Quality and price of food

[lukiss96]

Is it me or after 2020-2022 crazy inflation prices went double and the quality of products especially when it comes to food decreased?

I mean, in 2022 I remember prices went sky high and then over 2023 it stabilized, but the problem is that over time the quality of edible products also decreased. Now I bought some chicken breast for "cheaper" and it tastes like paper and the texture is weird.

This is with many things over here. How is the situation where you live? I'm sure I can't be the only one to notice it.

 

[swiftque]

As I’ve gotten older I expect more from places when I dine out. Often I am disappointed. I rarely feel like I am getting what I pay for in terms of quality. Always over paying for the experience at every level. I’d rather just get takeout. Right now Cava and Mezeh are my go to spots for quick takeout.

At the grocery store food seems consistent in quality. Meat quality at Costco has always been decent. There’s a variety of grocery stores for produce at every income level. You can always just go to Whole Foods for everything if you are inclined.

Prices have increased but you still have to eat so there is little you can do about it. Beef prices seem high. This is in the USA.

 

[Eddie.]

Man in some cases we pay almost double than 2-3 years ago. I can still find decent chicken breast for slight more money but beef is very expensive. The only cut i have for beef now is liver, which i eat in smaller portions every day or eod.

Fresh salmon is untouchable, 23-25 euro per kilo..i remember the days i was buying salmon with 10-12 per kilo. Carbs are more expensive but not ridiculously high, i mean potatoes and rice.

What's very expensive is leafy greens. Currently the only veggies i eat is frozen mixed bags which i prepare with my chicken.

 

[Exhortae]

I only eat organic chicken raised in a farm. Quality is the same

Beef, i buy it from a butcher, quality is the same

Rabbit i get it from my brother in law, quality is top notch and organic

Price on the other hand is about 25% more than pre 2020

 

[Ghoul]

My feelz gauge tells me "Jumbo" eggs weren't the size they used to be pre-pandemic. I'm certain there's an official size requirement, but they were closer to extra large size vs what had been available before. Maybe they're just the bottom of the "jumbo" scale. And extra large looked really small.

Thinking this might be old man "everything was better before" creeping up on me, my suspicion was confirmed when in just the last few weeks Jumbos have been much larger. and now I'm getting double yolks 50% of the time, compared to not seeing one for months at a time.

I used to buy from farms exclusively, until some local eggs were tested, showing the old lead paint from barns and farmhouses that was scrapped off and replaced every few years is well worked into the soil and getting eaten by the free range chickens pecking around the yard! So it's back to the safety of factory farms for me, lol.

 

[AlexDavis43]

My feelz gauge tells me "Jumbo" eggs weren't the size they used to be pre-pandemic. I'm certain there's an official size requirement, but they were closer to extra large size vs what had been available before. Maybe they're just the bottom of the "jumbo" scale. And extra large looked really small.

Thinking this might be old man "everything was better before" creeping up on me, my suspicion was confirmed when in just the last few weeks Jumbos have been much larger. and now I'm getting double yolks 50% of the time, compared to not seeing one for months at a time.

I used to buy from farms exclusively, until some local eggs were tested, showing the old lead paint from barns and farmhouses that was scrapped off and replaced every few years is well worked into the soil and getting eaten by the free range chickens pecking around the yard! So it's back to the safety of factory farms for me, lol.

My usual grocery store hasn't had jumbo eggs for months.

Our backyard neighbor has chickens and gives me loads of eggs all the time. She doesn't even like eggs, just likes having chickens (kinda weird). They're noisy af but I'm not complaining.

 

[Ghoul]

My usual grocery store hasn't had jumbo eggs for months.

Our backyard neighbor has chickens and gives me loads of eggs all the time. She doesn't even like eggs, just likes having chickens (kinda weird). They're noisy af but I'm not complaining.

Free eggs are best eggs.

 

[iris]

Where I am, most food is imported, so on top of inflation if anything affects production abroad, prices go up all the time.
In the past couple of years, pasta, spices and veg all became very expensive.
I don't buy fresh eggs, only whites, but prices have gone up a lot (probably because animal feed skyrocketed).
You are so lucky @AlexDavis43 to have fresh eggs given to you. The best. Those hens/chickens might be noisy but a relative had them and they were such sweet and clever animals.
He even had a couple of turkeys, that look amazing (but a bit temperamental).
The day will soon come when meat will be made in a lab and we won't kill anything to eat. I am all for it.
What will happen to them, though, remains to be seen.
Are those species going to disappear, or just end up in a zoo?
Oh, forgot. Cocoa powder, which I use a lot, is mega expensive now, too.

