Not a Joke, U.S. Govt Takes the Official Position There Is No Food Inflation

Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse

The same people who told us to appreciate saving $0.16 on our July 4th BBQs last summer are now taking the official position there is no massive food inflation.  [DATA HERE]

Those skyrocketing prices you think you see at the grocery store are not real.  Those announcements of forecasted price increases by the food producers, well, those are not real either.  So sayeth the United States Dept of Agriculture (USDA).

In their update to the USDA pricing forecast and analysis dated January 25, 2022, the USDA claims: “2021 retail food price inflation continued at same pace as 2020 but varied among food categories.”  Oh, but it gets even more stupid:

“USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) researchers project that prices for food-at-home, or food purchased typically from grocery stores or other food stores, will increase between 1.5 and 2.5 percent in 2022, lower than the 3.5-percent increase that occurred in both 2020 and 2021. Forecasts for all food categories for 2022 are available in ERS’s monthly Food Price Outlook data product, updated January 25, 2022.” (link)

If there was ever an argument that every single institution in the U.S. government was corrupt, manipulative and ideologically bent, this claim by the USDA would be a case study in the supportive evidence.

Apparently, if you are to follow the outlook of the USDA – and reconcile their institutional hypocrisy, Joe Biden increased the rate of food stamp assistance by 25 percent for some unknown reason.  Because according to the Dept of Agriculture, “Retail food prices increased by a mere 3.5 percent in 2021, equal to the rate in 2020.”

3.5% ?

You just cannot make this up.

Beef has doubled in price.  Bacon has gone up by 30% in the last quarter.  Milk has gone up by 40% in the past two months. Fish, eggs and poultry are between 30 to 60% higher than a year ago.  Fresh fruits and vegetables still rising in price.  Food producers have announced price increases in products from 8% to 60% in the next few months.  Beverages and sports drinks are rising 20% beginning in March.  Kraft Foods announced processed meat (lunchmeat) price increases up to 30% in a few weeks.  However, according to the USDA, these are not the droids you are looking for.

We are living in a parallel universe, a true state of propaganda pushed by the institutions of government.

Count all the people with COVID as having died from COVID to maintain the fear.  Hide the ships further offshore, and the port backlog disappears.  Don’t count the imported goods, and our domestic economic activity is great.  Ignore the prices at the grocery store, and there is no food inflation…

It would be funny if the reality of our situation was not so serious.