Actually some junk food is quite expensive, for what you get.
It's true that I tend to buy locally grown fresh produce at a farmer's market, and buy what's in season, so I do not pay $2.50 for four ounces of blueberries flown in from Peru, for example.
My original point was that when the dollar declines against other currencies, we may see large increases in food prices because of overseas demand for U. S. farm products. Until that happens, however, we are getting a bargain in terms of how far our food dollars go in comaprison with, say, dollars spent for medical care, dentistry, education, and many other services. When my dauighter added one course in her last year of college, it cost me $3,000. I think I could feed myself for a year on that three hours of course credit, and eat pretty well, too. I pay about $800 for a root canal, plus as much as $500 for a crown. I think I could eat for nearly six months on the cost of that one tooth. I never even found out what my last surgery cost, but the anesthesia alone was, I think, something like $1,500 for rendering me unconscious for an hour. I can buy 200 bottles of drinkable wine for that amount of money and render myself unconsious if I really want to for much longer periods of time.
But, yes, it's entirely possible that inflation is starting to hit food now. As of right now, however, and in comparison with many other things, food is a terrific bargain in the United States.
Not as big a bargain as gasoline, though. |
