@@EVIL-C Ya, you are probably going to have to get a loan or some investors. You will have to take risks to make it happen. “There can be no great accomplishment without risk” -Neil Armstrong
As a small farmer in east-central Nebraska, there's so much I could write on this, but I'll keep it to a few points. By small, we have 160 acres--for someone from a city, that sounds like a lot but in the farming community where families these days typically own between 2,000-50,000 acres, we are a blip on the screen. The only reason I can be here is because I am inheriting the land from my parents. The cost of land in my area, which is not even the best in our region, is inflated by both in-state and out-of-state people that bid the land into something unreachable. Another 160-acre quarter-section just a mile from me recently went for over $14,000/acre or over $2 million. I can't buy that. I can't finance that. I can't even sniff that. And I have a farm right here. Do you think someone who would like to just get into the farming community could afford that? Absolutely not. And the equipment to farm it? Nope. So if a small farmer cannot get any bigger, and if someone trying to get into farming cannot afford it, what happens? The big get bigger, or someone out-of-state buys it and rents to the highest bidder--again, someone who already farms more than they could ever possibly need to make a living. This not only pushes kids away when they get out of high school, but it keeps new blood from coming in. It also means that since they paid so much for the land, they are 'forced' to plant cash crops capable of bringing the most bang for their buck with minimal effort or input--namely corn and soybeans (or whatever other regional crops in other areas). It's always been said that if the gov't subsidized fruits and vegetables the same way they did corn and soybeans, farmers would be growing that instead.... yes and no. There's something to be said for being able to plant with a 24-row planter in a few hours and then move to the next field and so on, especially if you have 10,000 acres to get in. And that goes for animal agriculture as well. Around here, our 'esteemed' Governor has hog confinements all over the place. Back even just 30 years ago, a small farmer could raise a few hundred head a year and make some extra money to go along with the crops. But the more and more Pillen, and people like him, have industrialized that, they make contracts with the meat packers and the price plummets. Why does WalMart have low prices? So they can sell a billion of some cheap piece of junk and make a few pennies per item; but the sheer amount nets them a big profit. Same with hog confinements (or chickens, turkeys, etc). For us, it wasn't worth the hassle or time involved for a slim profit--much less if something happened, then you are in the hole. There are exceptions to the rule of course, but they aren't always locally available to some folks. I could go on and on and on, but it looks like I've already wrote more than anyone will probably read, so I'll stop there. Thank for all that you do, folks
Thanks for educating. I this we need to scale down to small am out of acres, 1-3. And learn to share and work together. This goes at the end of the rainbow is happiness, not money.
I only buy meat in Omaha from my Farmers who have sustainable farms with pasture raised animals that don’t feed GMO corn. Only 10% of farms in Nebraska and the nation are sustainable and they have to compete with corporations. While we like cheap meat for the cost, if folk’s actually knew how animals are farmed they probably wouldn’t eat it. Eat local, get off the corporate food chain, especially in Nebraska where our Governors like to starve people
Years ago, when I was growing up, companies would triple their prices on sugar, coffee, flour, butter, peanut butter, and cheese. The consumers boycotted the products. Yes, nobody purchased the products. It sat on the shelf. I can remember my mom not being able to bake, dad not having sugar for his tea, and no PB sandwiches.After months of boycotting, prices came down. We need to stick together.
We shop at a family grocery chain, buy our coffee from a local coffee roaster, buy locally grown meat and veggies in season. We can afford to do this and live where this local business support is possible, a truly privileged situation. My mother lived in a rural town where the local “grocery” was the dollar store, supplemented by three convenience stores. How is this possible? I think you present the answer: the drive for corporate profits deprives so many people in this country, contribute to food deserts and is responsible for poor nutrition and hunger. It’s appalling!
Guess what I would love to do this but I simply cannot afford to do so! Don't want to spend that much $ anyhow because it does not benefit those who help me either. It's just the way things are right now. God bless.
What each person can do depends on what is available to them, but for those who can afford it, grass fed or pastured meats can be shipped to them. For others, perhaps community gardens could help. I live in a city and there are many churches that host farmers markets as well as a few that have gardens to provide free food to those in need. We can shun the overly processed food as much as possible. I don’t think people have to be perfect about doing this, because any percentage of the grocery budget that is directed away from the powerful corporations helps. Also we can use our vote. At the moment, Democrats are the ones headed in the right direction and we need to reward them. The Republican Party is the one headed into authoritarianism and full on push for corporate takeover, so we need to make them lose seats until they are forced to turn around.
I have tat beat. I get coffee from local growers and roasters. I get eggs and milk from 2 next door neighbors. I avoid all US products as they are unhealthy and 6 times the price of similar from Mexico and Colombia. And go to the local farmers market every Friday.
I originally made this comment while working at a bar. To fellows came in one afternoon right after the fall of the former Soviet Union. One made the comment “well we won the Cold War.” I said “You don’t understand. That was the first battle. The second will be in this country. Greed will destroy this country.”
Some people JUST NEED TO GO! Yes infighting isn't ideal, but some are just damn selfish! And there is never going to be total agreement! Have to get true people who REALLY care about ALL instead of themselves! Why we have a democracy...checks and balances!
"I want to see people living life, not just fighting to survive" THIS! Thank you for your truth & wisdom fast food worker by job, change- warrior by soul! Can't wait to view & share this documentary!!
