4 ms·

Why High Food Prices Will Make Public Groceries Inevitable

13 points by toomuchtodo 1y ago

DaveZale 1y ago
Many solutions will be implemented. A lot can be done locally in rural areas, the old fashioned way, by having local farms grow some for the local community, not just for the commodities markets, for example. Waste can be minimized. This year I donated several huge boxes of backyard potatoes to local food banks, and I learned a little about their supply chain. They make weekly trips to Walmart to snag unappealing produce, which would otherwise be deposited in the dumpsters. Discontinued or overstocked items are included too. But changes in shopping habits can make the dollar go further. The loaf of white French bread or baguette for $3 may be very tasty and be consumed in a single meal, but the $6 loaf with 21 grains that weighs 1-1/2 pound can last all week and provide all the daily fiber you need in just a few slices! Let's face it, half the food in the American supermarket is junk calories in brightly colored packages, heavily advertised to children to hook them young. It's not easy to quit comfort foods. Who doesn't like an oily, crunchy, salty snack designed for addiction? Maybe this will be an opportunity to critically examine our eating habits, cook more of our own food, maybe grow some in the backyard, or support local farmers by buying direct and cutting out the wasteful middlemen?
- heathrow83829 1y ago
  Potatoes store super well under the right conditions. somewhere about 10c to 13c or so is ideal. but even without that, i would imagine they'd last at least 3 months or so. i've seen charles Dowding store them in burlap sacks all summer long and well into fall
  - JohnFen 1y ago
    I've had good luck storing potatoes for very long periods of time, over 9 months, by being very careful about storage conditions. Onions, too -- but don't store the two very near each other.
  - trashface 1y ago
    Wish my grocery story (Giant) could figure out how to do that. I get the shrink wrapped microwaveable potatoes and they are green much of the time within days of my purchase. I've gotten sick after eating them a few times and have largely stopped buying them.
    - DaveZale 1y ago
      green potatoes have solanine, toxic! They turn green upon light exposure
dmitrygr 1y ago
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York completely, absolutely, and unquestionably fixed high priced housing by making it effectively subsidized via rent control. It totally worked. There are no problems with the system at all, there are no vacant units being held by owners who fear the results of rent control and inability to actually engage in capitalism. Groceries will be an equal success. Government involvement by distorting markets always fixes everything.
- amluto 1y ago
  Los Angeles solved housing after the wildfires like this: https://members.aagla.org/news/once-again-la-county-board-of-supervisors-extends-state-of-emergency-by-one-month https://members.aagla.org/news/once-again-la-county-board-of... It’s very effective: people with previously unrented units will obviously decide to rent them out at, legally, at exactly 160% of the FMR rates, thus making lots of new housing available. FMR rates can be easily found here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/FY2026_code/2026summary.odn https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/FY2026_code... And the fact that it’s impossible to predict the law more than one month in advance will guarantee success! Hah, did anyone fall for that? I know people who were about to move out of LA County, rent somewhere cheaper, and rent out their house to a family that needed it, except that 160% of FMR is utterly, hilariously below market in LA’s housing emergency and isn’t really enough to make the whole housing swap worthwhile, so their house is not actually available to rent. Good job, LA. P.S. If one could instantly get a permit to rebuild a modern house on the site of one’s burnt-down house, then the housing emergency might resolve faster.
- s1mplicissimus 1y ago
  > Government involvement by distorting markets always fixes everything If you sarcasm this broad: Letting the market run free destroys everything. Here's my evidence: broken atmosphere (CO2), broken ecosystems, poisoned rivers, lakes and fields, lots of people still struggling to pay for basic necessities. What's yours?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
raincom 1y ago
Address the inflation in rents and mortgages, as it is the major factor that will undermine the economies of every developed nation in the West. When people with full-time jobs are queuing at food banks, it’s because their income is being swallowed by rent, utilities (for example, PG&E in California), and insurance.
Havoc 1y ago
Very strange to use taxpayer subsidised military commissaries as proof that it’s a good idea. Ofc…

