Consumer goods makers and retailers investing in sustainably made products after years of shopper outcry, say they face an uphill struggle convincing people to switch when those products cost more or look inferior.
It is if you literally can only afford the necessities. It does come off a bit condescending, yes. I’m the US, we have corporations that are literally making record profits by using inflation and sustainable sourcing as an excuse to increase the price of products far above the cost increase and then we figure out after the fact that their pledges to sustainability are worth fuck all. It doesn’t help the fact that we have literal “food deserts” where the nearest grocery store is over an hour away and the only closer options you have are convenience stores and fast food. Try voting with your wallet in one of those places.
Groceries is that area in a budget that you can adjust to ‘scrape by’ so it can feel sensitive to price fluctuations more than other things. It’s also a $2400+ a year, which is not nothing and is in fact quite a lot for a lot of people. Psychologically it feels like getting kicked in the dick by the economy when I go grocery shopping. I adapt, but it hurts.
Groceries are 6.5-8% of my net income. If I spent the same amount on monthly food that my friends spend it’d be around 15%-20% which would put me in the negative each month. So I also think there is something in here about lifestyle or socioeconomic status which translates into grocery spend.
But not to be totally discouraging… I might not be able to eat well every day, but I can eat well periodically and still hit my budget.
Ok, I didn’t know that. Prices here haven’t risen this high.
Not to be condescending, but is food even such a big factor in cost of living?
It is if you literally can only afford the necessities. It does come off a bit condescending, yes. I’m the US, we have corporations that are literally making record profits by using inflation and sustainable sourcing as an excuse to increase the price of products far above the cost increase and then we figure out after the fact that their pledges to sustainability are worth fuck all. It doesn’t help the fact that we have literal “food deserts” where the nearest grocery store is over an hour away and the only closer options you have are convenience stores and fast food. Try voting with your wallet in one of those places.
Thank you for giving me your perspective, I feel somewhat bad now for my comments…
Groceries is that area in a budget that you can adjust to ‘scrape by’ so it can feel sensitive to price fluctuations more than other things. It’s also a $2400+ a year, which is not nothing and is in fact quite a lot for a lot of people. Psychologically it feels like getting kicked in the dick by the economy when I go grocery shopping. I adapt, but it hurts.
Groceries are 6.5-8% of my net income. If I spent the same amount on monthly food that my friends spend it’d be around 15%-20% which would put me in the negative each month. So I also think there is something in here about lifestyle or socioeconomic status which translates into grocery spend.
But not to be totally discouraging… I might not be able to eat well every day, but I can eat well periodically and still hit my budget.