sign up log in
Want to go ad-free? Find out how, here.

Soaring fruit and vegetable prices are a key contributor to an overall food price inflation figure that's come in much higher than economists expected

Personal Finance / news
Soaring fruit and vegetable prices are a key contributor to an overall food price inflation figure that's come in much higher than economists expected
food-pricesrf1
Source: 123rf.com. Copyright: tarikvision

Annual food price inflation has stayed at a 13-year-high for September of 8.3%. This is much higher than economists were expecting.

The figure is very significant coming ahead of the release of Consumers Price Index inflation figures next Tuesday. The expectation is that our annual inflation figure will have fallen from a 32-year high of 7.3% as of the June quarter to perhaps 6.5% - but these food price figures may cast some doubt on that.

On a seasonally adjusted-basis food prices have risen between 0.9% and 1.0% in each of the past five months.

National’s Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis was quick to respond, saying that rising food prices were "continuing to slam Kiwi budgets".

"It’s impossible to get ahead under Labour. Food is up, rent is up, and petrol is up. With wage growth lagging inflation so significantly, it’s no surprise that Kiwis are getting pummelled."

The Green Party said the Government needed to "urgently" increase support for people struggling to put food on the table.

"The Green Party will keep saying it: the Government needs to immediately increase support so people can afford nutritious food for them and their families," Ricardo Menéndez March, spokesperson for commerce and consumer affairs, said.

Statistics New Zealand said in September 2022, the annual increase was due to rises across all the broad food categories measured.

Compared with September 2021:

  • grocery food prices increased by 7.7%
  • fruit and vegetable prices increased by 16%
  • restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased by 6.9%
  • meat, poultry, and fish prices increased by 6.7%
  • non-alcoholic beverage prices increased by 4.8%.

Grocery food was the largest contributor to this movement.

"Increasing prices for yoghurt, two-minute noodles, and tomato-based pasta sauce were the largest drivers within grocery food," Stats NZ's consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said.

The second-largest contributor to the annual movement was fruit and vegetables. The items within this group that influenced this movement the most were capsicums, tomatoes, and broccoli.

In terms of the monthly food prices they were 0.4% higher in September 2022 compared with August 2022.

However, crucially, after adjusting for seasonal effects, they were up 0.9%.

Fruit and vegetable prices are expected to fall at this time of the year due to better seasonal availability.

And they did fall in price - but just by 0.1%.

After seasonal adjustment, however, the fruit and vegetable prices actually rose a whopping 3.9%.

"This seasonal movement for fruit and vegetables indicates that based off previous patterns a larger fall in fruit and vegetables for the September month is more typical," Dewbery said.

"This helps explain why the overall seasonally adjusted movement is higher than the unadjusted increase."

Non-alcoholic beverages had the largest impact on the 0.4% monthly rise. This was led by increases in the cost of large bottled soft drinks (up 3.4%), instant coffee (up 5.2%), and poured soft drinks for example, at cinemas or fast-food outlets (up 2.2%).

The second largest contributor to the overall monthly movement was restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food, which rose by 0.6%. This was driven by rises in the price for hamburgers (1.7%) and takeaway pizzas (2.0%).

We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.

Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.

117 Comments

“Increasing prices for yoghurt, two-minute noodles, and tomato-based pasta sauce were the largest drivers within grocery food,” consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said.

You can almost hear the collective gasps of horror from uni students all over the country.

Up
6

Uni students and FHBs who have recently refixed their mortgages

Up
12

Fruit and veg growers as well as livestock farmers have been getting hammered the last 5 years. Climate change rules and covid. Ridiculous covid rules meant there was no staff for the harvests. 

It doesn't help 

Yesterday immigration minister wood threw opened the doors reverting to past visa policies. Next year will be even more liberal

Up
13

 

The large price increase for a visa hasn't helped

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/media/changes-to-fee-and-levy…

Up
3

They should have replied to the applications from locals.

Up
0

Everyone been talking about the climate tax impact on sheep farms lately 

He waka eke noa also hits orchardists and veg growers... so I've been told

Damn dumb govt. 

 

Up
20

Yes it will 

Up
0

Anecdata I know, but <insert Australian chain here> seems to have had another round of recent price rises in the last two weeks and a fraction of the number of items they usually have on special, with the remainder now up at a higher price.

This will also not be captured in the current data set, so we've got that on top of whatever comes down the line in the next two and a bit months. 

