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Monday, May 3, 2021

Why Grocery Prices Are Going Up-Will Get Worse

 

Poor Man Survival

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Few want to sling burgers for $12/hour when the government’s willing to pay you more than that to stay at home. (And do you blame them?)

At the moment, there are over 100 million Americans out of the labor force. An estimated 6.85 million want a job currently, and a record 94 million don't want a job.

Why Your Grocery Bills Are Going Up (And Are Only Expected to Get Bigger)

By Hannah Cox

Americans spent a lot of money on groceries over the past year—and it isn’t just because they were eating more meals at home. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices jumped 3.9 percent in 2020, nearly triple the rate of inflation.

Unfortunately, this trend seems poised to continue. The US Department of Agriculture estimates grocery bills could increase by another 3 percent in 2021, while some experts are betting on even longer-term problems.

“I think food prices are going to continue to increase for probably a good year, year and a half,” warns Phil Lempert, founder of SupermarketGuru.com.

Shoppers are already feeling the crunch. Long Island resident John Kermaj recently told NBC News, “We used to buy this stuff for $30. Now it's $60.”

Diet staples like wheat, corn, soybeans, and meat are among the products seeing the sharpest price uptick. Meat shot up 5.5 percent last year, and prices for fruits like apples, strawberries, and citrus went up by 11.3 percent.

This is no small matter.

Before the pandemic, the number of Americans experiencing food insecurity had been steadily falling. That trend was reversed last year. Northwestern University researchers estimate that food insecurity doubled during this time—placing 23 percent of households in danger of going hungry. It is likely this problem will only worsen as the cost of food continues to grow.

So, what’s causing the spike? A perfect storm, really. Bad weatherstockpiling, increased demand from China, global shipping interruptions, and inflation caused by the extreme money printing by central banks all get honorable mentions. But a significant number of the factors to blame can be traced back to the government’s lockdowns and regulatory policies.

Meat processing plants were one of the industries hardest hit by the lockdowns. Many were forced to close for extended periods of time, and others invested in expensive new equipment and technology to reduce their in-person workforce. These costs were of course ultimately borne by the consumer, and the closures led to supply chain disruptions. Both made the price of meat go up.

These closures not only affected the meatpacking plants and their employees, but those of many related businesses in the food processing industry as well. The lockdowns also impacted farmers, shipment and distribution facilities, companies that produce the containers and plastic needed to store the meat, and grocers. In a market, one government action can have a ripple effect across hundreds of other industries, and that’s certainly what happened here.

The coronavirus and lockdowns didn’t necessarily cause all of the problems in the meat industry, but they did exacerbate existing issues. The industry was already struggling under absurd government regulations that force farmers to waste good livestock and block them from selling directly to consumers. Combined with the lockdowns, these policies began to threaten our supply chain.

Congressman Thomas Massie called attention to this problem more than a year ago and warned it could lead to a meat shortage. The Kentucky Republican urged Congress to support his PRIME Act to repeal these regulations, but his warnings went unheeded.



Other producers in the agriculture sector have struggled to obtain the workers needed to ramp up production. Across the country, small businesses have been unable to attract Americans back to the workplace as many remain on increased unemployment benefits that pay more than work.

Esteemed economist Thomas Sowell famously said, “There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.” This principle has certainly been put on display during the pandemic, as the government made many trade-offs in its attempts to mitigate the crisis.

Ultimately, we know that many of their prescribed solutions—closing outdoor spaces, lockdowns, scrubbing surfaces with alcohol—were abject failures. But the trade-offs made in exchange for promises of increased security won’t be fading away anytime soon.

The current food price spikes, and the resulting food instability issues they have fueled, are only the latest in a long line of consequences Americans have suffered as a result of the government’s attempts at solutions in 2020.

Viruses are scary. But the surge in food insecurity is a reminder that all policies come with trade-offs—and that panic-fueled government interventions often only make a crisis worse.

This article originally appeared on FEE.org right here.

