As an old guy living alone, I’ve pretty much always just tossed things into the shopping cart. After this morning, I’m going to be a much more careful shopper, and thankful I don’t have a family to shop for.
I WENT TO the grocery this morning and found Donald Trump’s finger prints all over the place.
I didn’t buy any wine so won’t comment on that.
But frozen shrimp? Good Lord! I have been buying big bags of large frozen shrimp to use on salads and in pasta for Lord knows how long. The price has hovered between $17.00 and $19.99. This morning I went to grab a bag and it was $35!! That is 35-freakin’ bucks!! So, looked at the label. It is imported from Indonesia. I checked out some other frozen fish items and bingo – big price increases and all from countries slapped with tariffs.
Indonesia just negotiated a “deal” with Trump that cut its tariff down from the moon to 19 percent. The price increase is above, but it’s obvious the tariff was a huge factor.
Then, I hopped over to the frozen fruit section. As a part of my new approach to healthy eating I am eating frozen fruit with two percent milk and zero-calorie coffee flavors to keep me away from ice cream. That $15.99 bag of mixed fruit was now $18.99. I looked at the label and it came from Chile.
Now, take my complaints with a grain of salt. I’m an old man living alone. I can adjust. But what if I was a mom shopping for a family of four or five? Keep in mind that full tariffs on Mexico and Canada have yet to kick in. I don’t envy any family trying to keep to a budget as we enter this new mad world.
Before you say the goal here is to get the United States to produce more of these items, let’s do a reality check. In many cases, it can’t. Take sea food. While US shrimpers are applauding the tariffs, they alone cannot meet the nation’s consumer demand. It literally takes the globe to feed the globe when it comes to fish. There are catch limits in US waters, and in some other waters. If we remove those limits, it won’t take long to deplete US fisheries.
Take fruits. The US cannot produce enough of a variety of fruits to meet its own demand. We are a global economy and Trump’s efforts to deny that reality are coming home to roost on Jack and Jill American and the kiddos.
If you are one of those folks who goes to the grocery and just buys the same stuff week-in, week-out, dumping it into the cart with nary a glance, you may want to change your ways. And your menus.
Thanks, Donald. You da man! You sure are showing the world a thing or two.
Rich Heiland is a retired journalist and semi-retired consultant, trainer and public speaker. During his journalism career he was a reporter, editor, publisher, college instructor, part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team and a National Newspaper Association Columnist of the Year honoree. He also writes the intodementia.com blog about his family’s experience with dementia. He lives in West Chester, PA and can be reached at [email protected].