 

Up
3

Fillet Steak $65 per kilo at Countdown this morning. Seems like just yesterday it was an outrageous $35. The trouble is, it virtually was yesterday.

Up
13

Also seeing snapper knocking on the door of $50 per kg, with little availability in a lot of stores of other fresh seafood options.

Yes, I could buy cheaper frozen crumbed options, but I could also just drink a whole bottle of cooking oil too. Neither would be that good for me. 

Up
5

Does anyone need to buy fish these days?  Didn't all the townies buy a flash new boat over the past couple of years!     

Up
2

Hey - some of us bought fishing kayaks instead 👌

Up
7

Nice,  I used to do heaps of of fishing from my trusty Viking kayak.   At $50kg, a kayak would pay for itself in no time.  And that's before you put a price on the mental well-being and happiness derived from spending time out on the water 

Up
4

All signs are pointing towards procuring your own animal protein, if that's your flavour.

3 nice calves turned up a couple weeks back, $4 a kilo by the time they're all grown up and processed.

Up
3

$4kg, guessing you must butcher it yourself.  We raise a few sheep each year and try and get out and fill the freezer with venison a couple of times a year.  Usually get a local butcher to tidy them up for us which probably costs about $4-$5 a kg depending on what we are after.

Up
0

Our butchers $3 a kilo and I'd allowed another $1 a kilo for incidentals.

Sheep might be more as there's less meat per animal.

Up
1

...there's  no need for the vast expense of a boat or a sea kayak if you enjoy a saline experience  & good quality protein  ... just head down to PakNSlave and buy a bag of salted roasted peanuts : Yum !

Up
1

Those lower down the chain buy one of those battery powered submarine thingies with multiple hooks. According to the ads you can feed your whole family for days, weeks or months depending on family size.

Up
0

Yep and when I use my boat the snapper costs about $200 a kg..

Up
6

FYI grassfed sirloin is $35/kg at costco, in 1.5kg+ packs if you have freezer space for them.

Up
2

Whole beef sirloin is $22.99/kg at NW according to this week's flyer ... that is for the whole chunk, slice it up yourself at home.  Smaller packets, presliced are at $26.99/kg.

Up
2

Find a local farm that sells 1/4 beasts. We pay $12.99/kg (inc GST) for every cut..for now.

Up
3

Noticed that also. It wasn't so long ago that I noticed 10 or so cents added items.

I went last night and noticed the prices had gone up again within the last week.

Up
2

Time to remove GST from fruits and veges?

Up
7

Time to remove fruits and veges from the CPI. Problem solved.

Up
26

Soon you will be paying GST on top of carbon taxes

Up
14

If I burn my food, aren't I creating and sequestering my own carbon, and therefore should not pay a tax, or get credit even?

Up
3

... if that theory held any water the mother-in-law would've saved the planet years ago  ....

Up
0

True - that’s a super efficient  way to up tax without upping tax -  much like the tax on inflated wages huh - 

Up
1

I guess to some degree that should happen as the typical basket of goods will change rapidly at current prices. Soon it will just contain yoghurt, two-minute noodles, and tomato-based pasta sauce - oh wait they are going up too.

Up
1

Perhaps not the best solution here. Some of that lost tax revenue will end up as margins for the supermarket duopoly, who might choose to pass on only a proportion of those savings to customers.

Up
4

Nope.  Increased compliance burden will just replace any reduction in price. 

You don't just not charge the gst, one needs to adjust the inputs accordingly (eg the gst on the diesel the delivery truck used when carting gst and gst exempt products, electricity, rates and so on).

And that's after we argue about what is a fruit or a vege (eg yoghurt with fruit in it?)

Up
9

And yet our nearby cousins have implemented this successfully for how many decades? 

Up
4

Wrong. They very much envy over how our gst system works compared to theirs. Expensive, time consuming and tax inefficient with no benefit delivered to consumers.

They had several attempts to introduce gst in AUs, failed several time and only finally got it through by conceding the exemptions.

So unless you want even more IRD employees, more compliance for business and less efficiencies all round, then think again.

Those proposing these exemptions tend to be financially/tax illiterate lefties.

 

 

Up
10

But you know who it is dead easy for in Australia?  Small grocers and butchers who sell only fresh meat and produce.  That's why there are so many of them.  Wouldnt it be nice to have that competition in NZ to keep the supermarkets honest?

