How can anyone claim these prices are justified?

[IHaveRespawned]

This single freezer meal containing 4 tiny chunks of chicken with sauce, white rice, and a small piece of Naan bread was nearly $6.50. Just let that settle in.

This is just one example of the exorbitant grocery prices killing the budgets of everyday Americans. While $6.50 may not seem like much or the surface, these grocery costs add up.

Remember the days when you can walk into Subway and get a $5 footlong?

Yes, prices go up over time, but wages do not keep up. We are looking at inflation suffocating average Americans.

The middle class is struggling. If the Trump administration does not take a firm grasp of this soon, there will be another crisis on his hands.

Yes

No

Updates

10 mo

Oops forgot to add the question for the poll: Do you believe this is justified?

[midnightmoon05]

You have been spoiled, living in luxury! 😂

I saw a lady backpacking. Her lunch was can fish and bread.
($2-$4?)

in Europe, breakfast is a cup of coffee. Home made? $1?

dinner? Salad, rice and beans? ($2-$3?)

so… most pay $7-$10 a day for food.

paying $5. for a sandwich (in restaurants, deli) or frozen prepared meals $6. Are for the rich people. No?

[Shiprex]

That's what people will pay for it thanks to free market economics. The goods cost the lives of some chickens which to them makes it priceless but most people dgaf as they're so self centred. The rest is packaging, advertising, transport and storage not forgetting the retailer has to pay someone to put it on the shelf. Perhaps they should get less for each of the people doing those tasks but then people wouldn't be able to afford to eat.

[Makeushiver]

The brand you are showing in the photo is known for their quality so to some extent, that. They are also counting on the fact that virtually no Americans know how to cook any more & will pay a premium for pre-prepared meals. Raw ingredients have also risen in price but the cost difference between making food at home and not just grabbing something to microwave is staggering

[IHaveRespawned]

This isn't ordering take out or from a restaurant. This is a single, frozen TV "dinner" from a grocery store freezer.

[LazerBean]

That is a convenience item for the rich or lazy. I can make a meal with steak, rice, and avocado for around $10 per person if I go to Aldi. Even easier to keep cost down if I use chicken. Cucumbers and carrots out of my garden are nearly free. If you are struggling for money, don't be eating that stuff.

[IHaveRespawned]

I tried growing food this year. My plants didn't produce as expected. I pretty much nursed my plants near daily, and they were fragile to any change in condition. I realized I needed to give them plant food and fertilizer, ad I took a different approach this time planting all my plants in pots and plant bags. I think the heat stress did a number on my plants too. I planted mid-may.

I can recall my parents in their younger days when I was a small child. They filled 2 large-size grocery carts to the top, almost overflowing, for just a few hundred dollars. Now, it seems anyone is lucky to leave with two handfuls of bags worth for that much.

I will be making a large pot of soup to eat on for a week. I first need to clean up the kitchen so I have counter space to work with.

[IHaveRespawned]

When I think of food for the "rich", I think of dining out daily. I can no longer do this. But I don't think a frozen TV dinner meal is considered a wealthy food item.

[LazerBean]

Comparing prices now to prices from 25 years ago is a silly thing to do.

Whether you feel like it or not it will always be a fact that if you have someone gather and prepare your meal for you, be that via restaurant or TV dinner, it is going to be more expensive and the main consumers are going to be the rich or the lazy.

[exitseven]

I have seen the price of some things go down. More significant is that prices do not go up on a weekly basis like they did a year ago. Gas prices have gone down and the savings in shipping and transportations costs will be reflected in the price of everything.

[IHaveRespawned]

I an about to make myself a large pot of soup and eat on that for the next week.

[IHaveRespawned]

Fuel prices hover around $2.70 here now. I am hoping Trump can help get it down to $2.20 or less like he did during his first term. There was a time here when fuel got down to $1.60 during his first term.

[IHaveRespawned]

What I ultimately look at is the cost of living. Income versus expenses. If income increases to match rising costs, fine. If costs soar to outpace the individual's ability to purchase, this is a problem. I don't necessarily agree raising minimum wage will solve the issue, as this will actually add an unofficial tax right back onto the consumer, defeating the purpose. We cannot have government regulating every facet of business and consumer spending either. But there needs to be a solution somewhere, because bottom line, most people I know right now are choking.

[exitseven]

I think that more investment in energy infrastructure will help. Lower interest rates will help with that.

