Americans are choking on surging fast-food prices. "I can't justify the expense," one customer says
Americans are choking on surging fast-food prices. "I can't justify the expense," one customer says
The price of a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal has more than doubled since 2014, data show.
Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.
Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food "as a rare treat," he told CBS MoneyWatch. "Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices."
Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.
A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.
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If fast food prices get unaffordable, maybe people will eat healthier in the future. I cannot see a downside to this, at least not long term.
healthy food isnt much cheaper. at least in my experience
"Isn't much cheaper" is still way cheaper than fast food. Just changing your diet to something with less sugar, less fat, less saturated fat, less salt and a more balanced amount of carbohydrates and proteins is going to do wonders in bare months. Even if you keep your calorie intake a constant (which, with healthy food, it means you're gonna eat a fuck ton more).
Healthy food is cheaper not for the price itself, but for the net long term benefit. Less chances of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, while improved vitality, energy and fitness levels.
Should healthy food be cheaper? Yes, it definitely should. Should the estate subsidize or cut taxes on raw food and basic items? Hell yeah it should. Nonetheless, while we still fight and ask for that, eating healthy at home is still cheaper than buying in unhealthy fast food chains.
What kind of food? Store bought TV meals or raw ingredients for home cooking?
Unfortunately, the cost of healthier foods has gone up at the same pace. Instead people end up eating less or giving up other necessities like downsizing their housing or moving in with parents.
Raw ingredients are still affordable. If you can cook, you are easily able to live on a healthy diet for small money.
Source: I learned to cook because we were poor.
Not really. An ever shrinking head of iceberg lettuce is about $2.50. A pound of the lowest grade ground beef is about $8. Bag of store brand buns is $2. A beefsteak tomato is $1.50. Pack of store brand American Cheeses is $4.50. Add in the other condiments that are harder to break down the price of, electricity/gas cost for cooking, water for cleaning, etc., and the cost for the cheapest, crappiest version of 4 quarter lb burgers is not much different than the $8 times 4 that McDonald's is charging and I guarantee the quality is lower (lower ratio of meat:fat in the burger, buns with more sugar and preservatives and less fresh, etc.) And this is just the consumables, not the having a kitchen to do this in, the pans, utensils, etc. Unhoused people don't have those things.
It used to be that because McDonald's, etc., got their stuff in bulk and used lower quality ingredients and low paid employees, they offered these products for very low profit because of high volume. Now the cost including labor, supplies, etc., is less than half of what they charge. So their profit margins are huge if they have the same number of customers. But their customer base is going to dwindle, and so the profit margins will shrink, but that's not a concern to corporations that only focus on today's stock prices and don't care about tomorrow.
If your replica the the mistakes of fast food, you won't get far. Have you tried other food options that are not burgers? Because burgers are a perfect example of expensive, but not really good food.
I was just giving an example. Sure if you avoid fresh produce, eggs, milk, or meats you might be able to make some cheap meals. But those things right now are very expensive. Beans are still pretty affordable for the nutrition.
Eggs and milk are still OK, pricewise, even if the prices have gone up. When it comes to meat, chicken is cheaper than beef, so there is no need to rely on beans if you don't like it.
The point is that a burger is basically a very bad food item that happens to be expensive, too. Not the best thing to eat in the first place, and from a fast food place even more so.
Eggs are around $6/dozen for the cheapest right now but have been as high as $14/dozen in the last year due to the shortages from processing company consolidation. And milk right now is $6/gallon. Plus with borderline cholesterol I avoid cow's milk. If a dozen eggs costs an hour's labor, that's not very affordable. Especially when rent costs more than most people make in a month. My partner lives with 3 roommates and only makes around $20/hr. Food has to be quite cheap.
It might sound expensive in comparison to prices here in Europe, but on the other hand, American income levels are much higher, too. So adjusting for that, they are way cheaper than in Europe. And we live, too. While paying e.g about 8-9 USD for a gallon of fuel due to carbon taxes.
Yeah, I doubt the median income is higher here, especially if you have socialized medicine. I make ok money, but the minimum wage here is still only $7.25/hr across the majority of the country, and the median income is around $18/hr. If you figure in the cost of health insurance average around $600/month. Though employers often cover a portion of the premium. And the median rent is $2000, much higher in cities of course. And gasoline in my city is over $5/gallon even with all of my tax money that subsidizes it. And of course, lower middle class pays the highest effective tax rates generally. So having a budget of $200-300/month for food is relatively normal for a single person with a median income.
I have to admit I'm an bit above the median income - but I'm still working my ass of for it. On the other hand I'm the sole provider for the family (my wife is handicapped), and I have two kids in University.
Health insurance is 570€/month IIRC for me, so it is not much different. The employer pays the same amount.
I'm lucky that I don't have to bother with rent, but it was a lot of bloody years without a single bit of luxury to afford that, even here out in the sticks.
People would murder here for such dirt cheap gasoline.
Tax-wise, it is the same here. The rich deduct themselves poor or have any amount of other tricks to avoid taxes, there is nothing to get from the poor, so we in the middle have to provide the mones so the rich can get their subsidies...
I'm lucky that my food budget is a bit higher than that, but even with 200-300 a month I could easily survive with healthy home cooking. I survived on much, much less during my university times.