You’re not imagining it — prices have steadily gone up at the grocery store over the past few years. Although they have recently leveled off, they have not come down to pre-pandemic levels. There are two main factors contributing to this-

1. Corporate Greed: Many brands have raised prices just because they can, especially as they were able to use the pandemic and its supply chain disruptions as an excuse for a few years. Despite the thousands of brands available in the grocery store, just a few large companies own most of them, which blunts competition and leaves consumers with fewer affordable choices. For example: Kraft-Heinz owns 65% of the packaged cheese market. Their prices have gone up 21%, and as a result, in 2022–2023 their profits shot from $225 million to $887 million, an increase of 448%! 
2. Climate Change: Extreme heat and volatile weather worldwide has damaged many crops, including olives, chocolate, rice, almonds, and wine grapes. Staples like corn, wheat, and oats are also affected by hotter temperatures, drought, pests/mold, and extreme storms. This leads to lower supply and higher prices.

Even in cases where prices haven’t gone up as much, you might notice that you aren’t getting as much for your money. This is called “shrinkflation,” or the practice of companies making their products smaller or lower quality while charging the same price.

So what can we do about it?

• Boycott brands that are charging outrageous prices and find cheaper alternatives like generic options, which are often the same.
• Email your favorite brands and complain!
• Pressure your elected officials in the US government to step in, which France has recently done.
• Buy from local farmers’ markets or CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) whenever possible, or start a community garden.
• Shop seasonally — for example, you’ll notice zucchini is super cheap in the fall when it is abundant.
• Join a big box store like Costco to save on bulk goods.
• Try to avoid processed goods as much as possible — cut up your own fruit, make your own salad dressing, and use a filtered water pitcher instead of buying bottled water. (It’s also much more environmentally friendly.)