@alainamoon I hear you! We have got to get really loud!! I have a master's degree & am on SSDI, food stamps, and poverty level due to health issues, long haul things from mono & Lyme disease. Caregiving for my folks & my Mom isn't getting enough homecare & she is a 100% service-connected totally and permanently disabled Veteran. They want her to go into a nursing home where they'd pay for 15K a month & she'd still get her check to pay on the mortgage but they won't pay for her to have more care at home and expect me to be there 130 hours a week! My Dad is declining rapidly and no one is helping him concerning doctors listening that he has a handful of things going on not just one thing. My Mom is healthier at home, I have her on a whole food diet & some slightly processed pasta & her Hagen Daz coffee ice cream. But even with some carbs (only water and coconut milk for fluids) she isn't on any diabetes meds and she lost over 80 lbs. In the nursing home, she was over 200 lbs and on sliding scale insulin with an HA1C of 8 and now she's below pre-diabetic numbers just by my shifting her food. She's 81 this May so in 2 years I totally changed her health! Food IS medicine OR Poison~
I am 70 year's old and I don't remember being this frighten about the costs of living. If these price gouging big corporations and companies are not stopped I will be homeless in two year's. I can't believe our politicians are letting this happen without investigating the record-breaking profits and prices gauging. It must be because they all make a high wage and get free health care for life.
They won't change becuase they bet on us not living long. However life expectancy rose with quality of life. It's same thing that was told to me about social security while I was in highschool. I suppose now they will let nature take its course with us as quality of life degrades for most of us.
Do not be afraid. We will vote blue, and things will improve. Until then, please seek food assistance in your community. The United Way, Local food pantries. Apply for state benefits too. We will get through this.
I got tired of doing nothing: I gave up meat, dairy, and eggs, took out half the backyard to grow fruit & vegetables, and started cooking. I am now healthier at 70 than I was at 50. 💚
We do the same at our house. Our front yard is all garden boxes, we compost, have rain barrels to collect all rain..... It makes a huge difference and it's satisfying to grow your own food!
My friend who was a farmer told me that as equipment costs grew and grew, over the decades and years, and tractors, planters, sprayer, harvesters, etc., etc., became more computerized, those equipment companies refused to allow farmers to do their own maintenance of their equipment or fix their own equipment. The equipment makers forced the farmers to go through them for maintenance ad repairs, with their reason being, they had to protect the proprietary electronic and computerized secrets of their manufacturing process. This is gouging the farmers with the high cost of repairs and maintenance due to having to go through the manufacturer for that.
Well, they constantly tell farmers to produce more, more, more...driving commodity prices into the ground, and the farmers foolishly listen to them....buying all the super-expensive, chemicalized, 'high-yield' seeds that Monsanto, etc...have a monopoly on.
Colorado passed Right to Repair last year! First in the country. Every republicKON was against it! Every one!. Now, companies like John Deer are appealing!!! Will Rural America understand what party supports them??? NO! They will still vote against their best interests as long as their politicians HATE and BLAME the same people they do.
Yep, once upon a time a $3000 tractor was sufficient. Now they pay over $600,000. The smaller farmers of less than 160 acres are now a thing of the past in the US.
I've been running a small business for about 20 years. When I started it was because of the lack of quality I witnessed in corporate produced products. I've been doing very well and expanding my business one small step at a time, keeping a minimum 35 percent profit margin but never going over 50 percent. My philosophy is that I wanted to build better products at a fair price that benefited both the consumer and my business. When COVID happened and wood prices skyrocketed, I had to raise my prices a little and lower my profit margin to keep myself and everyone happy. I managed to keep my business going to this day just being fair to people and myself. Greed can only last if the consumer lets it continue. I have kept one guiding rule for my business besides not price gouging, I never sell my products to corporations, franchises and Mom and Pop type stores are my customers and I help them fight back against the corporate greed by only selling to them.
A handful of corrupt officials shouldn’t own and control the means of production, distribution and exchange. Workers make America run, workers should run America.💙🌎Ⓐ
Right those few that have control of nearly every industry, called monopolies, are controlling the means -the ways-the jobs/workers- the prices we pay. End monopolies and their gouging now.
Michael Pollan talked about oligopolies, The Sherman Antitrust Act, and Teddy Roosevelt in ways I haven't heard in the media for a long time. And he gives Biden due credit. Great guest. Voters should listen to him.
Biden due credit? He hasn't done a damn thing to help us. Especially when it comes to inflation prices or rent prices or utility prices or college debt or literally anything! he is literally doing nothing and saying vote for me, im better than the other guy! Who aint, considering what he is doing to Gaza, they are both equally bad.
Have you watched the documentary called the giled age have you study the antitrust laws the federal trade commission and the election laws, Lewis powell an the memo, union wars of Blair mountain union wars of hometown steel , look what jp morgan did to the farmers turn of the century on rail road prices , also Trump unfit , and love canal , for everyone that thinks we should get rid of all the regulations ❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊 so glad to hear other people talk about this
The cost of housing is what’s really out of control. I know young couples, some with kids, who both work full-time, and spend over 50% of their income on tiny one- or two-bedroom apartments. Add in the cost of transportation to and from work (our area does not have great public transport), and it’s no wonder the price of groceries looms large.
