Subnostr

I am acknowledging the increase in food prices. It's very real. But food was more expensive in 2008 in real terms. ie. You had to work more labor hours at the average industrial wage to pay for the same amount of food. You can pull average food costs and average wages from 2008, and then do the same thing in 2023, do the division and see for yourself!

This isn't me saying inflation is fine. It's not. But it is me saying it's hyperbolic and untrue to argue this is the worst it's been in our lifetimes. Because that's literally false.

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Discussion

Edward 2y ago

It’s completely possible that food costs have gone down in real terms in part because of the increase in industrial seed oils and use of other additives and lowered quality overall.

It would be interesting to compare food costs by group, such as beef and poultry as one group and packaged and processed foods in another. The idea being that the former is harder to industrialize and more prone to inflation

Mike Brock 2y ago

It is down in real terms for all staples -- with the notable exception of soybeans. Which are slightly more expensive than they were 20 years ago. So it's not just a function of cheaper, lower quality additives.