Why are food prices so absurdly high and what could be done to fix this?
In: 657
Because too few people control the food supply for too many people. There are probably a dozen other reasons, but I’d probably put this at the top.
To fix (Probably not fix. Maybe impact.) this, we could change regulation to allow locals to feed each other for profit again encouraging local small farms, cutting out the cost of transportation, storage, shelf time, grocery store contracts, and plenty of other things. There would be greater risk in eating food from a less-regulated supplier, but at least the massive food companies would have competition again.
Until it’s fixed, or in case it’s never fixed, I recommend buying bulk produce (especially if you have a farmers market nearby) and learning to can your own food. Learning to store rice, beans, flour, and other staples can really help too: it’s not about storing up for the end of the world (though that is a nice side-effect), it’s about being able to buy things in bulk and be more mindful of your food. A deep freezer can help a ton here if you can find cheap meat for stews and such. Baking your own bread can also save you a ton of money depending on how much of it you eat, and plenty of people see positive health changes when they stop eating pre-sliced grocery store bread. Remember, it’s primarily ready-to-eat food that’s spiked in price, and only a few generations ago that was a luxury.
Edit: If you start canning, beware of botulism. It’s a toxin that lives in dust and can get into your canned food and grow there. It is very easy to get if you can the wrong foods and can them poorly.
According to some stats, there are fewer than ten cases of foodborne botulism in the US per year, few of which are fatal. Most overall botulism cases are from infants putting dirt in their mouth, from injury, or from consuming raw honey, but it can still absolutely ruin your day via poor canning. By killing you. Do your research. When you look this up, make sure you look up “foodborne botulism” or else you’ll get scary unrelated numbers and bad advice.
Latest Answers