Up
3

Make it whole, unpackaged fruit and vegetables at point of sale. Then only the apples and cabbages get caught, not the strawberries in yoghurt, not the plastic wrapped celery halves, not the pre-bagged carrots. All the rest have been processed and packaged.

Up
1

So at that point bagged lettuce is caught but regular lettuce is not. You're trying to promote better food choices, not packaging. 

There's a reason the Australian GST on Food guidance is dozens of pages long. This isn't as simply is 'just doing X' or 'just doing Y'.

The only simple option is the one we've got, and that's why they wanted to copy it. 

Up
1

Admin nightmare

Up
6

Wotcha think of this Mr B : raise GST to 20 % ...

... slash PAYE tax , 0 % up to $ 26 000 p.a. earnings ... 10 % tax $ 26001 up to $ 52000 ...

Cool , huh ? ...

Up
5

Yup! Get it in before tourist numbers return. 

Up
1

If I remember my luvvy logic here, wealthier households spend a higher % of their shops on fresh fruit and vege so will benefit more if we cut GSt.

If anything we should be jacking up the GST on fruit and vege and using it to fund bariatric surgery. 

Up
7

Thats gotta be one of the daftest ideas yet.

Make good food more expensive, to push people into eating McJunk, then use the extra tax to pay for the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.  

Up
7

You do realize your on interest.co.nz comments section? 

Up
5

Bernard Hickey had barbaric surgery ... seems to have worked for him ... $ 20 000 or so ... pre-inflation ... 

Up
1

Bariatric surgery gummy

Up
3

No that one sounds cooler, let's fund that instead. 

Up
4

... that would depend upon how good the surgeon was  ...

Up
1

I'm surprised at the resistance from many commenters, to my proposal of making healthy food cheaper for everyone.

Up
2

Why not jack up the price of unhealthy foods, or encourage the manufacturers of unhealthy foods to convert to healthier options? There's plenty of brands offering expensive healthy food while still supplying cheap processed foods. I thought economies of scale and competition were meant to bring prices down for the consumer? Instead the big corporations buy up their competition and fool the consumer with the illusion of choice. You only have to look at the 5 or 6 giant corporations that own the majority of FMCG brands. They're also the biggest polluters and enablers of environmental harm and exploitative practices.

How to get more money and time into the hands of the people so they can vote with their wallets, so they're not reliant on cheap, nutrient deficient food? How to support and encourage healthier behaviours for those that want to but may be struggling in various ways?

I've also seen it mentioned that due to our industrialised growing practices most of our fruit and veges are also nutrient deficient and no longer contain the beneficial vitamins and minerals needed for good health.

We need a new narrative around healthy wellbeing and quality of living, and we need to encourage, support, educate and empower each other. 

But yeah let's piss arse around with GST.

Up
1

Sugar Tax ! ... simple  ... a hefty 25 % levy on sucrose  ... it's an addictive substance ... unhealthy , totally unnecessary in the human diet : " Pure , white & deadly " ... 

Up
1

Haha and a palm oil tax, a plastic tax for balance!

Up
0

What's the harm? Apparently we can never index tax cuts for inflation because the people who pay more tax get more out of it, so I don't see the issue in extending the exact same logic to this daft idea of complicating our GST system. 

Up
3

I think I just heard Terry Baucher's head explode

Up
5

... cool !!! ... I hope someone uploads a video of that to facebook ...

Up
3

.

Up
0

I am not surprised at this after seeing continued regular price rises. Nov OCR of 0.75% over 50% chance I think.

Up
7

Greater chance than that, I'm going 1.0% again because the next review after November is not until Feb 23. 

Up
3

You can go 20% OCR but I don’t think OCR can reduce price of food . People still need to eat regarding the OCR. 

Up
1

Most people could eat significantly less! 

A 20% OCR may improve the NZD and decrease imported food prices - although I suspect it would actually tell the rest of the world we have a serious problem and the NZD would drop. 

Up
5

Ditto. I compared our household expenditure plus, power, petrol,  rates, insurance & services up to 31/8, to same 2021, and we are up about 15%. OK 2021 was a bit more restrained with covid still lurking, but nonetheless too big a jump by any stretch.

Up
3

To be fair to the vege growers its been a bloody cruel spring and my reading is that the usual seasonal price drop is 4 - 6 weeks later than previous  

Up
10

There is no fairness in this comments section. Bad news is lapped up no matter what. Good news is fake or a fluke. 

