Is it my imagination or are grocery prices going up?

[Dirty Hippie]

I don't keep track of prices of individual items but I've been having sticker shock at the grocery store. I get very little and it is 80.00 or more.

Anyone else noticed???

[sadiesworld]

1. I've noticed the same thing...

I just buy more of the store brands, they are usually the same product.

[NashVegas]

2. The Little Piggy Needs Fuel to Get to Market

And fuel prices are rising.

There's also the matter of various store's "member cards." If you have your card, you get a sale price. If you don't, you subsidize the people who do. You buy something that's not on sale, you subsidize the sale.

[Warpy]

24. Member cards are a SCAM

When stores around here started to use them, I saw an immediate hike of anywhere from two cents to a buck or more on every single item in the store. THAT is what subsidizes those "memeber specials," the inflated price on everything else. Don't be suckered. If you have a card, buy only what is listed on sale for that card. Don't by a single thing else. Get the other stuff at stores that don't use those cards.

Those "card" stores are charging premium prices on most of the stuff they sell in order to install a system to track your buying habits so they can sell you more stuff at inflated prices.

Screw 'em.

[Fla Dem]

60. I've notice gas prices are going through the roof...where's the outrage ?

Gosh, gas prices here in NE Fla are as high as $1.80 for unleaded regular. But I've seen no reporting on the gouging of gas prices. Is this another direct result of Shrub's war ? All those folks that got a measley tax reduction in the tax ut that favored the rich have already used it up in the higher costs for life's necessities.

[loudnclear]

68. No one pay attention to me. I mentioned this four months ago.

Food and clothing are bouncing upward. i call it stealth inflation. Greenspan knows it but he won't raise the interest rates because that would sink Bush...but he did it to Clinton when there was no hint of inflation.

[ewagner]

3. Yep!

I've wondered if it was just my imagination but I don't think so.

We're running about $80 per week now for just the two of us and it doesn't include much in the way of meats. In fact, we plan our weekly menu around the sales but even they are gettign fewer and farther between. We've also noticed that some things that we thought remained constant in price actually have fewer ounces, lbs, pieces, etc than they did before. It's sort of a stealthy price increase.

[sweettater]

4. I certainly have!

It is unreal. $.50 hike on teabags in 1 week! I spend around $100 a week on 2 people. I have maybe 4 paper bags of groceries, if I am lucky. guess I'll have to consider buying a cow. :)

[Product of Evolution]

54. My family's been doing that for a couple of years...

Fed natural products and everything. :-)

Tons of ground beef and cheap steak.

[twilight]

69. yeah same here!

I noticed that the organic milk I've been buying went from $2.89 a half gallon to $3.59 overnight! That is a 25% increase!

Gas - now up to $1.93 a gallon for the regular unleaded ...

Other types of food - all going up - esp. organic products since the mad cow reality has hit. Who is buying beef? Very little meat being bought here - mostly organic chicken and freshly caught snapper ... and that is it!

Used to be eating primarily vegetarian was pretty cheap, but not anymore.

Nothing is cheap! Nothing!!!

:dem: :kick:

[Dennis Quaranta]

5. The Price of Pork

Don't tell me that there hasn't been inflation. I've been watching pork prices go up like crazy for the last year and a half. I love boneless pork chops but they've gotten too expensive. Most weeks I can only look at them, but they occasionally go on sale.

[RamblingRose]

6. They've over built grocery stores around us, and all are having price wars

to stay in business. The new Super Evil-Mart just opened 2 weeks ago, and the other grocery stores are scared ****less. Within a 5 mile radius we have 3-4 Publix's, 2 Krogers, 2 Save Rites, an Ingles, and the new Evil Mart. It's really great for the consumer, and you can find some great sales, but I don't see how they can all stay in business.

[blurp]

38. Is any of it due to checks on immigration?

Much of our agricultural production depends on immigrants. Maybe the greater difficulty in getting into the USA is causing labor prices to go up.

[Ripley]

7. Yes I've noticed it too.

They keep saying there is no inflation, but everything is going up in price...gasoline, groceries, utility bills, even my pharmacy bill went up. Can you believe an Angus tenderloin is $22/lb? Who the hell is buying that? It went up from $16/lb before the stupid mad cow thing in Washington...I never knew what caused beef prices to go up. There's an old guy who BBQ's meat out front of my grocery store. I asked why he didn't do beef, he said the prices had gone through the roof, did I notice? I said yeah, why? He said, I don't know, maybe the "farmers" down in Crawford Texas need more money (and winked at me). Wow.