 

[Big_bowl0tren]

He even had a couple of turkeys, that look amazing (but a bit temperamental).
The day will soon come when meat will be made in a lab and we won't kill anything to eat. I am all for it.
What will happen to them, though, remains to be seen.
Are those species going to disappear, or just end up in a zoo?

Genetically modify meat does not sound appealing. I dont ever see the day coming where killing animals for food comes to a stop. I'll still be harvesting deer, cow, chickens, turkeys and fish for myself if it ever did. I've hunted for over 25 years.

 

[Ghoul]

Genetically modify meat does not sound appealing. I dont ever see the day coming where killing animals for food comes to a stop. I'll still be harvesting deer, cow, chickens, turkeys and fish for myself if it ever did. I've hunted for over 25 years.

I understand where you're coming from, and avoiding the unknown risks of being an "early adopter" is sensible.

But I haven't seen anything that firmly establishes the hazards of GM food...yet anyway.

I mean, humans have been genetically modifying food for millennia, just in slow motion with primitive tech.

Broccoli is an example of the bizarre results from humans tampering with nature.

 

[Big_bowl0tren]

I understand where you're coming from, and avoiding the unknown risks of being an "early adopter" is sensible.

But I haven't seen anything that firmly establishes the hazards of GM food...yet anyway.

I mean, humans have been genetically modifying food for millennia, just in slow motion with primitive tech.

Broccoli is an example of the bizarre results from humans tampering with nature.

It's more of mental thing for me. I don't eat any processed food and further more would never consider eating modified meat.

 

[Ghoul]

It's more of mental thing for me. I don't eat any processed food and further more would never consider eating modified meat.

Fair enough. Hopefully the powers targeting the elimination of meat for the masses (not for themselves) never succeed.

 

[iris]

Genetically modify meat does not sound appealing. I dont ever see the day coming where killing animals for food comes to a stop. I'll still be harvesting deer, cow, chickens, turkeys and fish for myself if it ever did. I've hunted for over 25 years.

Sure, but you hunting for your food or keeping animals is not the same as the intensely reared animals most people eat. A lot of them live in awful conditions so think about what we end up eating.
There is organic meat you can buy, but there have been issues with that, too, at least where I am, where animals were not exactly kept and treated as advertised.
But I understand where you are coming from.
In an ideal world, we would all live like you do, but it’s just not possible.
For me, as a meat eater, if they take the cells and manage to grow them so that they have the same nutritional profile, without adding anything to it, I would have it.
I don't eat any meat or dairy substitutes, as they are just full crap.

 

[iris]

I understand where you're coming from, and avoiding the unknown risks of being an "early adopter" is sensible.

But I haven't seen anything that firmly establishes the hazards of GM food...yet anyway.

I mean, humans have been genetically modifying food for millennia, just in slow motion with primitive tech.

Broccoli is an example of the bizarre results from humans tampering with nature.

Carrots were not orange originally either, if I remember correctly
Cockapoos are a new thing too....

 

[AlexDavis43]

For me, as a meat eater, if they take the cells and manage to grow them so that they have the same nutritional profile, without adding anything to it, I would have it.

Right, but it's very expensive. Dollars per gram of protein, it's not even close to actual animal products.

 

[AlexDavis43]

I don't eat any meat or dairy substitutes, as they are just full crap.

The meat substitutes are also full of added oils, doing no favors in a bodybuilding context.

 

[iris]

Right, but it's very expensive. Dollars per gram of protein, it's not even close to actual animal products.

Yes, like everything new.
The more they advance, the better and cheaper it will get.
I have hope. Until then, I have to rely on what is available, but when I stop and think about it, I cannot say that I like it.
I became a vegetarian and then vegan in my teens, when it certainly was not common and your mum would just think what the hell is wrong with you.
Needless to say, no idea about nutrition, a lot of bread, fruit and veg and not much else; in hindsight it was a bit of a disaster...
So, I went back to eating everything. Producing things a bit more sustainably would be the goal, but with so many people on this planet, it will be difficult.
Technology and innovation always take us places, though.

 

[BlackRelik]

It’s been happening with other things too, especially fruits and veggies. Interestingly, I started trying barley grass juice powder (also known as barley green powder) as a supplement a while back. It’s been a game-changer for me in terms of feeling better overall, though I wouldn’t say it replaces the need for fresh, quality food. But I can’t help but think if more people started looking at stuff like that, it might help balance out some of the nutritional gaps caused by the lower-quality food we’re seeing these days. What do you think?