ve eaten it a lot!

[boringg]

"Real food" has gone up considerably.

[jwlake]

Cooking for yourself is cultural. If it's not in your culture you won't do it. Price controls won't fix food prices. Good luck having the government fix culture.

[partiallypro]

As a percentage of income, food expenses are actually lower than at virtually any time in history. So, relatively speaking...no, food isn't expensive.

[digging]

> As a percentage of income, food expenses are actually lower than at virtually any time in history.

What about 5 years ago?

[uoaei]

Completely unhelpful perspective, no one has experience feeling hungry or building food budgets before they were born or had the responsibility to earn money for buying food.

[partiallypro]

Unhelpful or not, it is factual. Food today is cheaper than in the 90s and 00s as a percentage of income. Those are the times people long for and are nostalgic about in terms of pricing.

[digging]

> I find sell by mark downs

This is by definition not scalable, so your experience has nothing to do with the experience of typical families.

[spirit557]

Perhaps but if I had a family to feed the bulk size packages are so much cheaper per pound than the smaller qty it almost is a negligble difference sometimes.