Up
3

Just like when people blamed Labour for Huntly burning more coal last year. When are people going to give the Weather Gods the credit they deserve? 

Up
2

I think the weather gods are as man made as the religious ones. 

Up
6

They'll have to raise at 1% increments until inflation is under 2% or not only house prices will double every 5 years.

Up
3

Could be time to revert to the classic Muldoon "Freeze" ...lets cut fuel and carbon emissions with carless days while were at it...lol Giving the younger generation a taste of Kiwi for a year might distract them from their cellphones for a while....lol

Up
2

Er...no thank you. Saw the impact of that, not pretty.

Up
5

Or, even better, just stop paying out the pension and let the retirees figure out how to make accommodation and food costs work on todays' levels of relative income.

Might be a bit less quick to crap all over young people once they stop getting prize money for being over a certain age. 

Up
3

Cut the BS mate, you will be over 65 one day. Second thoughts with your attitude you will probably not make it.

Up
7

I can't think of a better way of proving my point about the entitlement of older New Zealanders than implying that someone might beat me to death over it. 

I'll be lucky if there's anything left in the kitty when I get to 70 or whatever the retirement age ends up being after a life time of work paying for everyone else's. 

Up
11

Here is a hankie to cry into.

Up
0

Another stunning rebuttal. Hope you stretched before that one. 

Up
2

Good one Henry!

Up
2

Annual food price inflation of 8.3% is not a surprise when you look at actions of the government to increase minimum wage, shut the borders & change our immigration settings so that overseas pickers & agricultural workers  numbers are restricted.

The number of beneficiaries have increased substantially - there are plenty of jobs, so many of them don’t seem to want to work. The amount of cash in circulation had also increased significantly so maybe there are more cash jobs going around.

 

 

 

Up
7

Hard labour in remote parts of the country isn't exactly the deal of the century when it means expensive relocation, childcare and probable abatements of benefits and WFFTCs down the line.

Up
7

Political parties of all colours need to address the abatement rates for beneficiaries. In many cases the effective marginal tax rate is in excess of 80% for additional hours worked. It's hardly an incentive to work. 

Up
9

Massive number of over 65s on a benefit too and it keeps getting more expensive for NZers.

Up
2

Superannuants are not on a "benefit". 

Up
0

Do the Pacificers and others coming here on casual work for 3-6 months for the orchard and wine industry etc have to relocate their families? As soon as they return home do those countries put them back onto unemployment benefits straight away as there's no work for them at home? There's something seriously wrong with unemployment benefits here if overseas temporary workers can make the cut and it's generally viable for them to do so.

Up
0

Yes, however overseas migrant workers income in NZ is fart superior to their own countries relatively therefore they appreciate the work here and are more motivated to do it. Many jobs we snub our noses at they will gladly do and love the privilege of being able to do it. We have given out far too much money for nothing with removing the youth wage and increasing of benefits and minimum wage which has disincentivised people to return to work. However that aside, let's start focusing on the corporate profits that have increased so drastically in the last 2 years, there's your inflation fire-stoker right there

Up
0

I walked around my local mall, half of the shops had job vacancies posted in their windows.  People always say "oh its rural work, or there's no accommodation in town for workers" blah blah blah, but there is a ton of work going in the cities so what's the excuses for the tens of thousands of unemployed in urban areas still being unemployed?

Up
1

Probably abatements.

Up
0

Hmmmmm.. flow on effects

Over the years the U.S. and the EU have held up sanctions against the oil producers Iran, Venezuela and Russia. They also destroyed parts of Libya's oil industry. In total the sanctions have kept some 20% of global oil production either off the markets or made them more difficult to buy and sell. On top of this U.S. relations with major Middle East producers, especially Saudi Arabia, have cooled down. Link

Up
1

I was under the impression that sanctions against Russian oil is only since the 2022 Russo-Ukraine  war. Iran at least twenty years and Venezuela at least 10 years? Time for supply to have smoother out without too much of a price jump for extended periods. Russia too recent and its impact  higher all round than Iran and Venezuela as in total with all three a lot more has been knocked out. Don't know the numbers though,

Up
0

Add on the upcoming farmer levy and guess what...meat will continue to increase.

Inflation running out of control, and messrs Orr and Robertson have nothing left to combat.