You'll never guess who repealed the regulations set in place in response to the 2008 housing market/economic collapse caused by criminal bankers, CEO's, corporations and wall street crooks.. Within a couple years all those crooks started buying up housing at massively inflated prices to drive actual families out of the market. I'll give you a hint he's very orange and a narcissist, him and his party is ground zerk for where all the massive issues that crop up in this country that harm the middle and lower classes time and again..
The consumer has much more power if we listen to our brain and not our bellies. Yes, we have to eat, but no, we don't have to buy certain products to get the nutrition we need.
I've lived in northwest Montana for most of my life too, and Jon Tester is the only one who makes sense. He's a family farmer who goes home to work his farm every weekend. He fights to protect public lands and women's rights, supports the strong bipartisan border bill that Trump quashed, and he knows what we're up against with food prices.
I am, at the moment, I Budapest, Hungary. every day or so, I walk to a local public market or to one of a group as small chain stores (Spa, Penny, Conrad) Most of the produce, proteins, pickles come from within 200 miles Away. Even most processed foods (tomato sauce comes in a hyper pasteurized cardboard box as does most milk), originates within miles from NYC. I cannot buy food of this quality in the states (I live in Newark, NJ just 30km from NYC). I can go to a market that is more tourist driven and pay higher prices but I don't have to. Top to bottom, Amazon, Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midlands, need to be highly regulated or disassembled. Don't believe that prices will rise because of loss of efficiencies. These companies are all posting record PROFITS while actively gouging prices and reducing pay to employees and degrading produce quality
Six parent companies produce the majority of packaged goods in supermarkets. Since 2020, the operating principle seems to be to repeatedly half costs, double prices. We pay more for less. Huge shareholders are pleased, tiny shareholders get screwed by increasing living expenses.
Wow. THREE? That's two too MANY according to Wall St. The legal term for what they do is - "Cancer." And their OWN law, which supersedes the Constitution, the BOR, the Bible, the Koran and the Golden Rule mandates Profit and infinite growth at ANY cost. i.e., Cancer.
When I searched: do 3 mega corporations own everything the response came out that they don't own everything, but they do control much of the global economy (which is concerning to me.)
I got this! GREED! Save yourself a half hour! Prices are up because of corporate GREED!! Period! They gouged us during the pandemic and lied about dwindling supplies, and they’ve just kept it going!!
The Fed also printed trillions of dollars between 2020 and 2022. Increased money supply = your dollar is worth less. Can't pretend that isn't the main driver of inflation!
I found it interesting when the $20/hr fast food worker bill hit the news every franchise owner that was interviewed on national media owned between 10 and 25 franchise locations. It's pretty hard to believe that these owners are just getting by when they keep buying more franchises.
They aren't just getting by.. Profit margins are insanely high and profits are through the roof corporations have managed to have their cake and eat it too, for far too long in this country, all at the expense of the average American and the families theu support. From WW2-1982 wages kept pace with inflation and cost of living increases. The average American could get a regular job and within a few years could buy a home and start a family. That's middle class wealth, conservatives and their corporate butt buddies jave slowly chipped away at that wealth creation From the Reagan Administration onward. I know I'm fed up with the trickle down false promises of prosperity for all if only the wealthy get more goodies, handouts, bailouts and tax breaks. It's absolute b.s. and is slowly killing the prosperity of the country itself. Their whole scheme has been nothing more than a redistribution of wealth from the bottom 60% to the top 1% and too much Concentration of wealth to the top will ultimately cause stagnation.
Robert Reich, what you have to say is so important! I am a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher, and I like to stay well informed. However, I just started having questions about anti-trust and how it works several months ago. I guarantee you, the American people do not know about the monopolies And what Trump did to help them. The Democrats have got to get better at messaging. Robert, get Biden to let you make your drawings and videos to get these messages across to the American people. It is so important! That would help Biden win.
Unfortunately, capitalisms competition leads to monopolies, every time. Winner takes all : one winner at the end. Solution: collaboration, democracy in OUR economy, we, not the unelected minority elite decide together (elite get one vote per just as we do)
During Covid my wife worked at Safeway, owned by Albertsons. She was upset because during Covid the back room warehouse was packed with store product and the store wiped out. When she asked management she was told not to stock product on shelves.
Unfortunately, local produce & meat often cost a lot more, making it difficult for people on tight budgets. Make it illegal for corporations to make “donations” to politicians & political campaigns! No more payoffs from lobbyists!
Ranked choice voting: public financed elections: ban stock investing and if needed to talk legislators into this, offer to pay them millions as a temporary pay boost. Because they are voting against their own incentives and we should be open to that before they get donations to get us into lengthier and longer wars
Gov. Walz passed the "broadest Right-to-Repair legislation in the nation." HOWEVER, due to lobbying from Big Ag, the legislature removed farm equipment from the final bill. In other words--yes, I agree!!
This kind of collective action is incredibly effective, but incredibly difficult to organize. A lot of people don't know to or in some cases even just can't "find a local co-op", get there, and buy direct.
Has always been, 'A sewer of toxic greed.'. The darkness of MAGA forced a deeper look at US. Yes, the greed has grown beyond even the Robber Barons, and Cotton Kings. But, it's always been here. I, like most people who love their nation...Just kind of looked away. Or, just didn't know.
