Food Prices Impact

Sally: Yes. If you're reading the food news in the past couple of weeks, we are, we are hearing that food products for at home are way more expensive than going to a fast casual restaurant. The CPI for restaurant purchases rose 7.4% for the year ended April, 2022. And for food at home CPI, grocery and supermarket food purchases, it was 11.9% higher for the year ended May, 2022. So this is a really big difference.

Phil: It is. And Breeze did a survey and here's some stats that are, that are very interesting. 88% of consumers have cut spending as a result of inflation. 73% have cut back on restaurants and takeout. 63% on consumer spending 62% on social spending, 57% on groceries, 54% on vacation, 44% on gas and 35% on debt payments. Uh, 75% of us are worried about providing food for, for ourselves and our families. While 93% are intentionally driving less to save gas money. And then, uh, 67%. And this is probably one of the most worrisome stats. 67% say that the current state of the economy has negatively impact their mental health. And 81% said that inflation has made the more stress than usual. So not, not great news as a result of these prices. And when we take a look at rising food prices, there's a lot more effect as well. For example, obesity, how, how do food prices relate to obesity Sally?

Sally: Well, the consequences, and we've heard this from researchers for a long time, but we're still hearing this today that the consequences are not what you would think they would be people with lower incomes with medium and lower incomes, um, that need to pinch pennies on food, uh, tend to buy these more calorie dense, highly processed, or, you know, fast food because it's less expensive, it's more filling, but the result is, um, a problem with a bigger problem with obesity. And we particularly are concerned about this with our children, because once those, that obesity starts at a young age, it becomes very difficult. As they grow to get a better, get a handle on it, and it, it can potentially cause a lot of health problems.

Phil: And when we look at sugar, salt, and fat obviously those are the main ingredients when we go to fast food restaurants that are cheaper. And we really just have to, you know, hold back a little bit and just, you know, think more about what we're gonna eat than just, you know, running out to feed our bellies.

Sally: Yes. And it, and it's great to see, you know, there are some supermarket stores that are making real efforts to have great promotions on fresh fruits and vegetables and to try and get those healthy, make those healthy foods more accessible to people. But hopefully we're gonna see more of that.