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“It Used To Be Peasant Food”: 30 People Share What Products They Can No Longer Afford
The rise in energy costs all through last year have noticeably caused costs to increase almost everywhere. A quick glance at most isles in your local grocery store will confirm that prices have been steadily growing all year.
Internet users are sharing the items they have started to cut from their shopping lists due to inflation. Items like meat and seafood were predictable, but some have even started cutting fresh produce. And eggs, can’t forget eggs! With prices increasing by a third, people are considering ways to limit eggs in their diets.
So, dear Panda’s, feel free to share how you have adapted your cooking to these new food prices and upvote the examples that you’ve encountered.
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#1
I wouldn't say I'm cutting back, but I'm making more things from scratch and started growing my own lettuce and herbs. I now have a large grow tent in my living room. I know neighbors assume it is weed, but it's the start of a salsa garden and hopefully potatoes.
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#2
Here in the US, the cheapest generic brand butter is $5 a pound. Not long ago, that used to be what you paid for the GOOD stuff.
Forbes Magazine estimates that most household expenses have increased by around 8.6% since last year. Unfortunately, this hasn’t affected all expenses equally. Food in general and staples in particular have been hit the hardest. The increase in food prices since October is close to 10% and economists predict they won’t go down anytime soon. The silver lining? They might not increase either. As inflation continues, income may catch up.
That being said, certain items are likely to remain pricey in the near future. Eggs, meat and other more perishable and energy intensive items are set to remain costly. It doesn’t help that food manufacturers often rely on consumers becoming accustomed to price increases. They hope that we will just accept the new price. So props to the good folks documenting the effects of inflation, since it can help all of us keep food costs in perspective.
#4
It's now over $9 for 18 eggs where I am. I looked today, but didn't even end up buying them.
#5
I used to really like those little potatoes but now I only get them once every few months. For some things like bread and butter I just buy brands that are on sale now. I have a toddler and fruit is killing me.
#6
I paid $7.99 USD for a dozen eggs last week. I'm literally counting every one and basing my meal planning around whether or not something is "worth the eggs".
Inflation can’t take all the blame when it comes to the ludicrous rise in egg prices. Avian influenza has spread its way across chicken populations, in a record outbreak. Typically, the holiday season also causes a spike in egg prices, as people cook and bake more than usual. This year, that spike has yet to decrease. Since poultry farms have to cull their populations to limit the virus, supply remains significantly lower than demand. You can probably see where this is going.
#7
Fresh berries. Sometimes I’ll find a good sale, other times it’s *$8 for a thing of strawberries*
#8
Fruit is so prohibitively expensive now! A single apple is about $2.00, oranges are about the same. Strawberries are $8.99 here right now. Only bananas are still available at reasonable prices. I understand fruits and vegetables go up in prices throughout the winter but for the most part they are too expensive for regular purchase. A peach, nectarine or a grapefruit is a special treat these days.
#9
Seafood. It's absurd because I live on an island. Fish used to be a staple food, a less expensive protein source. Now it's more expensive than a Wagyu.
It doesn’t help that eggs are truly a staple. Most people aren’t eating Wagyu beef every meal, but eggs are a baking and breakfast mainstay for a reason. On the bright side, in places hit particularly hard by egg shortages people might be willing to try vegan alternatives. In California, plant-based egg substitutes have seen sales rise by around a quarter.
#10
Lunch meat! $15 a pound! That is double what lean ground sirloin costs! I call [nonsense] - since when is a turkey sandwich a luxury meal
#12
I don't know if it's because of inflation, but heavy cream jumped in price a few months back and I stopped buying it. For years that's what I used in my coffee but I'm back to half and half bc it's, well, half the price.
#13
In Germany, Butter prices are through the roof. Canola and sunflower seed oil as well because they used to be imported from Ukraine. Also M&Ms. Not an ingredient but man that price...
#14
Oxtail. It was a tasty, inexpensive meal growing up, not so much anymore. [is bad], it was a comfort food for me.
#15
fresh vegetables, mostly just use frozen now onions, potatoes & carrots in huge bags when they are on sale. Used to just pick them up when I wanted them but now plan ahead & make lots of meals for the freezer beef is another one because dammmmm finding recipes that don't use eggs
#16
Crab. Any crab. Blue, snow, king, dungeness, canned crab. It's all priced like caviar. Wild salmon, especially King Salmon. Lunch meat, I mean seriously.
#17
Certain cheeses. They hopped up not too long ago, now I try to avoid dishes with a lot of cheese.
#20
In addition to items that other posters have mentioned, celery. It’s now $2.99 a bunch. I use it for recipes like tuna salad, potato salad, etc and rarely use a whole bunch before it gets old. It’s gotten too expensive for me to want to buy it. (Location is in US, the Midwest).
#23
Watermelon. Large seedless watermelon was “on sale” for $12.99 USD in the store this weekend
#24
Corn syrup. I use it for my small candy business. At the restaurant store, it used to be $7.99/gal and now it’s $21.50
#25
Sunflower oil went from €0.90/L to €4.50/L due to the war so I'm using other oils as much as possible now.
#26
Enoki Mushrooms. They used to be $1 for 2 packs at my local supermarket, now its about $6 for 1 pack. I'm not sure if this is due to inflation but the price increase is insane.
#27
Eggs. I don't like egg-centered dishes that much to begin with such as omelets, eggs benedict, fried or scrambled eggs, etc. They're now more than double the price where I live so I mainly just use them for when I need them in baking.
#28
$3.50 for 3 shallots? I can get a kilogram of chicken thighs for that. Shallots would be off my menu if they cost 30 cents each! I buy them when they are 35 cents for a pack as no one seems to buy them from my local place so they are always discounted. I've definitely eaten less ribs and pork belly though.
#29
Calamari, it used to be so so cheap. I could pick up tubes for $1 a piece, now it is $20 a kg.
#30
Buying whole ducks and roasting them has replaced a lot of beef for me.
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