Sahail AshrafFamilies Fail to Feed the Kids
April 18th 2007 11:57
There was a disturbing report out in this week’s edition of The Independent newspaper. Sadly titled “Food bills inflate family pain,” the article summarized the findings of the latest Anglicare Victoria survey. The Independent reported that, according to results, four in five of the clients interviewed by Anglicare spend over 20 per cent of their income on food alone. This, Anglicare Victoria claims, is up from one in five the previous year. Further to that, groceries are increasingly becoming secondary to paying the bills and causing high levels of stress.
I am not surprised to find this is the case, though horrendous as the findings are. In our family the grocery bill seems to go up, and up, and up. Seemingly every week the budget is shuffled to allow more for food, and still it’s never enough. It’s shocking to think that so many families are relying on hand outs just to put food in the kids’ bellies. While the cost of so-called luxury items like French perfume and electronic gadgets go down, food is heading on a steep incline.
According to The Independent, Anglicare Victoria is proposing tax reductions as a solution to this problem. Yes, this would greatly assist families, but isn’t the problem a wider one than over-taxing? I absolutely support its position, and pressure its placing on the government, but why isn’t the issue of food costs delved into on a deeper level? Certainly the drought is a factor contributing to skyrocketing prices at the checkout, but what about the supermarkets? Aren’t these corporations playing the largest part in all this?
A little over ten years ago I survived on a $20 - $30 grocery bill per week. Myself and my two housemates all contributed this amount towards food, and we cooked most of our meals at home out of that. Admittedly, this didn’t include toiletries and we never bought anything special, but we never went hungry either. We poor students happily munched away on pasta and veggies with cheese for dinner and were never short of eggs on toast for breakfast if our stomachs desired. Now I’d be lucky to walk out of the supermarket with enough food for a couple of days.
As time went on, groceries became more and more expensive and I started to ‘shop smart.’ My hubby and I visited the cheap supermarkets like Franklins and Bi-Lo. They weren’t hugely cheaper than Coles or Safeway but it was worth packing your own bags to save $20 or so a week. Well, Franklins is long gone now and our local Bi-Lo closed down a couple of months ago. Now what’s left? Just Coles or Safeway. There’s little other option besides Aldi – but the half hour drive to get there is hardly worth the cost of petrol and the choices are very limited.
It begs me to ponder how much this virtual monopoly on supermarkets is costing the consumer. With only two choices, it leaves supermarkets free to increases prices with little backlash. And what about the petrol offers? The ‘big’ four cents a litre I save for shopping at Coles or Safeway is worthless when those dollars are distributed back via higher food prices.
It makes me sick to think of families struggling to buy groceries. So much for our basic needs being met. What kind of society are we living in when people are going without food?
I am not surprised to find this is the case, though horrendous as the findings are. In our family the grocery bill seems to go up, and up, and up. Seemingly every week the budget is shuffled to allow more for food, and still it’s never enough. It’s shocking to think that so many families are relying on hand outs just to put food in the kids’ bellies. While the cost of so-called luxury items like French perfume and electronic gadgets go down, food is heading on a steep incline.
According to The Independent, Anglicare Victoria is proposing tax reductions as a solution to this problem. Yes, this would greatly assist families, but isn’t the problem a wider one than over-taxing? I absolutely support its position, and pressure its placing on the government, but why isn’t the issue of food costs delved into on a deeper level? Certainly the drought is a factor contributing to skyrocketing prices at the checkout, but what about the supermarkets? Aren’t these corporations playing the largest part in all this?
A little over ten years ago I survived on a $20 - $30 grocery bill per week. Myself and my two housemates all contributed this amount towards food, and we cooked most of our meals at home out of that. Admittedly, this didn’t include toiletries and we never bought anything special, but we never went hungry either. We poor students happily munched away on pasta and veggies with cheese for dinner and were never short of eggs on toast for breakfast if our stomachs desired. Now I’d be lucky to walk out of the supermarket with enough food for a couple of days.
As time went on, groceries became more and more expensive and I started to ‘shop smart.’ My hubby and I visited the cheap supermarkets like Franklins and Bi-Lo. They weren’t hugely cheaper than Coles or Safeway but it was worth packing your own bags to save $20 or so a week. Well, Franklins is long gone now and our local Bi-Lo closed down a couple of months ago. Now what’s left? Just Coles or Safeway. There’s little other option besides Aldi – but the half hour drive to get there is hardly worth the cost of petrol and the choices are very limited.
