Shrinkflation
All my interventions throughout this semester has been about how hard it has been to live here in the United States. For my final project (Intervention) I will talk and discuss about shrinkflation, first what is shrinkflation you may ask well shrinkflation is the practice of companies reducing the amount of food we get in products and they may increase the price here and there. For an example they will reduce the amount of chips we get in bags or the amount of ice cream we get in tubs. My sole reason for choosing to talk about this is because for a long time companies have been taking advantage of us and treating us like dirt and people don't do anything about it. If people finally start protesting about it there could be a difference made but no one ever does anything about it anymore. So what I did is I came up with 5 different questions to ask people. 1.) on a scale from 1-10, how much has food prices affected your life. 2.) What is some specific foods you have seen a jump in price, if any. 3.) have you noticed the change in amount of stuff you get in your food. 4.) Three could be “Do you believe that food prices are fair, if not why? 5.) do you believe shrinkflation is a real thing? The reason for these questions is I want them to see and think about shrinkflation themselves. So I got three people to ask them questions and there responds were really similar. Not only do they increase the price and lower the amount of stuff we get but they make junk food the only affordable thing and actual natural products are really expensive to the point where it isn't worth buying them anymore.
So I interviewed 3 people and asked them the 5 main questions and I got similar responds most of the them were how cheap junk food is way more cheaper than organic healthy food. Even though they keep removing the amount they give and keep making it more expensive it is STILL cheaper than the healthy food which is a crazy thing to me. "The answer to that question is complicated. A recent study found that following the MyPlate Dietary Guidelines would cost a family of four between $1,000-$1,200 a month ($12,000.00-$14,400 annually) depending on the age of the family members and the percentage of fruits and vegetables that were fresh, frozen, and canned (Mulik & Haynes-Maslow, 2017). For a comparison, the average middle income family in the United States spends roughly $6,224 on food each year with the average low income family spending even less at roughly $3,862 per year (USDA, 2017). With this information in mind, following these recommendations may not be feasible for the typical family." (Durward). So if you ever want to eat healthy and follow a guide, usually people follow the MyPlate Dietary Guidelines to track what they eat and only eat what their body needs it will cost they between $1,000 - $1,200 a MONTH. Awhile the average middle income American family only spends $3,862 a year because that is all they can afford really. They will have to dish out a lot of money just to eat HEALTHY. Even eating junk food isn't safe as well because they has been multiple studies showing how companies reduce how much they give and increase their price.
This here is just one example of shrinkflation. Around 2021 to 2022 a bag of Doritos decreased the amount of chips they give by 5% and increase the price by 9%. Yes, this may seem like its not a lot but it adds up on how much you lose out when you buy in bulk for your family or a party. The worst part is that its not just Doritos but its every food and ITEM you can think of. "Today, household paper products, like toilet paper and paper towels, are 34.9 percent more expensive per unit than they were in January 2019. Of that total cost increase, 10.3 percent is due to producers shrinking the size of rolls and packages." (Senator Bob Casely). Even common household products aren't safe from shrinkflation which shows us that its not only the food they are reducing but everything else as well.
In finale shrinkflation is effecting more than we think it is. It is making it harder for us to live a normal life. The only cheap foods we are able to afford is junk food and if we continue through the same path we are taking no one eating just junk food will be able to survive till their 30. At this point we aren't living here, we are surviving here. We neither 1 spend all the money we have on fresh organic food and have no money we can save for the future or buy complete garbage food just to not starve to death and have SOME money we can fall back but knowing how America is heading that money will most likely just disappear.
Interviews
https://youtu.be/Br3TGZqqPXk?si=Qp6bcgPZdLgzAhby
https://youtu.be/f9ZGP2SA9iw?si=MzI6BXfdbF4SXDtF
https://youtu.be/BzK_-Yp0CGE?si=MeA_LMVsAOQsVizu
Sources
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/44678/19980_eib96.pdf
https://www.casey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/shrinkflation_report.pdf
https://extension.usu.edu/nutrition/research/does-healthy-eating-cost-more
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