Here in Linn County, our church joined the Feed Iowa First urban farming program. Almost half the lawn is now a garden providing tomatoes, celery, corn, amaranth, and other produce for local food pantries. More city parks are getting community gardens, too. Find out what local programs are available, and support them as possible.
I was in NY a couple of days ago and many street vendors were selling 1pound plastic crates of strawberries, just like the ones in the grocery store, they were 2/$3.00. One guy sold them for $1.00. I looked at them closely and they were fresher than what I find in Aldi. Wonderful for the people in this particular neighborhood to get cheap fresh fruits and vegetables but it was very puzzling.
71 years old and walking around the grocery store with my brain like I did in my California college. 10 items = $5, give or take a dollar. Before the pandemic in NYC (2019), it was about $3.50 an item and add $10, or about $45, with coupons and sales. Now those 10 items are more than $5 each and add $15 (or $20 to be safe), or about $75! That’s a HUGE price increase, especially since there are no supply chain issues anymore. No competition is a license for price gouging, especially when you (Big Business) can buy a Congressperson for pocket change.
I'm 76 and pine for the $.29.9 gal. of gas, the $2500 new Mustang, etc. It's not inflation, it's decline in the value of our dollars. Nothing backs the dollar so it's just a printing process that creates more dollars. The more of something that is out there, the less the single unit is worth. Why have a Federal reserve when it's a private entity? THERE is our royal family.
Corn is one of the the most highly sprayed crops with pesticides, unless organicly grown , and modern corn has zilch nutritional value. We need to grow healthy foods and encourage personal and community gardening .
Places have already seen how produce “going green” can impact price. CA passed a law that only allowed free-range pigs. Boars Head manufacturers left the state, pig farmers are struggling and now the price of pork has increased.
That's happening in a lot of places but the problem is still here because the vast majority of Americans don't have access to those smaller markets. If you live within those usually small communities and they are either close to home or you have a vehicle, then your golden. Millions don't have even that luxury. And then there's the winter months. If you don't know how to can or dehydrate those garden foods, you're back to capitalist markets.
@@Nemesisnxt Technology sure but as far as pesticides, what does it matter if the food grown has little to no nutritional value or causes major diseases down the road.
Help us seniors as eggs were 2.09 last week and 4.00 this week. I worked my whole life and receive very little social security. Cant something be done? I know others are way worse off than I am , but they have raised my house taxes, home insurance, car insurance , utilities, gasoline and groceries. Credit cards raised interest rates to 29.9% on some cards. I know others are already drowning , but I’m getting close. Profits are at record highs for the rich while killing us little guys. Please help. Lifelong Democrat and from a multi generational democrat family. My votes don’t translate to what I would like. 70 year old now single woman who also was damaged by health issues requiring using my 401k. No one is doing anything to help. Emergency social security increase is needed now. Oh my. Stop sending money and helping over seas wars.
I am in the same boat. My ssa income goes totally for medical. That kea es my husbands ssa to pay for everything else. I teach grocery shopping to help others. Being frugal is not a game. It’s real for your survival.
Fantastic interview.....thank you Robert. Truth matters. Have had the good fortune to avoid the contaminated food chain basically. A little space grows alot of food. My heart goes out to the many people with no choice, no inkling that their food is such poor quality. It is a very sad state of affairs. It is my hope that big business is forced to rethink their greed and help people instead of monopolizing the food chain at the expense of poisoning the people. It will be a very difficult to change the greedy mindset, but we as a people must try. Poor health is a direct result for so many.👍💗
Our local Kroger used to be my favorite store. But shortly after the ppp loan program they had a team go in and radically rearrange the store. They put in new upgraded fixtures and made the shelves two feet taller. Then they hiked the prices so much that I seldom shop there anymore. So the government gave them money so they could hike the prices. Basically if they continue on this path and merge with other markets so that the grocery conglomerates can continue to gouge, without any oversight or controls in place it is getting more out of control. The corporations need to have some rules. No multimillions for ceo. No stock buybacks for start. This is how government creates its own pork. A serious lack of oversight and controls creates a conscience less rich class who only care about themselves and nobody else.
20:03 1.Watch carbon cowboys, films by Pete Blyck 2. Farmers using AMP Grazing is absolutely NOT a CAFO, so don’t allow states to call small farms who use AMP grazing a CAFO, causing small farmers to be unable to compete against large food. Small farmers using AMP grazing have brought back quail, broken the parasite lifecycle, and virtually eliminated their use of chemical fertilizers.
In 1988 I turned 18 and went grocery shopping for the first time as an adult. Remembering home ec class I went with coupons available almost everywhere in almost every city or town. I filled a shopping cart over the top for $14. $14 and coupons paid for a shopping piled high and heavy with food in 1988! Times have definitely changed.
I grow organic plants and sell them while teaching people how to grow their own food and take back their health and bring the Earth back with them. I am watching the food industry poison and brainwash trusting people who haven’t learned what real food is all about. Thank you all for getting this in front of so many. Keep up the great work!