It begs me to ponder how much this virtual monopoly on supermarkets is costing the consumer. With only two choices, it leaves supermarkets free to increases prices with little backlash. And what about the petrol offers? The ‘big’ four cents a litre I save for shopping at Coles or Safeway is worthless when those dollars are distributed back via higher food prices.
It makes me sick to think of families struggling to buy groceries. So much for our basic needs being met. What kind of society are we living in when people are going without food?
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Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I heard last week (somewhere) that in the last 10 years groceries have gone up by something like 40%. And like you, I used to live so cheaply.
There is a big difference between Aldi and Woolworths/Safeway.
I go to Aldi once a month and do a bulk shop and the savings are considerable. There are a lot more Aldi's popping up in Sydney.
I hear ya Candice and it makes me mad too.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Ash
Flashes of memories
Excellent post. When I venture into a supermarket I often look at a mother doing her household shopping and wonder how on earth families manage to afford it all.
It`s easy when you are young and single to shove anything down your throat but when you have children involved that obviously becomes a little more difficult.
Controlling food is certainly a way of controlling the people... everyone has to eat. I have seen smaller retailers shut down when these big supermarket chains move into the area.
It is unfortunate that families do not have the time anymore to go into a little subsistence farming... we used to have fruit and veg growing in our backyard, make our own yogurt and bread...
ash
Comment by Candice
40 per cent? Wow, that's out of control isn't it? Although it doesn't surprise me, it seems that much dearer to shop these days.
I only went to Aldi once and I agree it was a lot cheaper. Shopping monthly might be the way to go for us - it would make the trip worthwhile then (might need a bigger fridge though LOL!)
Hopefully we'll get some more stores down here in Melb soon too - then there might be one closer to home. At least there's another option for people.
Comment by Candice
When hubby and I were living on two incomes pre-children I used to wonder the same thing. I think I first began to notice groceries were becoming costly when I became pregnant and wanted to eat good food for bub. Then once bub came along and we dropped to one income (and had the added cost of another mouth to feed) it became much harder.
I still wonder how big families and those on lower incomes than us manage - it's pretty stressful not being able to afford healthy food for your family. We've had weeks like that and it's an awful feeling.
I have seen so many smaller places, especially fruit and veg shops, close down over the past few years. Once a grocer commented that they can't compete with the supermarket chains because they spread the cost of fruit and veg across all grocery items. Instead of putting up the price of apples for example, the cost of everything may go up a few cents.
Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner
great post and So true! I'm a single guy who lives alone and the only mouths I havta feed our my animals and my own...I can't even fathom having to try and feed an entire family with the cost of food being so damned high...
Doctors advise you what and how to feed your children properly all the time...But do THEY have to foot the bill? uh no...so how are parents suppsed to keep their kids fit and healthy when the damned food needed to fed them is more expensive per pound than gold is???
Shameful..
Take care,
Nick
Comment by Candice
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
I'm another Aldi fan. We're lucky enough that Aldi is the closest supermarket to us and, although they don't carry everything that we would normally buy, they do tend to be heaps cheaper than the two major supermarket chains.
Something that my husband and I have noticed over recent months is that Woolies/Safeway has become particularly uncompetative, bumping up prices at an extortionate rate. Part of the problem seems to be this 'rollback' gimmick they insist on promoting. They push up the price of a particular item over the space of a few months then proudly proclaim that they are rolling it back.
Funnily enough, it rolls back to the price that it originally was before the unjustified rise in the first place.
We also live on one income (plus benefits) and have become very adept at chasing specials and discounted groceries. I am very keen to keep my food shopping as natural as possible and don't buy too much processed rubbish. I think this helps, as long as you aren't too fussy regarding the types of meat and veggies/fruit that you buy.
It is an increasing problem in our society, especially when the large supermartkets then turn around and post huge profits every six months. I know they are in business and need to show profit margins but some of the figures they end up boasting about are ridiculous.
Okay, I'll stop spouting now! As you can see, this deception by the supermarkets makes me very angry.
A.
Comment by Candice
Wow, I didn't know about that 'scam' by Safeway. What a joke! It's amazing what they can get away with. I liked the one offered a while back - the supermarket offered all these discount specials where you could get two items for a special price. The only thing was, the cost of two was exactly the same as each item purchased singularly. So many people probably bought two, thinking it was cheaper, when it really wasn't - not sure, but I think it was Coles.
That's great you've got an Aldi nearby. At least it's some help. I hope we get one closer some time down the track.
Thanks for your comments.