Blog Dis
The Horn of Plenty
2026-02-24
Grocery shopping is a very serious business, and I mean really and truly, a very serious business. Inflation takes no prisoners, and as we'll soon enter the third month of 2026, it's been reported by the Canadian Government that food inflation has already increased in Canada by more than 4 per cent. Ouch!
Now a percentage increase of four per cent on the surface doesn't seem to be too large. Only, try a little test on your own and work out the math, were you to increase your mortgage or car payments by 4%. You'll very quickly work through the numbers to arrive at the same conclusion that 4% is bloody high, considering that some strive to lock in their mortgage at as low an interest rate as possible, while others will opt instead for a variably rate, to give themselves wiggle room in order that they may take advantage of the times when financial institutions will lower the lending rate.
Groceries are no different. Price-fixing, a practice that is shunned by the Government, between large food chains is still a reality in these hard economic times. Price-fixing means that the largest of the grocery store chains will secretly communicate with each other, to fix prices at the same rate, so one isn't in a position to undercut the other. With large chains, it's all about their profit margin, and rarely has anything to do with being good community players. Personally, I'd love to see the CEOs of these large grocery chains be forced to thrive on the five figure salaries that some families barely survive on, who sometimes still have to visit the food bank once a week, just to put food on their table. CEOs of the largest grocery store chains are rewarded with a base salary that exceeds one million, and this is then supplemented with a bonus payout that is also higher than one million. An example is the CEO for Loblaw Companies Ltd. who received in 2025 a total salary of $22 Million.
I am mindful of waste. I don't like to throw out food. I'm happy to eat leftovers, and in fact I'll cook up batches of food to ensure that I have leftovers. Also, I try not to load up my plate at home, which is why I'm a big fan of grazing, tiny meals that are separated by 30 minutes or sometimes hours apart, to ensure that I don't waste any cooked food, or end up over-eating.
Buying meats, if you're not a vegetarian, when they're on sale can make a difference, as are all sales, worth monitoring online, before you head out to shell out coin for groceries. I've one girlfriend whose fiancé and her shop together. They share the responsibility, with each contributing the same amount of money, to ensure that decisions on how their money will be spent have been carefully made. I've family too who'll shop at large chain warehouses, like Costco, to stock up on big-ticket items in large quantities, to stretch their dollar as far as possible.
The very wealthy don't exist on this level because their awareness is fine-tuned a little differently, so when the rate of inflation increases, it's hardly felt in their pocket-book. But not for the majority of the working class who exist in between the highs and lows of inflation, and the degree of prices that fluctuate, all according to lending rates set by the Federal Reserve in the USA and the Bank of Canada in Canada, arguably some of the wealthiest institutions of them all. (You really don't want to know just how wealthy).
Prior to the pandemic, I shopped for groceries with cash. Because this meant that I couldn't spend more than I had to spend. Since the pandemic, however, and the fact that cash wasn't been accepted, to avoid touching potentially infected paper, I applied for a new VISA card that for every dollar spent, I'd earn a point toward airline travel. I haven't changed this set up since then. Having a VISA card for groceries has its benefits and drawbacks. Sometimes I see an item on sale that I hadn't anticipated buying, and I end up buying it, or I'm able to take advantage of items whose prices have been marked down, and are available in the discount bins; these decreases are not advertised online. You have to be in the store, in person, and at the right time.
Only once a week will I go grocery shopping. I'll pre-cook my food to cover off weeks in advance. This helps me to ensure that I don't waste precious food. It's easy for someone to suggest that groceries can be bought cheaply but when you're dealing with young boys, the bill can add up real quick. My sister tells me that her youngest grandson eats 24/7 and it doesn't matter how much is fed to him, he's hungry 20 minutes later. And this made me think of the years when I lived at home, and how my parents had to cope with the consumption of milk, with two boys, and two girls, and how the boys drank and ate twice as much as the girls.
I get it now. I get why my Mom had to resort to growing her own vegetables behind our house, to be able to utilize the free crab-apples to make crap-apple jelly or rhubarb jam, and why carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers were popular: hardy veggies that can grow practically anywhere, providing the soil has been properly prepared in advance. She battled with rabbits invading her garden, to feast on her vegetables, but in the end we benefitted from the healthy soups, despite my distaste for soup. Every penny you can shave off your grocery bill is a penny put back into your pocket for something else. Indoor hydroponic herb and vegetable gardens are a popular option now for those with the outdoor space, or even in a climate that can accommodate a standing garden on their balcony.
I like how my fridge looks, after buying groceries for the week. I get to open the door to this cornucopia, to the Horn of Plenty, as I like to call it; food that I had purchased with my earned dollars, to know that I won't starve for the week, or for the coming weeks, if I take into consideration that the frozen pre-prepared meals will keep me in good steed.
If I had just one wish, to repeat, it'd be that the CEOs of these grocery chains would be forced to live on the salaries of one of their employees for minimum of five years, just to teach them fairness and compassion, rather than for CEOs to observe their bottom-line credo, which can only occur at the expense of every lower income earner who shops at their store.