Thankyou for your thoughtful comment. Think this post is maybe what you refer. Natural Hygiene was taught by Natives to USA medical people & those teachings remained the law of the land up until the late 1800's when big pharma began to take over making Natural Hygiene unjustly obsolete until early 1900's when Herbert M. Shelton re-founded the orthopaedic practice at his health sanatoriums & by the 1950's he ran for potus, but big oil land grabs & big pharma swindles had a monopoly by then, also it was further corrupted by the liquor industry that had spiraled out of control as a drug of choice ever since the 1930's. So it is way past time to make Natural Hygiene a part of our daily lives again, as the once sober apple cart was upset too many times over the years by oppressive governmental inebriated addicts who have been increasingly abusing a once sound medical practice here in America for far too long. Here is my take on needed improvements for those who have yet them or even considered changing these corrupt current laws yet. Back around the 70's reagan began shutting down state hospitals to save taxes for the rich resulting in an ever increasing spiral of homeless street people & overcrowded prisons. Reagan was inebriated on his bubbly. That points to another mess up that occurred back in the 30's when they made alcohol their drug of choice as legal recreation & criminalized other intoxicants. Past time for a resolution to both these gross errors. 1- make all drugs & alcohol legal medically with supervision. 2-drug & alcohol test all law enforcement, politicians, educators & gun owners at their own expense, never as illegal recreation in use currently. Until those insane obsolete laws, rules & regulations are changed with appropriate resolutions the errors of the past will continue to escalate.
Yes, Capitalism is the worst, except for all the others. You do understand you live within the greatest economy ever created on earth, versus being a peasant farmer in China. Although, you probably are as Communist as Mao.
Corporations have a responsibly to make the most profit possible for the stockholders, Government has the responsibility to protect the public from the corporations. Thanks to Citizens United the government works for the corporations.
Incorrect, CAPITALISM has turned our... systems upside-down. This is a feature, not a bug. There is no such thing as good capitalism. You can't regulate your way out of a failed system.
America is currently plagued by the hydra-headed evil duo of inflation and recession. The worst part about this recession is that consumers are racking up credit card debt. In April alone, credit card debt went up 20% while rates have doubled in a year. Inflation is so high that consumers are literally taking debt for basic life necessities. Collapse has indeed begun..
We face a new challenge every day. The new normal is this. We now see that this is the new normal and must adjust, having formerly believed it to be a crisis. Everywhere in the country, this year will be extremely painful economically. What can we do to increase revenue while undergoing quantitative adjustment?My hard-earned $180,000 in savings must be allowed to disappear.
Sincerely it's best to seek an advisor right now, unless you're canny yourself. As a business owner in both the service industry and eBay reseller of all product categories, I can tell you we’re in a deep recession and everyone is running out of money.
Yeah, financial advisors could make a lot of difference, particularly in a market such as this. Stocks are pretty unstable at the moment, but if you do the right math, you should be just fine. Bloomberg and other finance media have been recording cases of folks gaining over 250k just in a matter of weeks/couple months, so I think there are a lot of wealth transfer in this downtime if you know where to look. I have been using an FA since 2019, and I return at least $121k ROI, and this does not include capital gain.
My CFA ’’Sharon Ann Meny , a renowned figure in her line of work. I recommend researching her credentials further. She has many years of experience and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to navigate the financial market..!
You should see Robert’s video I think it was about something about the coping mechanisms people use to cope with stock holder capitalism and how it became a thing and shifted from stake holder capitalsim
This evil country is killing us with the food and water sources, out of greed. I lived in Italy for three years where I had healthy, reasonably priced food, and free and outstanding health care. I regret that I ever returned to this, my birth country.
When Thomas’s English Muffins went to $5.26 I said, “Screw you. I can live without English muffins!” And there were NO other brands offered, so the only choice was $5.29. They can shove those English muffins!
Regenerative farming practices are improved with incorporating animals, and cattle are the best mulching system to take down old grass and mulch it with probiotics in as little as 12-24hrs and depositing it on the land. This is completely different from conventional practices because cows don't need barns, metal bale rings, but they do need fresh pasture daily.
Regenerative ag is simulating where our country was back in the 1800. Our soil has been eroded away with chemicals and tillage. Livestock is essential in the cycle. My question is why not provide a great life to an animal with one bad day. Why torture an animal to live a long painful life??s@traveler65
@@marylamb7707 Inflation is literally a measure of price increases. Those price increases all come directly from decision of those who set prices. Stats indicate that much of the increase in prices is more than what's needed to cover increased costs ... it is gouging.
Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, former Sec. of Labor, does a great job explaining economic topics for ordinary people. I am sharing this on Facebook to give it more exposure, because Michael Pollan has written some of the most important books about food and the food/grocery industry in the US that you could find. They reinforce what Democrats are saying, that since the pandemic especially, the food industry from farms and ranches to grocery store options, is too concentrated. Almost all farm and ranch acreage and food processing is controlled by a few large corporations. A few big corporations own almost every grocery store you could shop at. No competition means there is no incentive to bring down food prices. Anti-trust efforts from the Biden/Harris Administration are finally forcing some price reductions.
Being in the grocery industry for 45 years I have never seen anything like what has happened the past few years. Our transportation costs alone for one of the 2 stores I manage are over 50K a year. 30% higher than it was in 2021. Wholesale prices are 25% higher for us. We are a small family owned 10 store chain in 3 states and it’s been a real challenge for us.
so you are saying it's not grocers being greedy? interesting Maybe it's all the money we printed and the shutdown of factories that caused the inflation. Can Trump save the USA?
General Mills, the company that makes Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. 2019 Q1 Net earnings attributable to General Mills $392.3 million 2024 Q1 Net earnings attributable to General Mills $673.5 This is why a box of cereal cost $8.
