Americans are starving.

[RIZZY]

I'm in TX. The price of groceries is just astronomical to me. I used to spend $300 on groceries and it would fill up the entire back of my truck. Now I spend $300 on groceries and it fills up the foot space in the passenger side. If I need to buy snack-type foods, or things like laundry detergent, forget about it. I'm about to start making my own damn laundry detergent.

I've started going to different grocery stores far away from me, mostly because the ones where I live lock up everydamnthing and you have to wait 45 minutes for an employee to come by and get the product for you. And I'm noticing that the same chains of stores will sell the same exact products for radically different prices in different areas. At first, I thought, okay, it makes sense that they would charge more in more affluent areas but it's actually the opposite. In my area, Walmart sells the Great Value 60 count eggs for $12.99. In the affluent area, they're charging $9.98.

It's everywhere, I am in Ontario, Canada and prices are out of control. For some reason they think stores think that $7.99 a pound for ground beef is a deal worth posting about. I spend more time going through grocery flyers and planning my meals around them than I should have to.

Thing about us is we have a situation where three chains control 90%+ of the market. I always think there is something going on as when one store advertises chicken breasts at $4.99 a pound another competitor has them on for $4.98 a pound. Heck if these flyers are suppose to be printed in advanced why are the same damn products on sale at every store? Can we say the words "Price Fixing" anyone?

I agree, they are totally price fixing.

I've also wondered if the prices are higher when you order grocery pick up because it sure feels like it. I understand upcharging when using a 3rd party delivery app, but that's not what I mean. I wonder if the same gallon of milk is priced the same if you go shop for it yourself vs. order it for pick up. They aren't having to hire more employees because they've closed all the check outs so now those employees are working the pick up section.

IDK, feels like it's all stacked against us.

[WellPreserved]

I've been able to keep prices down but only because I shop sales and in bulk. I'm fortunate that I have the storage for it and my budget allows. I also am fortunate that I live in a rural area so have a herd share for cow and goat milk/dairy products, shop in bulk for seasonal veggies, Have a friend mill wheat and corn. I didn't have the time to do all that when working regular hours M-F so I'm not suggesting that others try.

I'm a vegetarian but for meat products, I road trip to our closest US Foods. The cost savings compared to regular stores is significant. For example, 10lbs ground sirloin ($42.00), 10lbs grilled chicken strips ($15.50), 15lbs hickory cured thick sliced bacon ($45). Again, you need to have the storage but if you hace a basement, you can pick up a freezer/refrigerator at H4H for very little.

[Olioxenfree]

I think it should be mandatory that grocery stores donate expired/ready to expire food. Every place I have worked just tosses it into the dumpster. And I also think it should be a rule that you can't sue for getting sick if you eat expired donated food or food from a dumpster. Greed and being sue happy are the problems.

Sue happy? Poor people deserve edible food, not expired food that will make them sick when they can’t afford medical bills. If someone is given spoiled food by a business and it makes them sick, they have every right to sue for their medical bills to be covered. There’s a ton of food waste in this country but it doesn’t come from people not eating rotten food.

[LiveWhatULove]

This is unfortunate. Agree with all the grocery prices are crazy!!

I’ll add a bit of a nitpicky comment — hunger is not “starving”. As awful as things are, America has very few people are suffering and dying of starvation, even in these 10 states. 40% obesity rates also highlight this fact.

Being hungry is awful & stressful though. My father grew up in poverty and their family of 7 was food insecure & talks about being hungry.

[carterscutie85]

I think it should be mandatory that grocery stores donate expired/ready to expire food. Every place I have worked just tosses it into the dumpster. And I also think it should be a rule that you can't sue for getting sick if you eat expired donated food or food from a dumpster. Greed and being sue happy are the problems.

Sue happy? Poor people deserve edible food, not expired food that will make them sick when they can’t afford medical bills. If someone is given spoiled food by a business and it makes them sick, they have every right to sue for their medical bills to be covered. There’s a ton of food waste in this country but it doesn’t come from people not eating rotten food.