[Avicenna]

What specifically do you think the Trump Administration should do to bring down grocery prices (deflation is actually really unusual, by the way).

The item you chose to highlight is a convenience item and kind of an exotic specialty item too, so likely to command somewhat higher prices.

People can save money by buying basic ingredients and cooking their food.

[goaded]

Reasonable people didn't expect Trump to fulfill his promises to reduce prices or stop the war in Ukraine. Only his voters did.

Instead: "Since Donald Trump's inauguration, we have seen an 11% decline in the value of the dollar, the steepest decline in more than a half a century.”

[Dongie]

You know I was just saying today to a renter how Mircle Whip is all the time $4.99 at Brookshires, down from $6.99 the past 4 or 5 years. It's the same price now as when the Trump was last in House!

[IHaveRespawned]

I have tried to grow my own food this year but the turnout wasn't what I hoped. I have a gardening fund on the wedding gift registry for me and my fiance. If we gather enough funds, I am thinking of a small greenhouse setup.

[Dongie]

That would be the bomb. Grow year round complete climate control. I'm gonna think about that after growing tomatoes and watermelon this year. Good call!

[noohair]

OK, this one is simple economics’. Over the last 5 years the price of one ounce of gold almost doubled measured in dollars. That means you dollars have lost half their value. High prices are here to stay. The only way to reduce prices is to make the dollar more valuable. And US leaders don’t want that because it hurts our exports. So basically we are f…ked. Paying down the national debt is the only safe way to go. But there is no political will to do so.

[midnightmoon05]

It will take a long time and most will scream daily about these changes.
Always be prepare for changes.

[noohair]

@midnightmoon05 Change is the only constant.

[Fireguy17]

Don't be lazy, make your own and you will save money.
You are paying for the convenience of toss n eat.
Look at Lunchables.
Holy crap those are expensive for what you get.

[IHaveRespawned]

I still fucking love Lunchables and Fruit Gushers. Although, due to health reasons, I have been trying to be more mindful of what I eat.

[Fireguy17]

Try using them as say a Friday treat for lunch.
Kind of an award for making it through the week.
There are 21 meals in a week.
A few bad ones here and there are ok, but then eat more healthier choices after that.

[Pohjolan]

This is a ready made meal. Its not intended for poor folks.

You should be more concerned about how expensive a bag of rice or raw chicken is.

[IHaveRespawned]

To me, food for the wealthy was ordering from a restaurant or prepared food for takeout, especially on a daily basis or frequent occurrence. Obviously, I can no longer do this.

Grabbing a frozen TV "dinner" from a freezer aisle at a regular, everyday grocery store has never been considered luxurious to me.

It seems people have really lowered the bar as to what is considered rich vs poor people food.

[Pohjolan]

@IHaveRespawned
There's this thing called middle class between rich and poor.

[IHaveRespawned]

Yes, I grew up in an upper-middle-class household. My grandparents were/are wealthy. My parents in their young professional years (when I was a young child) used to fill 2 large-sized grocery carts to the top rim, often overflowing, for around $300. Of course, wages and the cost of living were less back then, but today, prices have soared with wages hardly keeping up, squeezing middle class families thin. Everything was decent up until the 2008 Great Recession/housing market crash. While things have been a coaster since, nothing has ever been the same. I was starting to have more confidence during Trump's first term. Today I am terrified.

[Pohjolan]

@IHaveRespawned
Trump has been entirely open about intending to implement policies which will increase inflation and slow down economic growth.

[midnightmoon05]

Most Americans don’t understand what poor means 🤦‍♀️

Have you try comparing eating rice and bread difference?
A bag of 25 pound of rice ($30-40.) can last a family of 4 a long time. (A month or two?)
$30-$40. Bread for a family of 4? Will last…?

[Tamera952]

Ask Trump…. eggs are still $11.00 here in California.

[Iron_Man]

that’s way overpriced even Marie Callender is not that expensive

[IHaveRespawned]

A Marie Calendar single pot pie is $3.29.
Tennessee also has grocery tax. Sales tax is 9%.
For this frozen single pot pie, your total is $3.58

[IHaveRespawned]

At least a small lunchable (without juice pack and snack size candy) is now $1.80. They used to be over $2!

[msc545]

It is just greed, the American hobby. Trump loves it.

[Twalli]

They can't do much.