I was forced to retire when my company was acquired by Apollo Global Management and they gave us AI, and I don't meet new DEI law requirements. I am now literally starving. This month I made the stupid decision to buy food so now can't make my ever increasing sky high rent (landlord will only give out 6 month leases now, and increases rent $100 each time.). I can't do this anymore, I'm freaking exhausted. Our own government is owned by corporate interests and is trying to kill off American born citizens.
The problem is not individual choices, it is structural and systemic. No amount of "buy local" propaganda is going to turn this ship around. The priorities of the policies, regulations, and laws are the problem. We need policies, regulations, and laws that prioritize people and the planet above profits.
Of course not. I would love to say that I could afford to shop at a locally-owned "farmers' market" but I can't afford it and in fact they would not have all the items I eat. I am an unrepentant omnivore who shops fior food just about every other day and wastes very little food other than apple cores and the like. It's not like Prof Reich's campaign against Starbucks which is relatively easy to implement. We have to eat and we have to get the best quality for the fewest dollars possible even if that means our store is owned by Republican oligarchs. At the moment there is little a shopper can do.
Like everything Profit has plus and negative attributes. It's the weight given to $, in USA especially, that distorts the balance and poisons now every aspect of life. From medicine and food to politics and justice, we're just cattle. Raisins in the sun waiting to expire. Or Explode.
My wife works with a organic farmer who works off the farm for affordable insurance and a consistent stream of income. We just ordered beef from him for when he next has cattle butchered. Better beef and cheaper than in the stores. I have been gardening since I was a child. I continued this as an adult. My family eats from this garden all summer long with plenty to share and we can and freeze the excess for the winter. Not everyone has a large enough yard to have a large garden as we do, but if you have a yard, you can grow a surptising amount of food from a 10x10 patch in a sunny spot
My garden is about 15x20 and I grow so much I have to give a lot away. But this year I am going to sell green beans for 2lbs for a dollar. I bet I am going to be wishing I planted 4 rows of beans instead of just 2.
Best net once the feds see that were all doing that they will raise water costs 10 plus times. Then they will increase the costs of organic fertilizers 10 plus times.
Not just food prices are up, everything has increased. Vehicle insurance companies have made really big graft payments into the states powerful Republican politicians personal campaign treasuries before they lose control over state laws and now it's a wild west show with policy prices through the ceiling. I've had to conduct a serious search for affordable vehicle insurance because the usual insurance companies have gone crazy and they use the reason to do so as "Everyone is doing it". I haven't had a wreck in 15 years and then it wasn't a big one, just a small piece of rubber was taken out of the wraparound lower bumper air dam and my current insurer went back 20 years to tack on an additional $50. The quote began at $280 for six months and every time I called over a month the premium increased by $20-30 until it reached $365. I found a policy with another insurance company for $280 and will cancel with the bloodsucker once I insure with the new insurance company. I've never had to become aware of the politics behind insurance companies that use graft to control state insurance policies that never will go back to where they were once the better political party of governance, the Democratic party takes over because of the authoritarian practices of the Republican Criminal Organization that the people don't want.
I used to shop at Fred Meyers, a subsidiary of Kroger. Their prices are currently obscene. Both Albertsons and Fred Meyers are only blocks apart, leaving few choices for many in my neighborhood. Not only that, but these stores sell nutritionally weak foods packaged with too much salt, sugar, and fat.
It's good that this is a bigger conversation these days. The disparity explains why not enough people understand the health effects of this cycle. I have been self-employed for 30 years and haven't spent more than 25% of food moneies in corporate owned food supply lines in 20 years. It takes planning, but it becomes easier. I've haven't spent a penny at Amazon, or on meat or cheese from a grocery store, any food with corn syrups. Overall, I save money because I have less waste and my money stays local, so my money, and that of more people in my community, continue to have what we need, and a smaller% of our money makes it to the corporations outside of our loop. Yet, here they are with record profits, it's time to shift the mono cropping, shopping, knowledge and behaviors of the people, and more people will be healthier and keep more of their money. I don't feel bad when corps loose stock or money sink em I say. 💚💙
@treefrog3349 This is a comment thread, I commented. It is to highlight that this isn't new. It's been happening for decades. They are plenty of people doing the same work I am doing, which highlights that the corp still rule, regardless of whether we make individual choices to do better. It takes more than just changing habits or having a Kellogg millionaire tell us how good cereal is for dinner. It requires regulations in corporate rule. Is it smug to have made a choice to not be a part of the capitalists system that trashed this country while knowing that that isn't going to be enough? My work has been to teach this very subject and integrate communities into small loop systems. Still, the corps get the tax breaks and the incentives to create waste for profit. I don't find it smug to highlight that making choices isn't enough. It's necessary to know it isn't enough. It's also possible to live outside the system on most levels, but our tax dollars still support their profits. Real change requires regulation and taxation to shift to where it belongs. Does that feel more like a discussion now for you? I'm into discussion, but I just wanted to comment on their discussion, hoping to highlight what more they could say besides, "make better choices as consumers." That's been a problem phrase since subsidized crops and deregulation of the systems involved in feeding a nation began.
@@treefrog3349 the small parts of my story were not mentioned because I expect anyone to be able to do the same thing. The main point is that individual efforts aren't enough to make a marketable difference. A community making efforts isn't enough. The only efforts are legislative that takes power away from corps. I do what I do because it makes living with myself easier. I don't expect anyone to live my life.
