Re: A few points for Lat...

"Food is cheaper today, you say?"

About 1900, the percentage of the American work force that were farmers was about 30% - and not surprisingly, the ordinary family paid about 30% of its income towards the purchase of food. This was unprocessed food, and women were expected to spend much of their time preparing this food. Eating out was extremely rare.

Today, even poor families eat out and most of the food bought in grocery stores has already been partially prepared. Furthermore, people eat a much larger variety of food, and most of this variety is available year round - that is, without regard to season. This drives the price up.

If, on the other hand, a purchaser were to stick to only food that is locally in season - or food which was traditionally stored for use in winter - then one's food bills would drop precipitously, while one's time spent preparing the food would increase a great deal. A sack of potatoes can still be had for a low price.

On the other hand, the price of food has risen quite a bit in recent years, though not so much in the United States as compared to other places like Australia, where it has doubled in the past few years. Much of the increase in food prices can be attributed to government meddling in the marketplace.