Of course, the grocery bill is higher. Why is it not as clear to people who eat as people who buy that food costs more? I'm talking about intelligent, news-watching, Time magazine, aware of the war on the middle class family members looking at me-the shopper-with accusation. How can I spend that much on groceries? Am I spending it on groceries? Why, yes. Not lipstick. Not Mont Blanc pens. Oranges. Fresh vegetables. Meat!
It's time, you know, to put two and two together. Household budgets are stretched. We spend more on gas. Truckers spend a fortune on gas. Prices go up at Piggly Wiggly, Food Lion, Publix, you name it. There was a time when buying fresh, rather than frozen or canned, was something home-makers did because they cared about health and were willing to spend extra time preparing nutricious dinners. And keeping the fruit bowl full was a matter of course. We are, we middle class, are, returning to a day when Christmas stockings were full of oranges, because they were a luxury for all but the rich. We are getting there. No, we have gotten there. The news on CNN-you know, about the war in Iraq? About oil companies making profits and the price of a gallon of gas changing, often rising? About the agrinomics? They translate to higher prices for everything we stand on lines to pay for. Those spanking, clean, new supermarkets with enormous parking lots sell food. Survival. I may have to cut costs. Maybe I'll try a week of beans and rice, and see if I can save on the weekly food bill. Maybe that will bring some hard facts home to the folks eating the meals someone does the shopping for. Accusatory looks, indeed. it ain't me, baby. It's the 2007 American way.
4 comments:
Piggly Wiggly. Now that's made up innit?
No, 'fraid not, Buffalo. There are lots of Piggly Wigglies in this county similar to Sainsworth's across the pond. I know silly New World. We have better greeting cards, though. At least as I remember from my last trip.
What about folks living on food stamps? Some congresswoman/man/people did a study on what it was like to live on $2 a day (minimum foodstamp allotment). Of course cheap, starchy, filling food is purchased. Then some a$$hole had the nerve to say poor people shouldn't be fat if all they can afford is $2 a day for food.
Well, I raised my family for many years on foodstamps -- more than $2 a day, of course -- and I'm here to tell you GOOD food is expensive. This past week I spent $29 on: 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 head lettuce, a bag of croutons, 1 apple, 1 pear, 5 bananas, half a canteloupe, and a carton of strawberries. The onion alone was $1.99!!!!!!!
ERRATA:
I had to check my receipt; I knew I got more than that for $29!! I also got half a pound of shaved turkey, a loaf of whole wheat bread, and my husband picked up two $1-apiece ice creams and a pack of cigarettes. :0
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