Up
7

https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/130151127/reserve-bank-recommends-removi…

Yesterday read the above from RBNZ, what does it implies

1: RBNZ knew it comming - inflation

2 : May be RBNZ knows that are screwed and want to concentrate only on Inflation and our FM - Robertson is trying to pass on the housing headache to RBNZ. Mr Orr in trying to shoo away came out in open to avoid pressure tactics from Labour Party.

This is just the begining of blame game - passing the parcel.

 

 

 

Up
12

"Grocery food was the largest contributor to this movement." The supermarket duopoly do not need to exercise any restraint when it comes to raising prices. If they expect a 30% margin on item A then they take it. If item A's supplier needs to increase price from $1 to $1.20 per unit to recover their increased costs and they have enough pricing power to get the increase over the line with the duopoly.. Then the duopoly just take their 30% on top of $1.20. So the retail goes up  from $1.30 to $1.56. 

The supplier needs their 0.20c to stay in business. The duopoly just bank another 0.6c per unit in profit.

0.6c per unit seems like chicken feed. But that is how the million dollars a day in excess profit is made.

Up
2

Can we please have some real interest rate rises from RBNZ.. we should be at 6% OCR now. Well we shouldn't be there, this should never have happenned... but given that we have mismanaged our selves into this spot... we need to take the medicine... and get rif of those that caused it.

Up
13

Get used to it. Inflation doesn’t just go away for ‘reasons’. I went out for dinner last week, my birthday; hospo still absolutely jammed with customers. We are not even close to the deflationary tipping point. 

Up
15

... yes ... we're in for the long haul ... inflation will take longer  than predicted to tame ...

Mr Orr : OCR to 5 % now ! ... 

Up
5

Agree. Economy fundamentals will teach the reserve bank governors,  how not to mess but with giant size ego that most governors and experts have -  that they can never go wrong even if they see blood on the street.

To prove a point has any governor of reserve bank till date ever accepted that they goofed up and are sorry.

This is not hindsight as everyone on street knew what was happening  in 2020 and 2021.

Up
10

Shows people still have plenty of money to eat out. Alternatively that particular hospo has little or no competition in the area for people to choose from. It's my feeling that those who can afford to go out and eat are not poarticularly fussy about price irrespective of quality, otherwise there'd be more hospos going under. I was never particularly concerned about hosps going under during Covids. There'd always be someone to pop up and carry on afterwards.

Up
0

Increasing prices for yoghurt, two-minute noodles, and tomato-based pasta sauce were the largest drivers 
 

Starting from an extremely low base price, especially for 2 minute noodles and pasta sauce. 

Up
1

Must be seasonal

Up
1

Don't panic people.

I'm sure that overseas travel will start to get cheaper shortly and that our CPI basket balances out and inflation comes back rapidly.

Up
1

Just save all your eating for the koru club, or fill up on coffee and boiled sweets on the airplane ... food price inflation solved just like that. 

Up
3

Inflation is hurting everyone but people who are already struggling to purchase food and shelter will be at crisis point. People wondering why crime is on the rise if you work and still cannot feed family what else can you do. Unless government starts building housing with low cost rent for thousands we will see more social breakdown.

Up
5

If I can't feed my family, I'd probably be stealing food. Not chain store jewellery. 

But then again I've never been much of a blue sky thinker. 

Up
5

Most people have been the victim of some crime but now in some areas of Auckland crime is a every day occurrence car stolen, house burglary, at the moment violent crime are not common but as people become more desperate it will happen. We have huge social problems people living in cars, on streets food bank lines.

Up
1

Agree that ccrime rate goes up in difficult time but in NZ crime rate is also high as criminals have more rights and are aware of it.

Which country in the world does not allow its citizen to defende themeslves, their family and property. Think NZ will stand out.

As a matter of fact, NZ has more sympathy towards criminals than average hard working citizens otherwise till now, why has no one ever raised the issue of right to self defence in NZ.

Should be next election issue, time to start the debate.

 

Up
9

Benefits have gone up with inflation, wages have gone up with inflation, unemployment rate virtually non-existent, minimum wage up something like 30% since Labour were elected. 

Not saying there aren't people really struggling, but not convinced many are struggling more than they were a few years ago. 

Up
1

Rents.

Up
2

Moreover, having a bunch of anti-business, incompetent clowns at the Government, and a complete muppet at the helm of the RBNZ, did not help at all.

Up
1

Then there's shrinkflation.

