We know that food prices have soared during and since the COVID Crisis. But many of us would differ with one another over how much prices have risen. Now, a Toronto Redditor has resurrected a 2020 Food Basics flyer. I for one, was shocked..
Food Basics flyer from 2020…
byu/Equivalent-Net-7496 intoronto
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It hasn’t taken long for me to get hazy on What food prices were doing just a few years ago I was among the shocked and bewildered when a 2020 Food Basics weekly flyer was resurrected recently on Reddit, out of Toronto.
What it revealed…
The front page of the flyer, alone, carried a cartload of now-unimaginable ‘deals’:
- Shreddies – $2.97
- Doritos – 2 bags for $5.00
- Nabisco Cookies and Crackers – $1.97
- Ground Beef – $2.88 lb. / $6.34 kg
- Bacon – $2.88 lb. / $6.34 kg
- Tropicana Orange Juice – $2.97
- Philadelphia Cream Cheese – $2. 97
Other notable shockers from the following pages of the flyer:
- Cauliflower – 2 heads for $5.00
- Whole Watermelon – $2.88
- Broccoli Head – $0.97
- Chicken Thighs or Drummies – $2.99 lb. / $6.58 kg
- Striploin Steak – $12.99 lb. / $ 28.57 kg
- Centre-cut Loin Pork Chops – $4.99 lb. / $10.52 kg
These 2020 prices seem so foreign to me now, that I can hardly believe supermarket prices for everyday grocery items were ever that cheap. Let alone, routinely so.
Gasoline on a fire?
Sister Erin suggested I not crate this post. She said it would probably make folks who were angry or bitter about current, persistent high food prices downright furious. I would be throwing gasoline on their fire.
I struggled with the issue, but finally – as you’ve seen – decided to post it anyway.
Why? The last thing I want is to be branded a ‘troublemaker’. And I’d hate to think I moved any frustrated shopper to act out their rage, or resort to violence to ease the tremendous pressure many families are under, just to get enough food on the table – let alone maintain a balanced, nutritious diet.
Galen Weston, head honcho of Loblaw’s, Canada’s largest supermarket chain by far, at last
fall’s Federal Government competition Bureau inquiry into Food Prices. Not a happy
camper. Loblaw’s has recently been shamed by his assertion that his industry will
fall apart if the pending Grocers’ Code Of Conduct is enacted. And Loblaw’s
cold-hearted attempt to further gut-punch low-income customers by
cutting 50 percent off clearance discounts to just 30 percent.
Nevertheless…
I thought it was important to spotlight the 2020 flyer as an a snapshot of a bygone era. The point is, we can’t expect to see food prices like those ever again. But I wanted to emphasize, there must be many things producers, wholesalers and retailers can do to moderate the sinfully high prices we’re currently paying – for even the most basic of daily needs.
Governments in Europe and elsewhere have stepped in to force food price reductions, and place ceilings on the prices of essential goods. Here in Canada, there is a Grocers’ Code Of Conduct in the making. And the early drafts suggest it’s a mild measure in comparison to those mandated elsewhere. Even so, the Big 5 supermarket chains have publicly expressed reactions ranging from alarm to outright predictions of doom – for their industry and millions of already starving Canadians, if the Code is enacted.
Nuts to them. Something has to be done. And if the industry won’t do it, the Government must.
~ Maggie J.