We try to not so much be "preppers" but to have a good stock of things on hand. Grew up around some of the Mormon folk who keep a certain amount of food stored always, so it is a more normal thing for us.

Another story about shrinkflation:

Manufacturers, retailers resort to ‘shrinkflation’ amid production crisis
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... giene-pro/

We went for groceries this afternoon and at the IGA I had to just shake my head. In the meat section they had a styro tray with four large smoked ham hocks and another one with five smaller ones in it. $16.99! No by the pound price just a flat $16.99 for each tray. They can hold them forever as far as I'm concerned.

However their eggs were on sale. Dozen boxes of large were 2/$5. But when I got to the egg cooler there was a sign on the door announcing a price freeze on large eggs at $1.99 a dozen! I got four. Sure beats Walmart's current price of $2.86 dz .

I've got some smoked cured dried pigs feet stashed away.

I didn't check the split pigs feet but I will next time. I can smoke 'em myself for seasoning meat.

I can't remember seeing pigs feet for awhile.
Still can't wrap my mind around how expensive cows tongue is.
I wonder what kidney and heart sausage would be like.

We always build up a stash for the winter, it would be madness not to when living here in a rural community where road conditions are highly variable to say the least. But I also started buying extra things for the stash before the pandemic hit here. Not carts full of excess, just an extra bag of flour or can of oil or coffee each time I went to shop. I did not have to hurry out or scramble for essentials when other folks were panic buying, and I was happy for that advantage. There's not much I would stash in the summer though because my storage area tends to get hot in certain conditions. I will just use up any surplus that remained after two years of pandemic style shopping to always have a quarantine's worth of food on hand.

Nobody and I mean Nobody gets between me and my masa harina stash.

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Thu Jun 16, 2022 4:24 pm I didn't check the split pigs feet but I will next time. I can smoke 'em myself for seasoning meat.

Where do you get papers big enough to roll them and smoke ;em?!!

Our local hispanic market always seems to have them, love adding them in when making a broth or stock with all the collagen in them.

The Mexican market down the street has all manner of oddities in the meat department.

Danny wrote: ↑Fri Jun 17, 2022 12:03 pm

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Thu Jun 16, 2022 4:24 pm I didn't check the split pigs feet but I will next time. I can smoke 'em myself for seasoning meat.

Where do you get papers big enough to roll them and smoke ;em?!!

Got a roll of parchment paper in the kitchen.....

The IGA I was at had 'em but I didn't check the price.

I picked up a bag of UTZ potato chips and it had no price on the bag.
Normally printed above the exp date.
I always thought that was illegal immoral and fattening.

when I was a kid it was illegal to change the price of food on the shelf after it was already priced.
Back when they used a rubber stamp and blue ink.

Convenience stores are notorious for not pricing items.
You never know what the price is.
Many times a bag of chips will cost 5 times more in these stores.
I don't even bother buying their garage.
This all started when many of the stores stopped buying frome the bread and chips guys and so on.
One owner of some stores sends his employee to the grocery store to buy this stuff or they go to Sam's or Costco.
One liquor store sells stuff like Sam's choice sodas.
Walmart is right around the corner.

https://www.mass.gov/guides/a-massachus ... ing-rights

When I lived in Massachusetts there were price tags on every can of corn or whatever it was. Wonder how much extra labor and expense is involved to satisfy that statute? Every item had one of those old fashioned little tape tags like from the 1950s. You know how tedious and time consuming it is to label each and every item. Guess where any unnecessary extra labor and expense costs get passed to, you are correct, the consumer! Punishing companies with undue burdens like that only punishes the consumers. You think the grocery stores eat those costs, think again.

How do they handle sales? Have to go reprice everything?

A tag for the general section is good enough for me. I can take note or a photo with the phone of the price if I’m thinking they are out to cheat me.

So my husband said he wanted to buy the veggie trays for my son's birthday party so i wasn't "overdoing" it. he came home and asked if we could make them. $16 now and the trays are teeny.

Also, got the first shrinkflated graham cracker box. Our kid loves them and so we have bought them fairly regularly as a desert. 4 packages to a box, laid horizontally. The new ones are 3. Two up-ended on top of one horizontal.

Some stores don't have any price up at all.
The HEB yesterday had pickling cucumbers and some goof ball put the price sticker for mangoes on top of it.
I had the peel the sticker off to see the real price.

Did get 34 ounces of Valentina black label for 2.32.
I wouldn't by it if it wasn't my favorite hot sauce.
I won't buy stuff I don't like because it is cheap.
This sauce is a favorite in Mexico.
It's much more than vinegar and hot.
Creamy too.

I was amazed because it was a 13oz bag of chips like the normal size years ago, cheaper than the 8oz bags.
$3.99
I always use the scanners in some isles to avoid chest pains at the checkout.
Just went thru the fiasco of getting a new stop&shop card.
The phone number I used was from a 1996 card that refused to get a divorce.
I had to use my cell number and the website gave me a new card #,losing points from previous card.

To make you feel better, 8oz size is now called family size.
Very small family.

Some of the "new" russet potatoes (thin skins) appear to be coming into the supermarkets, here. The 10 pound bags are now 8 pounds, and with a small price increase.

I don't know anything about (new russet potatoes).
What the devil is that?