[truth2power]

26. I almost choked when I read that!

Angus tenderloin --$22/lb? Holy Cow!! (pun intended) :silly:

I'm a vegetarian, so I'm really out of the loop as far as meat prices. How can people who buy meat afford to eat?

[the_real_38]

8. Peak Oil - what do you expect?

Our food production process is oil-intensive. Supplies are tight (and believe me , they're going to get a lot tighter), so it affects all aspects of the industry - farming, shipping, processing.

Bush's America sucks from top to bottom.

[brainshrub]

29. Dang, you beat me to it.

You are right-on. And this is just the beginning.

[West Coast Democrat]

9. Of course. There's a lot of consumer inflation going on

When Greenspan declares that inflation is in check, he is focusing on wholesale prices, and completely ignoring grocery prices for the average consumer. He refuses to raise interest rates, because he knows the economy would react immediately, and he doesn't want shrub to have a triple downturn during his presidency.

As long as interest rates remain ridiculously low, expect more of the same.

[JPace]

10. Yes they have....

I started noticing it last spring but it got worse
over the summer and into the fall. I'd say at least
25% of the things I buy at the grocery store have
increased in price.

Other things that have gone up are property taxes,
gasoline, heating, medicines & cable t.v.

I don't know how the Government keeps hiding these
things.

[donsu]

11. and because of Peak Oil the prices will never go down but always up

nt

[hang a left]

12. I live in So Cal where the strike has been on for 4 months

In the city I live in there are Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons (Von's and Albertsons being the two I USED to primarily shop in). I have been forced to go to Safeway, which is the suckiest market in my town, and from where I live, the other side of town, for major shopping. They are taking advantage of the people that are supporting the union, so yes my market bill has been higher. I do my runs (2 growing boys and a hubby) at Major Market an expensive high end market, but very very close. I go to Henry's, kind of like a farmer's market for produce and sale meat, once in a while when it is convenient, it is closer than Safeway. I cannot gauge on a whole if the prices are going up, but my marketing costs certainly have.

[maveric]

39. I also live in SoCal and have supported the strike so far.

I use alternatives like Food4Less, Henry's, and Smart & Final. Food4Less is the closest to a "real" grocery store out of the three, and has been gouging prices during this strike. Especially meat prices(and the meat that they sell there is not of the best quality). Henry's has always been expensive, having many organic and specialty items, but the meat & produce is pretty good. Smart & Final is like a small-scale Costco selling boxed quantity products. The prices arent bad there if you dont mind microwaving everything that you buy there.
All in all since the strike food prices have gone up considerably. I shop for 4, myself and 3 sons and my weekly bill hovers about $160.00 a week.

[TXvote]

13. Smaller too

Notice you are running out of things faster yet? Seems companies are shaving off the .ozs and keeping the same size box and sometimes even raising the price....

[Pegleg Thd]

16. Here in eastern Oklahoma the prices are

not just creeping up they are jumping. Even the discount grocers like Save a Lot Stores are making large price increases. Walmart has been making price hikes, that are beyond reason, as well according to someone we know who works there. When we go into these places we come out feeling like we have been raped. Come to think of it we have been!!!
In this area a lot of people on Social Security have found that there are two food banks that you can use every other month. So they keep a record and rotate between them.

[NNN0LHI]

21. I noticed that too. Same sized package with 1/3 less than a month ago n/t

[PaDUer]

40. Has anyone noticed

the manufacturer coupons aren't as available as they were before on items? Many companies have discontinued their coupons, some have increased of number of items needed to get 50cents, or if lucky, $1.00 off..And, some manufacturers are aware of the double and triple (rare almost anywhere now) coupons that some stores have for a promotion. Oh, almost forgot, many stores have completely stopped double or triple coupons completely..But one thing is certain, the prices of groceries HAS INCREASED while the consumers are losing their jobs and won't be able to afford to eat!

[truth2power]

28. Yes, this is a biggie..

fewer oz. for the same or even higher price.

[SoCalDem]

43. Coffee is a prime example.. Some "pound cans" of coffee

are 11.5 oz..:(

Packages still look the same size, but the contents are less..

The thing that bothers me the most is that I really miss "in-season" produce..

