ED H. writes:

At the commodity level prices are depressed. However, at the supermarket level, it is astounding. A one-pound can of coffee costs $11. And everything on the shelves is insanely overpriced. The only answer is that price competition is weak. The fact that 45 million pay whatever the cost via Food Stamps is a driving force behind this. The supermarkets can charge what they want and the U.S. Government via chits of printed paper will pay. Those not on Food Stamps are being crushed and driven into the socialist camp. Why has no one done a story about this??

Usually Food Stamps would be a minor factor, but not under the Obama Regime of Planned Poverty. If you aren’t on Food Stamps, you will be starved to submit, and then you too will be utterly dependent on the government. Much like Obamacare. Everyone is utterly dependent on the State.

Open this chart to see coffee prices back three years. And ALL commodities are like that: low on the real market and insanely priced on the consumer level. The government is claiming that raw materials are too high, but food itself is low. In fact, it is the opposite. This is like Obama’s claim that “the private sector” is doing fine, the truth being that the public sector is the most catered to, spoiled, protected and flourishing.

 If this Administration says anything, the opposite is guaranteed to be the truth.

— Comments —

Kevin M. writes:

Many of my friends and I have noticed contradictory price distortions in the world of food. Some things are insanely cheap while other things very high. Looked at piecemeal it makes little sense, but Ed H. applies some sense to it. It’s food stamp distortion. It’s screwing the normal people.

Finally people are starting to wake up to the reality of SNAP fraud and the bite it’s taking out of the economy. The bankers run the program, Walmart and others prosper on it, those not tapping the dole pay higher and higher prices with our stagnant incomes. The yeomen get squeezed, the indolent and flippant get to slide on by. Those with work ethic are marginalized. The producers are now the minority. Positive rights are elevated. This is the hope we were promised.

This is just but one of many huge massive lies we live under in our Soviet nation. The big lie humiliates us. We are confused and lost as a nation and people.

Renee writes:

I have to disagree with the commenters on this one.  People on food stamps typically buy the cheapest foods are are seen at the discount stores. Overprice food is sold more often where they are not to be found–partially for that very reason. I know people who will surprisingly be upfront about this. Instead of pretending they don’t shop at Walmart  for ethical reasons, they simply want to avoid having to expose themselves to the worst of societal decay.

Another reason food is overpriced is because the average person, putting very little of their labor towards making things for themselves, simple has no idea what the value of food is. The example of coffee is the most apropos to make my point. Coffee is no longer just something to consume, it is now one of the most icon modern staples of the vitalist. I am almost surprised you don’t talk about it as much as pizza. It is the energizing substance that to be consumed in more and more fanciful ways.  There are constantly new coffee shops where the modern person can sit in a nice atmosphere (most likely more appealing that there home), and have an expensive cup of something exotic. Many people will spend five dollars on latte, and other items because they have no idea how simple it is to make them. I was just having a conversation with my boyfriend about this. He said that it is worth it because it tastes so good, so the utility of the item makes the cost appropriate. I said you would not say that if you had ever made a latte yourself. You would  think it takes complicated processes and intricate machinery to make these drinks the way people talk. I make lattes at home and therefore cannot bring myself to pay five dollars for them. Also, I keep my home nice so I don’t go places to relax as much as many of my friends. I have made my home a place I really like to be.

After spending so much on these items at coffee shops people think they need to spend a lot at the grocery store. After spending $2.00 for a cup at a shop $10 for a bag of coffee wont seem expensive. Look at how of the brands at the store are the brands from coffee shops. The coffee shop culture is want makes people more willing to spend on this item. Grocery stores can attract a better customer base by charging more.

Making things for yourself has so many benefits. Not only can you save money,  share special items with your family, and having nicer things ( I would like to discuss this point in another post),  you are also less willing to waste your money, because you can recognize more easily when you are ripped off. Also, when you know you can go home and have something you feel less tempted when you are out. I am not someone who can easily resist temptation.  That is why making things for myself is so important for me. It keeps me in a good financial position. This is just another example of how the traditional way of life helps people smooth over the affects of their short-commings. I don’t have to be so great with money, because I have found enjoyable ways to save money that keeps me from even desiring to spend more. Yet again the modern way of life makes life more difficult for people to live comfortably, despite all the emphasis on helping the common people.

 Laura writes:

I agree with your observations about coffee, which is a subject to itself. (I also never — or rarely — buy fancy coffee items and can make latte at home if I want it.)

However, people on food stamps buy coffee too and if they were not subsidized at all, they would possibly not buy any coffee, thereby creating less demand.

Terry Morris writes:

I beg to differ with Renee. Foodstampers, in my experience, do not “typically” go after the cheapest foods, quite the contrary. Ed. H. Is onto something here, albeit he’s not taking into consideration a number of other relevant factors in grocery store pricing.

Renee writes:

In response to Terry Morris:

I think Ed H.’s comments seem to “fit” so well that people are missing something very important. If what you were saying was true, that foodstampers go for the opposite of the cheap food, we would see places like target, where food prices are the most ridiculous crawling with them. The contrary is true. We see basically only people with money in the places food costs the most, and that is why it costs the most in those places. The cost is a great way to keep people out.

Go to Walmart at the beginning of the month when people get their Food stamps. Find someone whose cart is overflowing and get in line behind them. Chances are they  got their food stamps and are stocking up for the month and go for quantity over quality. They are buying a huge amount of the cheapest food. This is something I have consciously observed so many times.

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