Wishes are about fantasies, whereas groceries and their ever-escalating prices are the reality. 🤬
Now a percentage increase of four per cent on the surface doesn't seem to be too large. Only, try a little test on your own and work out the math, were you to increase your mortgage or car payments by 4%. You'll very quickly work through the numbers to arrive at the same conclusion that 4% is bloody high, considering that some strive to lock in their mortgage at as low an interest rate as possible, while others will opt instead for a variably rate, to give themselves wiggle room in order that they may take advantage of the times when financial institutions will lower the lending rate.
Groceries are no different. Price-fixing, a practice that is shunned by the Government, between large food chains is still a reality in these hard economic times. Price-fixing means that the largest of the grocery store chains will secretly communicate with each other, to fix prices at the same rate, so one isn't in a position to undercut the other. With large chains, it's all about their profit margin, and rarely has anything to do with being good community players. Personally, I'd love to see the CEOs of these large grocery chains be forced to thrive on the five figure salaries that some families barely survive on, who sometimes still have to visit the food bank once a week, just to put food on their table. CEOs of the largest grocery store chains are rewarded with a base salary that exceeds one million, and this is then supplemented with a bonus payout that is also higher than one million. An example is the CEO for Loblaw Companies Ltd. who received in 2025 a total salary of $22 Million.
I am mindful of waste. I don't like to throw out food. I'm happy to eat leftovers, and in fact I'll cook up batches of food to ensure that I have leftovers. Also, I try not to load up my plate at home, which is why I'm a big fan of grazing, tiny meals that are separated by 30 minutes or sometimes hours apart, to ensure that I don't waste any cooked food, or end up over-eating.
Buying meats, if you're not a vegetarian, when they're on sale can make a difference, as are all sales, worth monitoring online, before you head out to shell out coin for groceries. I've one girlfriend whose fiancé and her shop together. They share the responsibility, with each contributing the same amount of money, to ensure that decisions on how their money will be spent have been carefully made. I've family too who'll shop at large chain warehouses, like Costco, to stock up on big-ticket items in large quantities, to stretch their dollar as far as possible.
The very wealthy don't exist on this level because their awareness is fine-tuned a little differently, so when the rate of inflation increases, it's hardly felt in their pocket-book. But not for the majority of the working class who exist in between the highs and lows of inflation, and the degree of prices that fluctuate, all according to lending rates set by the Federal Reserve in the USA and the Bank of Canada in Canada, arguably some of the wealthiest institutions of them all. (You really don't want to know just how wealthy).
Prior to the pandemic, I shopped for groceries with cash. Because this meant that I couldn't spend more than I had to spend. Since the pandemic, however, and the fact that cash wasn't been accepted, to avoid touching potentially infected paper, I applied for a new VISA card that for every dollar spent, I'd earn a point toward airline travel. I haven't changed this set up since then. Having a VISA card for groceries has its benefits and drawbacks. Sometimes I see an item on sale that I hadn't anticipated buying, and I end up buying it, or I'm able to take advantage of items whose prices have been marked down, and are available in the discount bins; these decreases are not advertised online. You have to be in the store, in person, and at the right time.
Only once a week will I go grocery shopping. I'll pre-cook my food to cover off weeks in advance. This helps me to ensure that I don't waste precious food. It's easy for someone to suggest that groceries can be bought cheaply but when you're dealing with young boys, the bill can add up real quick. My sister tells me that her youngest grandson eats 24/7 and it doesn't matter how much is fed to him, he's hungry 20 minutes later. And this made me think of the years when I lived at home, and how my parents had to cope with the consumption of milk, with two boys, and two girls, and how the boys drank and ate twice as much as the girls.
I get it now. I get why my Mom had to resort to growing her own vegetables behind our house, to be able to utilize the free crab-apples to make crap-apple jelly or rhubarb jam, and why carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers were popular: hardy veggies that can grow practically anywhere, providing the soil has been properly prepared in advance. She battled with rabbits invading her garden, to feast on her vegetables, but in the end we benefitted from the healthy soups, despite my distaste for soup. Every penny you can shave off your grocery bill is a penny put back into your pocket for something else. Indoor hydroponic herb and vegetable gardens are a popular option now for those with the outdoor space, or even in a climate that can accommodate a standing garden on their balcony.
I like how my fridge looks, after buying groceries for the week. I get to open the door to this cornucopia, to the Horn of Plenty, as I like to call it; food that I had purchased with my earned dollars, to know that I won't starve for the week, or for the coming weeks, if I take into consideration that the frozen pre-prepared meals will keep me in good steed.
If I had just one wish, to repeat, it'd be that the CEOs of these grocery chains would be forced to live on the salaries of one of their employees for minimum of five years, just to teach them fairness and compassion, rather than for CEOs to observe their bottom-line credo, which can only occur at the expense of every lower income earner who shops at their store.
Wishes are about fantasies, whereas groceries and their ever-escalating prices are the reality. 🤬