Younger people here don't know what I mean, but fruit used to have distinct seasons.. apples in the fall..cheap and plentiful...lucious strawberries for a few scant weeks in April...peaches,plums,cherries in July..cheap and plentiful, juicy & ripe... about the only "year-round" things were bananas, pineapples and other "imported" fruits..

What we have now is fruit picked way too early, radiated,waxed,and coldstoraged...expensive all the time and mostly tasteless.:(

Sure, farmer's markets help a bit, but lots of folks will spend a lifetime never tasting that tart firm apple that cracks when you bite into it..or never knowing what a tomato should taste like..

Stores spend so much time and effort making the produce "look good" and little or no effort making sure it tastes good..

[Ripley]

45. My uncle says don't eat those pink tomatoes.

He has been in the produce shipping business for decades in Florida. He said they put ARSENIC on those underripe tomatoes. They taste like crap anyway. I just buy the cherry berries (grape tomatoes) in the winter or canned.

Our farmer's market is really small and doesn't have much - feed corn and okra is about it. And the grocery is very limited on it's organics and half the time the produce is rotten on the shelf because the dummies around here won't pay for it, well I guess a lot of people can't afford it either. But thankfully I found a CSA nearby and joined. Can't wait until spring to get my first batch of real organic produce.

[DuctapeFatwa]

14. It is cheaper to eat fast food than buy groceries and cook.

An interesting indication of the transition from a "goods" economy to a "service" one.

Kind of like in Majority World countries where going to the laundromat costs 4 times what you will pay someone to wash your clothes for you, even if you pay them double the market rate for doing it!

[CityZen-X]

15. Time For Victory Gardens

Yes the groceries prices are climbing. It is time for everyone of us to plant those "Victory Gardens." But here is something that many have not noticed, the doubling cost of the seeds that are needed for your garden, and all the items needed to maintain it.

[DuctapeFatwa]

18. And it's not an option for the people who need it most

Low income people living in cities don't have yards, if they are lucky maybe they can plant an herb in a window pot.

And as you point out, even if you have a yard, if you're low income, it will cost you more than fast food by the time you get through buying all those garden supplies, not to mention that working 60 hr weeks to stay in housing makes it hard to squeeze out the time to weed and fertilize :)

[havocmom]

23. anybody who works at an elementary school: Push for school gardens

There is a school in a low income part of Tucson that put in a garden. The kids learned a lot about plant biology through practical application. They really enjoy the whole thing, emotional rewards and some they could eat.

The garden was on the blvd. side of the school yard - lots of exposure to passing traffic. I would think that planted some seeds of ideas for more than a couple of commuters.

I know it is tough to garden in a city, especially in the poor parts of towns, but it is possible. Neighborhood folks can come together and plant vacant lots (try to find the owner for permission). It grows hope and the sense that maybe, just maybe people can work together to help the situation.

Teaching people to grow food, even if it is a head of spinach in a flower pot, can give them a connection and field of vision beyond what the man wants them to see as their confinement.

Gardening can definitely be a political act. And if things get as bad as some of us fear, it might be a good plan for scattered pockets of locals to have a vague idea how to make food appear.

I give it two green thumbs up... and thumb my nose at the nay-sayers.
We need to show our kids how to work at being a bit self sufficient. All is not dependent upon going along with the program of the rich and infamous.

edit: typo

[spinbaby]

19. Yes, plant a garden

A lovely subversive springtime activity for all. You can still really cheap seeds if you shop aroung--or at least you could last year, I haven't shopped for seeds this year. A friend of mine a few years back planted a very nice garden entirely from 10-cent packets of seed he'd picked up at a local hardware store.

[bleedingheart]

20. I am going to do that this year! I big garden in the front of my house

with tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, climbing beans!

[Nobody]

34. Carrots and potatoes oh my!

I have a tiny yard, but this year I'll give up on trying to get grass to grow.

If the garden does well enough, and my job outlook still sucks, I can take the surplus (if there is a surplus) and see what I can sell at the farmer's market.

[MissB]

46. I had a small front yard (m)

At my previous house, I had a small front yard. The grass was very difficult to keep green, as it was south-facing.

I put in two 4 foot by 4 foot planter boxes and took up square foot gardening. There is a book by that name - I believe it is called Square Foot Gardening by Mel(?) Bartholomew. A quick google search would find it. Anyway, he had some great ideas for growing a big producing garden in a small space.