@@pcopeland15 Everyone is different, and everyone has different opportunities. What I meant was that these individual efforts feel good personally, but do little to change the direction of our ruin. The gaffe is that it is up to us to make personal changes, but the actual changes needed are to legislate changes to remove power from corporations. The only difference we can truly make on a world scale is finding and voting for people who will actually make the necessary changes. It's a mess, no doubt.
Even a crook like Nixon put the brakes on price increases! As a resident of New Jersey, my town used to be mostly farm land. New Jersey grows more than tomatoes! In the past 40 years, all of the farm land was sold off to build shopping centers and car dealerships! Now,a lot of those malls are empty! How’s that for progress?
This is my first time watching a coffee klatch all the way through--you and Heather were great, as usual, but Michael Pollen is THE MAN and I listen enraptured whenever he speaks. I have already shared this video and will do so again and again.
Robert and Michael together make me beyond happy. They both have influenced me and my choices, my politics, my passions. Thank you both for sharing your knowledge with us ❤❤❤
Biden’s FTC chair is going after monopolies and that is a good thing. We need to reward the Democrats in the 2024 election for being headed in the right direction.
In the last 4 years this has been a huge topic in our household! Lack of affordable nutritious food. The disconnect from animal to plate is big too! It’s a horrible situation large scale but until the last 100 or so years has that been a problem. Great conversation, need more!
i am on Vancouver Island Canada ina farming community, since covid I built a 24 bed garden, have all the veg i need and sell or give away the balance, i ALSO BRING MY EXC ESS VEG TO MY NEIGHBOUR WHO USES IT TO D=FEED HIS CHICKENS i THEN GET HIS EGGS AND THEY ARE FRESH AND BEAUTIFUL. SO NOURISHING. I live on the ocean , catch fish, see my neighbours for beef and pork and chickens, I rarely go to the thieving grocery stores, except when i NEED SOME BASICS OR INEXPENSIVE MEATS FOR MY DOG. The greed in Canada and the USA is outrageous and one day there will be a rise from the people when they can no longer eat or shelte rthemselves, Many people say oh th egood old days well that is now comng true, I am so grateful to have been able to grow up from the 50's 60's 70's and 80's that we a more reasonable time. Michael Poland is a wise man sharng such wisdom certainly helps some. Thank you
What a great discussion. Thank you so much for having this enlightening guest. I have not heard other discussions tying antitrust with ag (or other) production and the disatisfaction of the electorate. Also appreciate hearing about the change in standard pursued by the current administration.
The nearest grocery store is a 15m drive away from me, and it's an Albertsons. There's a King Soopers across the street from it, and a Walmart Grocery just down the block. There is nowhere to 'buy local' around here, and even if there was it'd be frickin expensive. We need to reign in big business. Nothing with inelastic demand, or a natural monopoly, should be for-profit. And half of what's left should have a not-for-profit public option.
I live a 5 minute walk from Albertsons and Fred Meyer (Kroger). They sit on opposite corners of the same intersection. The screwing over has been non stop; it is going to get worse.
It's "the grocery game". It's the same in Canada very little competition. This is a great video, informative. One big thing that gets overlooked is that the food we grow in North America is sold globally, bid on and sold to the highest bidder worldwide. We used to only sell our excess to the rest of the world. It may only be a small percentage of the overall problem. Greedflation is the biggest problem, and not enough ethics classes in the business education system. 😢
I was just in Italy and found the price of coffee in a grocery store to be $6-7 a pound versus what I pay in USA at around $12-16 a pound. Just one example, there were plenty of others and I was a bit shocked.
Yeah this is why I'm trying to grow food. I'm nowhere near even a small farm, but if I can support myself and few others in the community that is good enough for me :)
18:52 capitalism absolutely ISNT about competition. Capitalism is an ownership structure of enterprises which separates workers and owners, and it inevitably tends towards oligopoly or monopoly. Saying that "capitalism is about competition and free markets" is nothing more than fantasy and propaganda.
Capitalism is about maximizing profits. Unfortunately for the consumer, the best path towards maximizing profits is to eliminate competition, which is the end result of oligopoly and monopoly. On top of that, you have this entity called the corporation that has no reason, other than bankruptcy, to ever die. It is no longer a business of people, but a financial instrument with an infinite appetite for profits. If the game is rigged, it's primarily the inevitable result of the system that's been set up.
On that note, fun fact: a meat packing plant in Greeley, Colorado, was found to be employing teenagers at a lower hourly rate, second shift. That takes a regular job away from an adult. It also takes advantage of the "cheap" labor available from new immigrants who are willing to perform these difficult jobs.
The question is still How Much Is Enough? For shareholders, for corporations, for C-suites. For individuals worth a hundred million, if liquid, would have a mere $5.5M annually to live off without touching principle. That’s a mere $15k daily, $450k monthly. I mean WTF? How much is enough? 4 of 7 deadly “sins” in play. Greed, envy, lust, gluttony. Stop the f-ing madness.
There is no bottom to the greed. CEO's making multimillion dollar per year salaries while folk who work for them can't afford an apartment! Vote Biden, he's trying against all odds and needs our support. Bernie has aligned with him in this fight! So now, the repuglicans are claiming Biden has moved too far left. Vote all blue!
