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The article blames transportation cost due to Covid, and an increase in raw food prices for the rise in food cost. In my little bubble, in the Bay Area, it fee

The article blames transportation cost due to Covid, and an increase in raw food prices for the rise in food cost. In my little bubble, in the Bay Area, it feels like plain old greed, and opportunity, but not price gouging. When the government tells me where I can shop, along with my fear of how certain stores have dealt with Covid precautions, my buying habits don’t take price into account like before. The first few months; I bought transportation, and raw costs, but now I’m not so sure. My local Safeway has raised prices on everything. At first, they looked like they were trying to be fair. Now——it looks like they know people can basically shop fir food, so why not raise prices on everything while they have you there? Same goes for Homedepot. Yea, raw wood prices, and appliances have gone up, but it looks like everything they sell went up. I haven’t been into Whole food because my local store has had too many sick employees. (While we are on prices, Mercury Insurance refunded me $6.46 on a $600 policy, and that was last year. Why hasn’t my insurance gone way down? It just seems like accidents would be down? My policy is minimum I can legally get away with. I was going to switch to an insurance company that bills per mile, but my old car does not have a computer that Tye “honesty” devise can plug into. I would be happy to send the company a picture of my odometer monthly, but that is not an option.)

jhayward 6y ago
> When the government tells me where I can shop, Which government is telling you where you can shop? In what way do they do that?
- sokoloff 6y ago
  With regards to satisfying hunger, if the government has closed bars and sit-down restaurants in an area, that shifts food procurement towards grocers. Pre-pandemic, I suspect I purchased over half of my caloric intake from a food vendor other than a grocer. 15 years ago, that would have been 90+% (as so I expect the younger cohorts today would be similar)
  - amanaplanacanal 6y ago
    Where I am restaurants have been available throughout the pandemic at least for take out, and most have setup ways to have outdoor seating which is still allowed. There are a few which have closed permanently, but not as many as I expected, thankfully.
    - sokoloff 6y ago
      We did many similar things here, though when the outside temps are 0º to -5º C, it's a lot less appealing to eat and socialize outside, so the government prohibition or limitations on indoor dining have still caused a sharp reduction in percentage of calories purchased this way. (I'm not arguing that they are improper, just that they have caused a sharp change in consumption patterns which have, in turn, benefited grocers.)
Matheus28 6y ago
If you're in California and carrying the minimum legal limits for car insurance, you're exposing yourself to a massive liability risk, especially if you're a tech worker (savings/high income), since you're not judgement-proof.
luxuryballs 6y ago
Geico refunded customers on account of all the less driving during lockdowns.

jhayward 6y ago

> When the government tells me where I can shop, Which government is telling you where you can shop? In what way do they do that?

sokoloff 6y ago
With regards to satisfying hunger, if the government has closed bars and sit-down restaurants in an area, that shifts food procurement towards grocers. Pre-pandemic, I suspect I purchased over half of my caloric intake from a food vendor other than a grocer. 15 years ago, that would have been 90+% (as so I expect the younger cohorts today would be similar)
- amanaplanacanal 6y ago
  Where I am restaurants have been available throughout the pandemic at least for take out, and most have setup ways to have outdoor seating which is still allowed. There are a few which have closed permanently, but not as many as I expected, thankfully.
  - sokoloff 6y ago
    We did many similar things here, though when the outside temps are 0º to -5º C, it's a lot less appealing to eat and socialize outside, so the government prohibition or limitations on indoor dining have still caused a sharp reduction in percentage of calories purchased this way. (I'm not arguing that they are improper, just that they have caused a sharp change in consumption patterns which have, in turn, benefited grocers.)

Matheus28 6y ago

If you're in California and carrying the minimum legal limits for car insurance, you're exposing yourself to a massive liability risk, especially if you're a tech worker (savings/high income), since you're not judgement-proof.

luxuryballs 6y ago

Geico refunded customers on account of all the less driving during lockdowns.