Your post made me think of that.

[davsand]

17. Oh yeah--no doubt in my mind.

Those prices are jumping--and nobody is talking about it. I've seen our grocery bill jump a lot in the last year or so... A lot of it I might not have noticed except as a part of the total, but one item just kills me--a 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke.

I used to buy it at about a buck a bottle regular price. No shopping around--just grab one off the shelf on the way Thur. If you got a sale on it it was someplace between 70 and 90 cents.

Last weekend I was buying groceries and the Diet Coke was $1.39 for the same 2 liter bottle. I gave it a miss and started checking prices... Low and behold THAT is the current non-sale price for a 2 liter.

Somewhere in the lat year, Diet Coke took a 40% price jump! When you stop to consider, you just KNOW production/distribution cost has not jumped that much--we'd be seeing WAY more about that if it had--so it has GOT to either be a jump for profit or else inflation.

I pulled out old grocery receipts after that, and they were a real eye opener. It has all gone up. Maybe not a full 40% like Diet Coke, but it HAS gone up.

Laura

[Piltdown13]

52. Also depends on where you live

We've also just gotten to the $1.39 for a 2-liter level in the past year...however, the price before that was only ten cents less. In fact, I don't remember national brand soda being even close to a dollar since I moved here 6 years ago.

But overall, yeah...food prices are going way way up. I'm starting to think we may be glad our house has a pretty big yard.

[RebelOne]

22. No, it's not your imagination.

Each week when I go shopping, it seems that the prices of my favorite foods have jumped way up. Luckily, I only have to feed me and my dog, but even her dog food is more expensive lately.

[MI Cherie]

25. Everything is going up — except income!

It’s on a rare occasion that I buy anything NOT on sale. Even the sale prices aren’t as good as they were a while ago. Or, as noted above, package amount is less.

Luckily, we have 4-5 locally owned stores nearby giving us a decent choice. (Not counting the pay-for-membership-club giant that is always is busy. I cannot understand this — their prices are hardly a good deal!)

The cost of living is going way up! Also up:

Gasoline (sometimes varies 5¢-15¢ from one end of town to another)
Automobiles (new & used)
Appliances (small or large)
Home Heating
Electric
Water & Sewer Charges
Prescriptions
Health Insurance (paycheck deductions & co-pays, often for less coverage)
Clothing (except clearance sales for last season stuff!)
Property Taxes & Property Assessments (which determines taxes; not necessarily reflected in home sale price)
School Activity Fees
Recreational Fees (movies, sports, museums, zoos, etc.)
Restaurant Meals (proportions down!)
Foreclosures
Bankruptcies

[mbee]

27. It helps to read all the ads before you hit the grocery stores. I

only buy what is on sale that week. For instance, at least one week out of the month paper goods are on sale so I buy the whole month's supply. I only buy paper napkins that have a 400 count and can usually find them on sale at least once a month at one of my grocery stores for around $1.50. If I need an item I buy it from the store charging the lowest price that week.

[MI Cherie]

35. That's about the only reason I subscribe to the newspaper!

I plan around the sale ads! My pantry is pretty well stocked! I could probably go a few weeks or more without shopping — except for milk, eggs, bread, or some other perishable item.

Hubby complains about my "over-buying" occasionally, but then I send him to the store (with a list) and he brags about the savings (over regular price) printed at the bottom of the receipt!

[eleny]

30. Yes

I thought that the price of beef would crash but it hasn't. We shop very carefully. "Buy one and get one free" is my mantra. One week it's chicken, next it's beef and so on. Over time, I've got a good choice in the freezer. I rarely buy anything if it's not on sale and it's not hard. We just stock up on what we usually use. I'm paying more and more attention when I shop!

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[Maeve]

32. I was trying to find a good link for this, but...

Couldn't find anything readily available. From memory, then...

While the official rate of inflation is low, the price of living is rising. That is, the inflation is in food and energy costs, while "discretionary" purchase prices drop. Your car may be cheaper to buy, but not cheaper to run; you can get a super new computer for a fraction of what it used to cost, but food and utility costs keep climbing.

I'll scout around the econ forum and see if I can get the figures but, no, it's not your imagination.

