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8 recession food behaviours
During the recent G8 Summit in L’Aquila (Italy) in July 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama had a press conference and I remember watching parts of it on CNN while having my morning plate of fruits.
Obama touched on one very important point that I’ve been highlighting quite a lot and that will become a huge issue: inflation on food prices and ways to deal with this crisis!
Not long ago, I was putting my food away in my green bags (in Ontario, Canada, we now have to pay $0.05 for each plastic bag so the entire province has gone green in a big way because no one wants to pay for plastic bags) and of course it does take a bit of time to pack your own groceries and I had the time to hear the woman who was behind me comment when the clerk scanned an item.
She looked at me and said: “you really have to watch these prices because every week food prices seem to jump”. I could not have agreed with her more and I’ll be honest some weeks grocery shopping is simply painful.
This is recession is like no other and when you’ve lost your job, have a family to support and a mortgage to handle, you will find a weekly increase on food prices unbearable.
I know that if I’m feeling the pinch, families with kids are feeling it even more.
A recent New York Times article on sales trends at Home Depot and Wal-Mart has some great clues into how consumers are changing habits in the light of economic downturn and the rise in food prices.
Here are 8 points that might well describe your own attitude when you walk into a grocery store:
1. When it comes to budgeting, food stays on the list while consumers are scratching clothes and furniture from their list of must-haves.
2. Consumers are trading down the protein ladder from steak to ground beef.
3. Consumers are going even further and trading beef for chicken (which is cheaper).
4. Some consumers are in an even worse situation and have had to cut out protein all together and have replaced it with carbs instead
5. Do you remember Faith Popcorn’s The Popcorn Report (this book was published in the 1990s) where she talked about cocooning? Well, this trend is back because people are making their home is the focal point and the new entertainment is cheap takeaway/take-out pizza and DVD movies.
6. Consumers are cutting out restaurants.
7. U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has changed the way Americans eat because vegetable gardens are booming!
8. More people are trying to stay healthy on their own without resorting to experts which has translated in an increased in sales of vitamins and OTC (over the counter) medicines
Krizia’s two cents: What surprises me the most about the last finding from New York Times is that if people want to stay healthier, they’ll need to eat good quality foods, but the trend is clearly toward cutting back on protein, iron (if you cut out meat and don’t eat other foods high in iron), increasing carbs (processed carbs will mean an increase in weight) and buying cheap pizza (there is nothing remotely healthy about eating cheap pizzas).
I think people are doing their best to cope with the current financial change, but from this report it’s clear that people don’t have all the tools they need to make better decision about healthy foods and how to actually keep eating healthy during a recession.
I’m also feeling the pain of this recession and that’s why it’s so important for me to highlight as many ways as possible to help my readers deal with this economy and not resort to poor quality foods that will only deteriorate your health.
>>> I’d truly love to hear from you and learn of ways you’ve found to tackle the vertical ascension of food prices (aka, food prices are going up, up, and up!). Don’t forget to leave a comment at the end of this post to let us know!
Photo of pasta plate by bucklava
Photo of pizza by The Pizza Review
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August 31st, 2009 at 16:52
I’ve definitely felt the pinch lately, and compared to my shopping habits of even a year ago, I am buying way less fish and red meat. My principles have taken a backseat as well – once upon a time, I only bought free-range or wild meat, but now there is no way I can justify giving Whole Foods so much of my disposable income. So my compromise is to buy free-range chicken, usually breasts mixed with cheaper cuts like thighs so that I can be economical but also maintain some standard of principle. It is difficult at times, but when I remember that most of the world eats recession food all the time, it puts things in perspective.
September 7th, 2009 at 22:11
Yeah! That’s true! Due to recession, people moved to find ways to choose food that can be substituted from the expensive types. But they make sure it’s still tasty and soothing to the taste. People should start being thrifty. They should reserve their cash for health purposes, which matters the most.