Food Deflation

According to Kevin Drum at Mother Jones, the cost of food bought in supermarkets has actually decreased by 2.2% from the beginning of 2016 until now.  This should be good news for most people and certainly the Divine Mrs. M and I have enjoyed the discounts, although since vegetable sales and distribution is my job, the collapse of veg prices over the last few months is a little unnerving.   Many jobbers and distributors I speak with on a daily basis have commented on the lack of movement hurting prices.  There is no general agreement on what is happening.    Since many, if not most of the produce trade consists of older Italian or Jewish men (at least in the Northeast US), the preferred explanation for the lack of business is Democratic policy in general and Obama in particular.  However, the immediate aftermath of Trump's victory has not produced a bonanza of business, so I think we can put that theory to rest.  Another, more pernicious theory is that a combination of junk food availability and increased restaurant patronage may be taking a permanent bite out of vegetable consumption.  From personal experience, the average restaurant meal is heavy on meat and short on vegetables and pricing has been heading steadily upward.  I know that the stressed out younger generation eats out far more often than their boomer elders, who in turn spurred the growth of the plethora of fast food establishments which now line our highways.  This year, Americans spent more on food served in restaurants than food bought to be cooked at home.  I would posit the latter fact has more to do with lack of veg sales than political policies.   We need to excite people about the possibilities of cooking in 2017.