 

 

NOTED…

If there's one thing 2020 taught all of us who were paying attention, it was to NEVER run out of OPTIONS. (Raise your hand if you’re DONE with people telling you how to live your life, even in your own home.)

Oh... we also learned that the madness we saw is likely here to stay. Mask laws. Anti-social distancing. Unconscionable amounts of money printing. It’s all as permanent as the TSA became after 9/11.

Not only that, but -- do you see that? That neon sign in the distance?  We can't be 100% sure what it says yet, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with inflation. Sky-high taxes. And possibly vaccine passports.

Look, I'm not a doom-and-gloom kind of guy, but the world is a bit out of whack right now.

People in power are grabbing even more power as fast as they can... and craving even more!

 


Today's Headlines 

Biden HIDIN’ after New Job Approval Numbers Reveal the Worst

Kennedy: If you support defunding police, ‘you have tested positive for stupid’

The Outrageous Benefit Biden’s “American Families” Act Will Give to Illegal Immigrants

 

Wall Street & the Bolshevik Revolution

2020 isnt the first time Wall Street supported Communism!

How long before US citizens wake up to the lunacy of how they voted?

https://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/Sutton_Wall_Street_and_the_bolshevik_revolution-5.pdf

 

The real state of the union finances 2021-were in serious trouble & under Biden, it will get worse. Recall Margaret Thatchers The problem w/ socialism is you eventually run out of other peoples money. It will happen here too!

https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/Financial-State-of-the-Union-2020.pdf


CREATING AN EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY-FOOD SURVIVAL REPORTS-FREE

Compliments of: The PoorManSurvival team

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgMpmQI6plfXiBqUHg-8SkA59L8f?e=YJZavA

 

 


How to Build and Stock a Pantry

Design, build and fill a pantry that will provide your family with enough food to get through an emergency, a snowstorm, or just day-to-day life.

https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/stock-pantry-zmaz93asztak?utm_s


CREATING AN EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY-FOOD SURVIVAL REPORTS-FREE

Compliments of: The PoorManSurvival team

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgMpmQI6plfXiBqUHg-8SkA59L8f?e=YJZavA

 

4 FREE Digital Reports:

  • The Water Survival Guide [Download]
  • The Survival Garden Guide [Download]
  • Top 10 Items Sold Out After A Crisis - [Download]
  • How to Cut Your Grocery Bills in Half [Download]

 

 

SIDEBAR:



What are some items that you think you should start hoarding for a major, cataclysmic disaster? Water? Absolutely. Food? Also absolutely. Ammo? For sure. First aid equipment? Definitely. Gasoline? Yep.

 The list goes on. All of those things are incredibly valuable items to hoard for survival, and you can probably think of about ten or twenty other types of survival supplies as well.

 That being said, there are countless ordinary items--things people use every day--that are relatively cheap and can be used for survival. The wisest among us are already stockpiling them...

 18 Things Everyone Should Start Hoarding

You may also like...

 23 Things That Preppers Shouldn't Throw Away

 

Prepare. Train. Survive.

 

Useful Resources from our storefront-See new items!

 

You Can’t Buy Life Insurance After You’re Dead-Prepare NOW for Emergencies…

Liberty Band Emergency Solar Radio

Staying informed could be a matter of life and death.

That’s why federal and state agencies advise that every American home should have an emergency radio.

Don't get caught off guard during a lengthy quarantine or natural disasters. Preparation is, as usual, the absolute key...

https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Liberty-Band-Emergency-Solar-Radio/975136935

 

 


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3 comments:

Rona said...

All prices are escalating and you've warned us [few will heed this]

Will said...

inflation slowly works its way into the financial system in phases.

Phase 1: Raw materials
Phase 2: Factory gate prices
Phase 3: Retail prices
The first stage occurs in the manufacturing segment of the economy when producers are suddenly paying more for the raw goods and commodities they use to make finished goods

Megan said...

No doubt about it-everything is getting more expensive under Biden-especially food n fuel as you predicted!