13 points by toomuchtodo 1y ago

Many solutions will be implemented. A lot can be done locally in rural areas, the old fashioned way, by having local farms grow some for the local community, not just for the commodities markets, for example. Waste can be minimized. This year I donated several huge boxes of backyard potatoes to local food banks, and I learned a little about their supply chain. They make weekly trips to Walmart to snag unappealing produce, which would otherwise be deposited in the dumpsters. Discontinued or overstocked items are included too. But changes in shopping habits can make the dollar go further. The loaf of white French bread or baguette for $3 may be very tasty and be consumed in a single meal, but the $6 loaf with 21 grains that weighs 1-1/2 pound can last all week and provide all the daily fiber you need in just a few slices! Let's face it, half the food in the American supermarket is junk calories in brightly colored packages, heavily advertised to children to hook them young. It's not easy to quit comfort foods. Who doesn't like an oily, crunchy, salty snack designed for addiction? Maybe this will be an opportunity to critically examine our eating habits, cook more of our own food, maybe grow some in the backyard, or support local farmers by buying direct and cutting out the wasteful middlemen?

heathrow83829 1y ago
Potatoes store super well under the right conditions. somewhere about 10c to 13c or so is ideal. but even without that, i would imagine they'd last at least 3 months or so. i've seen charles Dowding store them in burlap sacks all summer long and well into fall
- JohnFen 1y ago
  I've had good luck storing potatoes for very long periods of time, over 9 months, by being very careful about storage conditions. Onions, too -- but don't store the two very near each other.
- trashface 1y ago
  Wish my grocery story (Giant) could figure out how to do that. I get the shrink wrapped microwaveable potatoes and they are green much of the time within days of my purchase. I've gotten sick after eating them a few times and have largely stopped buying them.
  - DaveZale 1y ago
    green potatoes have solanine, toxic! They turn green upon light exposure

dmitrygr 1y ago

San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York completely, absolutely, and unquestionably fixed high priced housing by making it effectively subsidized via rent control. It totally worked. There are no problems with the system at all, there are no vacant units being held by owners who fear the results of rent control and inability to actually engage in capitalism. Groceries will be an equal success. Government involvement by distorting markets always fixes everything.

amluto 1y ago
Los Angeles solved housing after the wildfires like this: https://members.aagla.org/news/once-again-la-county-board-of-supervisors-extends-state-of-emergency-by-one-month https://members.aagla.org/news/once-again-la-county-board-of... It’s very effective: people with previously unrented units will obviously decide to rent them out at, legally, at exactly 160% of the FMR rates, thus making lots of new housing available. FMR rates can be easily found here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/FY2026_code/2026summary.odn https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/FY2026_code... And the fact that it’s impossible to predict the law more than one month in advance will guarantee success! Hah, did anyone fall for that? I know people who were about to move out of LA County, rent somewhere cheaper, and rent out their house to a family that needed it, except that 160% of FMR is utterly, hilariously below market in LA’s housing emergency and isn’t really enough to make the whole housing swap worthwhile, so their house is not actually available to rent. Good job, LA. P.S. If one could instantly get a permit to rebuild a modern house on the site of one’s burnt-down house, then the housing emergency might resolve faster.
s1mplicissimus 1y ago
> Government involvement by distorting markets always fixes everything If you sarcasm this broad: Letting the market run free destroys everything. Here's my evidence: broken atmosphere (CO2), broken ecosystems, poisoned rivers, lakes and fields, lots of people still struggling to pay for basic necessities. What's yours?
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

raincom 1y ago

Address the inflation in rents and mortgages, as it is the major factor that will undermine the economies of every developed nation in the West. When people with full-time jobs are queuing at food banks, it’s because their income is being swallowed by rent, utilities (for example, PG&E in California), and insurance.

Havoc 1y ago

Very strange to use taxpayer subsidised military commissaries as proof that it’s a good idea. Ofc…