[Bandit]

33. I am a Food Wholesaler and you are absolutely correct

My freight carrier put in for and received permission to increase rates by 5.5% and they also established a 6% fuel surcharge. My insurance Company that provide my workmans comp raised rates by 20% for all business within the state. My liability insurance went up by 30% over last year and I have had zero claims. The companies I buy my soda from have increased prices because of transportation costs and concentrate prices have gone up. My major ice cream supplier raised prices by an average of 12%. The company I buy my Chips from also had a 10% across the board increase. Because of all of this I have had to raise my prices in all areas by an average of 5-10% Also forgot to mention the rising cost of fuel for my delivery trucks. Last year I paid about twelve thousand dollars in fuel expense and already for the month of January (traditionally a slow month) my costs were $1400.
Yes prices are going up and up and up some more.

[Logansquare]

61. Interesting! It all seems to come back to oil and health care

The two scams that ate America, it seems.

[loudnclear]

71. Few people seem to be raising rising prices (and profits) as an issue.

I guess we haven't felt the pain enough.

[Alenne]

36. I thought it was just me

I went grocery shopping Thursday and spent $115 over what I usually spend. I look in my refrigerator and cabinets and I know I don't have $115 of extra food. I didn't buy anything we usually don't buy.

[blurp]

41. $115 more seems like a lot

I went grocery shopping Thursday and spent $115 over what I usually spend.

$115 MORE than usual? Jeez, my wife and I spend that much for about 2 weeks.

Maybe prices are going up because consumers are being wasteful. The only thing that seems to make consumers actually conserve anything is higher prices, food as well as gas, water, and energy.

[JPace]

44. "Maybe prices are going up because consumers are being wasteful."

Job losses, stagnant wages, rising prices,
bankruptcies are all working against the
average American. I hardly think there is
a lot of waste going on.

[Alenne]

48. It is a lot

I usually spend about $220 to feed a family of four for 2 weeks. The price of meats and vegetables have gone up a lot.

[JPace]

56. People have different dietary needs, so it would be

difficult to try to categorize how much
money should be alloted for food in a
budget. I think some pressed for time are
going to buy more prepared foods, those on
low fat often have to pay much more for items
and those who eat high protein often must
spend more. It just all depends. Some are
not time constricted and can organize more
easily and cook from scratch more often,
they probably spend less. I don't have all
the answers but I would not judge someone
as overspending unless they were eating
a lot of steak and lobster. There is also
differences in value systems, some might
spend more of family meals but scrimp on
other things. Some calculate cleaning and
paper and animal food into their grocery
bills and others do not.
Comparison is complicated, why judge someone
as be extravagant if you don't have to. What
we do know is that the economy sucks...and that
is AWOL's fault!

[Alenne]

59. I wasn't judging anyone

I was saying an extra $115 on groceries when I already spend about $220 is a lot for me. I can't afford it and I cook almost everything from scratch.

[JPace]

62. I was referring to #41

[Jawja]

37. Yep

Noticed that today, especially. I got some soft drinks, a little bit of meat, some can goods - nearly $70.

[Pathwalker]

42. Prices up, sizes down, stocks down AND

if you read the fine print - everything is much closer to its END DATE, as well. They've downsized the packages of a LOT of items, while keeping the price the same. Otherwise, the prices are rising - quickly! I paid $1.55 for a dozen eggs last week - I have never paid that much in my entire life!

I've already purchased my seeds for this year's garden: beans, carrots, sugar peas, lettuce, tomato(a variety called Mortgage Lifter), squash, etc. Instead of buying so much humus & manure, I'll be harvesting about 10 cubic feet of compost, and using that. I don't care if fast food IS cheaper - it's not healthier. If everything grows, I'll have plenty to share!

[KayLaw]

63. End date

Yes, I always check the dates - even on canned goods - and you are right.

[He loved Big Brother]

47. When I moved here (Pacific NW) in 1999-

one of the first things I noticed was the price of groceries. They were dirt cheap compared to the "just affordable" prices I paid in South Florida.

I can't cook very well, so I buy the same items over and over needed to prepare the few meals I can cook. I know how much they cost and which stores have certain items at a cheaper price. I started noticing a spike in prices at every chain, but it wasn't too bad at first, and could usually be offset by signing up for one of their stupid cards.

Then I noticed even the discount-card items becoming so over-priced I thought it was a joke. I remember it well because I was looking at lunchmeat, and happened to notice that the cheapest generic BOLOGNA, of all things, was over two dollars for a small package. Some of the name brands had the nerve to charge upwards of four or five dollars for a package of bologna. This was way before mad cow.