99% of expiration dates are not when the food actually goes bad. Every place I've ever worked tosses food before it expires, like 30-90 days out. That food can easily be donated but it's not. If I couldn't afford food I'd happily take some with arbitrary dates considering there's never going to be resources for the poor to be able to go buy enough fresh food.

[SallyMae]

I agree, they are totally price fixing.

I've also wondered if the prices are higher when you order grocery pick up because it sure feels like it. I understand upcharging when using a 3rd party delivery app, but that's not what I mean. I wonder if the same gallon of milk is priced the same if you go shop for it yourself vs. order it for pick up. They aren't having to hire more employees because they've closed all the check outs so now those employees are working the pick up section.

IDK, feels like it's all stacked against us.

It is, according to a new report:

Did grocery chains take advantage of COVID shortages to raise prices? FTC says yes. Large grocery store chains exploited product shortages during the pandemic by raising prices significantly more than needed to cover their added costs and they continue to reap excessive profits, according to a Federal Trade Commission report.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 059901007/

This is what we get from hyper-merged capitalism - no competition means no incentive to lower prices, ever.

[Olioxenfree]

I think it should be mandatory that grocery stores donate expired/ready to expire food. Every place I have worked just tosses it into the dumpster. And I also think it should be a rule that you can't sue for getting sick if you eat expired donated food or food from a dumpster. Greed and being sue happy are the problems.

Sue happy? Poor people deserve edible food, not expired food that will make them sick when they can’t afford medical bills. If someone is given spoiled food by a business and it makes them sick, they have every right to sue for their medical bills to be covered. There’s a ton of food waste in this country but it doesn’t come from people not eating rotten food.

99% of expiration dates are not when the food actually goes bad. Every place I've ever worked tosses food before it expires, like 30-90 days out. That food can easily be donated but it's not. If I couldn't afford food I'd happily take some with arbitrary dates considering there's never going to be resources for the poor to be able to go buy enough fresh food.

I’m more referring to your “ also think it should be a rule that you can't sue for getting sick if you eat expired donated food or food from a dumpster. Greed and being sue happy are the problems” comment

[WellPreserved]

I think it should be mandatory that grocery stores donate expired/ready to expire food. Every place I have worked just tosses it into the dumpster. And I also think it should be a rule that you can't sue for getting sick if you eat expired donated food or food from a dumpster. Greed and being sue happy are the problems.

Sue happy? Poor people deserve edible food, not expired food that will make them sick when they can’t afford medical bills. If someone is given spoiled food by a business and it makes them sick, they have every right to sue for their medical bills to be covered. There’s a ton of food waste in this country but it doesn’t come from people not eating rotten food.

99% of expiration dates are not when the food actually goes bad. Every place I've ever worked tosses food before it expires, like 30-90 days out. That food can easily be donated but it's not. If I couldn't afford food I'd happily take some with arbitrary dates considering there's never going to be resources for the poor to be able to go buy enough fresh food.

Are the places you worked tossing out perishables/prepared foods and/or canned items? Our stores do donate canned items especially items like baby formula but some of them do toss perishables. There are quite a bit of hoops for a store to go through in order to donate perishables and it would have to be donated to a non-profit group who has the resources to transport, store, and distribute those perishables, not to an individual as that would be a cluster.

I get the frustration of seeing a store throwing away food, especially when there is a community in need. However, that energy should be focused on giving stores another option of how to disposed of expired goods, like a staffed and well supported community food pantry that can ensure that the people who need it will get it.

As an example, our local food pantry serves over 1000 families in our rural county. The pantry has a farm which stocks the pantry with in-season fruits and veggies. Almost all the rest of the products comes from our Food Lion. Fortunately, our pantry has the facility (walk in refrigerators and freezers and a commercial kitchen), and the volunteers to support it. Food Lion always had the will to donate but it required an avenue in which to donate.