I haven't checked yet, but I'm sure Big Macs and other McD's burgers are smaller than they were a decade ago. On a recent visit (we go twice a year or so when travelling) my kids were underwhelmed by the step up from cheeseburger to Quarter Pounder or Big Mac, and the so called double big mac was like a bacon double cheeseburger from Burger King without the bacon.

Never mind the latest Cadbury chocolate I saw in the shop - 150g, when they're usually 180g or so. Thank goodness for Whittakers' chocolate who have kept the 250g blocks

Up
1

Whitakers chocolate is generally at least 5% and closer to 10% more than Cadbury's on a per gm basis.  Whitakers saw fit to contribute to Nigella Lawson's retirement fund in order to sell their brand of up market chocolate  which I suspect doesn't have much different ingredients than their usual run of the mill types. Need to pay for the smart packaging as well on the upmarket brand. Price difference probably spilled over to the  ordinary type as well. I'd support Whitakers  on a 10% price difference but my taste buds have got used to the 70% cocoa Cadburys

Up
1

Veges going up more than meat.

So 'Beyond Meat' now also means beyond being able to afford it.

Up
1

Here's a novel idea. Lets concrete over our best food growing areas, to house the immigration stampede. The deafening hand wringing is painful to listen to. 

Up
5

Ya all should start large gardens and orchard. I have 3 raised boxes and crop of spuds, corn, tomatoes and beans out back. Have small orchard in it's second spring now.. so next year should start harvesting plums, peaches, apples, oranges, (avocados in 2 more years) etc.

Up
0

That was the point of the Savage Labour government reforms of the 40's. Not so easy for many now that can't afford their own backyard. You've also got to look at the environment/conditions different generations have been raised in. It may be the solution but may also require more supportive conditions to implement again.

Up
1

Bit hard in a 70 squares apartment on the 7th floor.  But so close to PT, a Green Dream.

As the beer ad notes, 'Probably'...

Up
1

You have to wonder why populations have voted to live in boxes that are totally reliant on external suppliers for all the basic necessities of human existence.

Everyone hopes to go off to work for the day and how they fill that day will generate them enough to return to the box and ship in everything they need/want.

Sounds kinda nutty if you think too much about it.

Up
2

Great opportunity for savvy investors though

Up
0

I urge people to investigate the necessity of eating so much fruit and vegetables. Modern fruits have been developed to have such high sugar content that they are practically sweets. They have often been cool stored for so long that they have lost a lot of the meagre good qualities that they did have and just retain the fructose and fibre. Fruit juices are a major contributing factor for fatty liver disease.

Vegetables are almost devoid of nutrition being mostly water and indigestible compounds and natural toxins. It's something only to be eaten in quantity in desperation. Even small children are aware of this fact. Small children wither and die if they only eat vegetables. You don't need to buy fruit and vegetables out of season at exorbitant prices. It's madness.

The Bible always extolled the eating of meat and indeed it was the only legitimate food to offer as a sacrifice. Remarkably even the ancient Brahmins of India feasted on beef and recommended eating beef for health reasons until they eventually changed the recommendations for the common people due to exploding population levels in the subcontinent.

I purchased a 3.5kg lump of rump steak from Countdown for only $52 this week. Pretty good value at $14.90 a kilo. Eggs and chicken are pretty cheap too although I would recommend getting the highest quality products if you can afford them.

 

Up
0

For the sake of the rest of us, try and stay down that rabbit hole. Don't worry the rabbits will have already eaten all the lettice and carrots that's trying to kill you so you will be safe.

Up
2

Well it's hard to not be enthusiastic about this when one personally experiences how life changing it is. That said everyone should do their own research.

The high cost of fruit and vegetables shouldn't slam people's budgets if those products are out of season. Capsicums, tomatoes and broccoli are not essential to human health and there are many alternatives. Purchase products that are in season.

As for meat, as I have pointed out before, this is a major part of NZ's primary industry. If the demonization of red meat turns out to have no basis in fact then this will be very good news for our exports.

 

Up
0

.

Up
0

Inflation compounds, right? So the graph of annual change going back 14 years showing that almost every year we had a >0% food price index hides the fact that a 7% increase in 2022 is a much larger absolute number than even a 10% increase in 2008. Surely compounding inflation = runaway inflation after a sufficient length of time? If my time horizon for saving for my retirement is about 35 years... my efforts are looking pointless.

Up
0