It isn't your imagination.

[graywarrior]

50. I've succumbed to the Family Dollar Store

Everything there is a buck, including packaged tuna, salad dressings, popcorn, etc. Some stuff is 2 bucks and it's probably poison, but our food bill for 2 has sky rocketed in the past year. We used to live on beans and rice, but even rice is outrageously priced. No wonder there are so many overweight people in america. Everyone is living on cheap candy.

[AP]

49. Price fixing. Brought to you by ADM. Anyone hear This American Life today?

?

[Malva Zebrina]

51. We have a large garden

and we also have perenial blueberry bushes, and strawberries and raspberries. We have been eating them now because I process them for freezing and so we have gallons of them in the freezer. As well as pumpkin, which we eat as a squash, green beans,the Italien type flat ones have been proven best for freezing, turnips and swiss chard.

It takes a lot of intensive work to produce a satisfactory garden, so I realize not everyone has the time to do it. I am retired and have time and really do enjoy the gardening.

Still, my supermarket bill seems to me to have gone up. :shrug: Eighty dollars for two people the last shopping trip. I try to stretch it out beyond a week. Sometimes I can go for two weeks.

[historian]

53. Boycott!!!

They want to raise their prices? Fine with me - i wont buy any of your stuff anymore. We have a local supermarket here run by a mexican family - its not clean sparkling and their fruits arent waxed to look nice. Everything tastes the way it should and the prices are at least half of those in the other supermarkets.
The place is constantly jammed.
So screw the big boys - let them choke on their prices.

[K8-EEE]

64. I Agree -- I Have Been Saving Money At Ma & Pa Store...

A surprise to me, since our strike her in L.A., is how little money you end up saving at supermarkets....it's smoke & mirrors, they lower some prices & raise the others.

[Jose Diablo]

55. Yes. food is up

I buy in bulk now from Costco. Seems to help. Still have the almost daily bread and milk though.

We're getting squeezed folks. Post somewhere aboved mentions insurance costs raised to a wholesaler.

I wonder how much of the cost of what we consume is buried insurance costs.

[MI Cherie]

58. Or spread out ...

... to all insurance costs. Auto, business, health, liability, and home insurance costs are up. too!

[Pithlet]

57. I've noticed it, too.

We get taxed on our groceries, here. I also have two in diapers, which really adds up. Our bill is through the roof.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

65. Everything is going up. Yes, I've noticed big-time.

[Steven_S]

66. Anecdotal evidence

I keep reading about the low inflation rate. I don't remember the number offhand, and I'm too lazy to go look it up for you.

From where I sit, as a small business owner, EVERYTHING has gone up. Commercial liability insurance, health, life, unemployment insurance, disability, gas, plumbing supplies and fixtures, you name it.

I do quarterly audits of myself to keep on top of things and what I have to do is adjust these costs into my chargeout rates. Fortunately, my customers understand that my prices are based on the costs of doing business.

On the grocery front, the wife says many things have gone up but there are still many bargains to be had. You just have to know how to find them. I would get killed doing the shopping, it's just not my thing.

I don't know how people can live on minimum wage.

[Desertrose]

67. yes..I agree

seems like I spend a lot more & get a lot less!

damn!
defintely a larger garden this year!

Peace
DR

[ursacorwin]

70. city folk

and those with this option should for sure go to ma & pa places.

anectode: my mom lives in the country. satan-mart is the only large store to choose from, the local mini-chain is being strangled slowly. we still shop there though, and spent over 100$ on some supplies for a party she was throwing. it would've cost 25% less at satan-mart, but all the products we bought would've had to have been different, and of course mega-corp produced, than what we chose at the local place.

i live in the city, and usually shop at the local co-op, to support the community. but i get hit with a 50$ for a single bag of foods i like, and i can't afford that. today i went to the mexian-american owned place, no frills and "what's on the truck" kind of selection. five huge bags for 57$, same foods i like but with fewer prepackaged goods- so i cook a bit more this month.

the only way to avoid the price gouging that is going on is to buy stuff that isn't from the corporate octopus. local farmers, collectives, co-ops and the like.

[CosmicVortex11]

72. Welcome to the devalued dollar

Greenspans wishful thinking?
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/chuhran/chuhran021304.html