Food costs are not even slightly comparable. When I was kid (in the UK) they ran national advertising campaigns on TV for brands of flour, sugar and sliced bread. Nowadays the only reason these things aren’t effectively free is because they take up valuable shelf space. Instead people are buying imported fruit and vegetables and ready-meals. It’s like comparing the price of wood in the 1960′s to the price of a fitted kitchen today.
Came to say pretty much this. Even within product categories, quality is nearly incomparable. In the 1990s if you wanted more than a handful of options for cheese in America you needed to go to specialty stores. Things like organic flour, whole wheat flour, non-wheat flours, more than 2 varieties of apple, were very hard to come by in most places.
I could easily spend a quarter as much on groceries as I currently do, if I wanted to eat like my parents ate when I was little. Less than that, if I ate like my grandparents did when they were my age. I don’t do that, because the food quality is worth the price to me.
In contrast, the kinds of houses they lived in, built, or bought would mostly be illegal today, either not up to code or not in line with zoning ordinances. Ditto for cars and childcare.
Edit to add:
Nowadays the only reason these things aren’t effectively free is because they take up valuable shelf space.
It’s hard to overstate how true this is. About 10 years ago I talked to a senior manager from General Mills who told me that if they shipped cereal boxes to the stores empty, the price would probably only be a couple of cents lower. For flour it’s even more true.
Food costs are not even slightly comparable. When I was kid (in the UK) they ran national advertising campaigns on TV for brands of flour, sugar and sliced bread. Nowadays the only reason these things aren’t effectively free is because they take up valuable shelf space. Instead people are buying imported fruit and vegetables and ready-meals. It’s like comparing the price of wood in the 1960′s to the price of a fitted kitchen today.
Came to say pretty much this. Even within product categories, quality is nearly incomparable. In the 1990s if you wanted more than a handful of options for cheese in America you needed to go to specialty stores. Things like organic flour, whole wheat flour, non-wheat flours, more than 2 varieties of apple, were very hard to come by in most places.
I could easily spend a quarter as much on groceries as I currently do, if I wanted to eat like my parents ate when I was little. Less than that, if I ate like my grandparents did when they were my age. I don’t do that, because the food quality is worth the price to me.
In contrast, the kinds of houses they lived in, built, or bought would mostly be illegal today, either not up to code or not in line with zoning ordinances. Ditto for cars and childcare.
Edit to add:
It’s hard to overstate how true this is. About 10 years ago I talked to a senior manager from General Mills who told me that if they shipped cereal boxes to the stores empty, the price would probably only be a couple of cents lower. For flour it’s even more true.