Mrs. Vera West writes today at the blog about her concern about the leaching of various cancer-causing chemicals into food, from packages, such as plastics. I agree that this is a big problem. However, as Australia plunges to Third World levels and below from mass immigration and economic mismanagement, many Aussies are not worrying about the food chemicals so much as just having food at all.
A consumer watch dog report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's interim report into the supermarket sector has found the the typical shop of basic groceries has increase by 20 percent since 2019. This cost-of-living squeeze has led to low-income families spending over a fifth of their income on food. The largest increases are in the essentials, with dairy products increasing (32 per cent) and bread and cereal items (28 per cent).
The answer is not Soviet era price controls, abandoning the free market as US presidential candidate communist Kamala Harris has proposed, perhaps off the top of her head. Rather the ideal response should be to increase people's purchasing power as detailed by social credit policies, and Alor.org leads the way in Australia having material addressing that. In the very short term before such financial/economic reform, Aussies should shop around, keep to basic items, and eliminate any "luxury" comfort food items, but most importantly see what food can be grown on the home front, even in pots. A modern "victory garden," as was practiced during World War II, would be a great help as well.
"The price of a typical basket of groceries has increased by more than 20 per cent in the past five years, with low-income households spending more than a fifth of their income on food, a highly anticipated report into supermarkets has found.
The consumer watchdog released an interim report on its supermarket inquiry late on Thursday night.
The report finds while prices across all grocery product types have increased, the most considerable hikes are in dairy products (32 per cent) and bread and cereal items (28 per cent).
Meat and seafood have increased by a fifth, while the price of fruit and vegetables has increased by 19 per cent between the March 2019 quarter to the June 2024 quarter.
The findings were released in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's interim report into the supermarket sector that examined whether supermarket giants were dudding suppliers and ripping off customers due to a lack of competition.
"Customers don't deserve to be treated as fools by the supermarkets. They deserve better than that," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement on Friday.
"This is an important piece of work and we will study it closely.
"My government is taking a range of actions to make sure Australians are paying a fair price at the checkout and Australian suppliers are getting a fair price for their goods."
Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh said the inquiry was the most thorough look into the supermarkets for more than 15 years.
"Businesses need to do the right thing by Australians," he said.
"Greater competition is critical for lifting dynamism, productivity and wages growth, putting downward pressure on prices and delivering more choice for Australians dealing with cost-of-living pressures."
The report found many consumers were facing "excessive" prices, with many shoppers buying less food and focusing on cheaper products in order to stay within their budgets.
Shoppers were also eating less frequent and smaller meals and changing their habit by "increasingly" comparing online prices before going in store however faced "real difficulties" with comparing prices.
As a result, ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said Australians were "losing trust in the sale price claims by supermarkets".
"These difficulties reportedly arise from some of the pricing practices of some supermarkets, such as frequent specials, short-term lowered prices, bulk-buy promotions, member-only prices and bundled prices," he said.
In Australia, Woolworths and Coles contribute to 67 per cent of supermarket sales, with Aldi accounting for 9 per cent and independently franchised IGA, owned by Metcash, contributing 7 per cent.