Interesting that no one ever talks about the importance of immigrants in food production. During the trump administration, the state of Alabama passed a law that purged all migrant labor. Farmers woke up one day and found that their entire work force had vanished. Since then, many other states have adopted similar laws. Potato farmers in Idaho have had to create mass graves to bury potato crops because the labor that was needed to pack and ship the potatoes no longer existed. The governor of Florida has created a special police to arrest any individual who helps an immigrant to live and work in the state. Among other results is that we now import tomatoes from Canada, a crop that used to be abundant in Florida, and strawberries are not only expensive but spoil as soon as you get them from the store because they have to be shipped all the way from Northern California.
But, must add that on top of this corporate greed, trump has promised these big corporations greater tax cuts! What an insult to struggling folk! Vote all blue!
You won't get Fox/Newsmax/OANN to tell their viewers the truth about the gouging corporations. "Bidenomics" Democrats and the Federal Reserve are to blame so far as those propagandists are concerned.
The continuously changing economic conditions in our society have made it necessary for people to find additional sources of income, thus I am looking at the stock market to fuel my retirement goal of $3m, my only concern is the recent market crash.
Despite my rookie knowledge of investing, I have a financial advisor who did the trick in a bit more than 6 months after a lump sum capital of $500k, and I've so far made a fortune. I'm now buying real estates, gold and silver as advised by my FA.
Truly appreciate the implementation of ideas and strategies that result to unmeasurable progress, thus the search for a reputable advisor, mind sharing info of this person guiding you please?
My CFA ‘Grace Adams Cook’ , a renowned figure in her line of work. I recommend researching her credentials further. She has many years of experience and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to navigate the financial market.
Wow such an eye-opener! curiously inputted Grace Adams Cook on the web and at once spotted her consulting page, she seems highly professional from her resume.
This is a great show. Tremendous respect for the hosts and for Bill Pollan. Though, I'd love it if you could revisit the part of the conversation about making better food choices. I'm 52, and only now can I afford to buy what I know is high quality meat from local farms. What advice would you give those just starting out in life? Or, those people who lack either a high school or college education and are stuck working in the retail sector? Even working at Burger King for $20/hr in CA, I think it would be difficult to afford that quality of food. Do you agree?
The story that isn't being told is the working conditions in retail. It's always been a hard, low-paying job, where you're on your feet constantly, being encouraged to work off the clock, etc. They may no longer encourage you to work off the clock, they've just raised work expectations to unsustainable levels. Let's say I work for one of the 2 companies that was attempting to merge. Pay was belatedly raised during the pandemic to bring us on par with other retailers, say around $15/hr. For that sop, the worker is now micromanaged to death, right up to store leadership. Everyone is under so much pressure to produce according to this timetable, filing reports every day, *and* scrambling to do the regular work. Demand never goes down, and it's ignored, people only mention the prices. We have yo pay those prices too. Every day is exhausting and stressful in the extreme. I'm not asking for sympathy; I hear a lot of "If you're unhappy, change jobs," as if it were that simple. Hard work isn't the issue. Brain power isn't the issue. I've seen investigative reporting on Starbucks, which is honestly a relatively easy (less physically demanding) job, and Amazon, which is closer to what we face. No one gets breaks, a lot of us have to eat a granola bar or similar on the run, skipping sitting down to lunch, because of the whip-cracking mindset. We're well on the way to being forced to pee in cups, like Amazon drivers and warehouse workers.
By far the most outrageous prices at the grocery store is paper products like paper towels and toilet paper. This stuff is the most expensive items in the store. Other outrageously priced items are soaps and detergents, coffee, and OTC drugs. Actual food items especially fresh food and meats are not cheap but when I go to the store these items are a relatively small part of the total bill. Just one package of paper towels can be 50% or more of the bill. Inflation has slowed down but the huge price increases of the last 10 years are not going down and that is a hard pill to swallow for old people on fixed incomes.
I cut up my old cotton t shirts andd ise was loths as rags.wash and reuse.better for the environment and the wallet.and they do a better job at picking up messes.
I live in Iowa. We do not have any family farms left. It is all owned by huge corporations, or is rented out to them. So there are no farmers walking the fields checking his crops to see if he needs to spray. These corporations spray every 2 weeks weather the crops need it or not. They use planes to spray all day long. The wind picks up the spray and it drifts into our towns and cities. No wonder we have such a high rate of cancer.
It's hard to believe 😪 we will never have family farms again. I sure miss our farm!! We were just too small. The bank told me I didn't owe enough money!!
@@yourdaddy-mq4km what competition? Isn’t that one of the points in the video? When someone steals your car (economy) you don’t ask them politely to give it back. The OPC worked in WWll even with its foibles and big business hated it. So much so by the mid 50’s it had been dismantled. The mere thought of it sends chills down the oligarchs… I’d say spines, but it’s more like tentacles. I would like to take this moment to apologize to all the octopus out there.
I would argue that prices are not to expensive but the money should go to farmers instead og supermarkets. People should go support farmers and buy directly from the farm
Thank you for clarifying "the minority of shareholders" are the problem. Too many people "blame the shareholders", when the majority of Americans are "shareholders". - But, like what they said, the minority vastly control the majority of the shares.
We need food, we need shelter, and sooner or later we need healthcare. They are price gouging us on all three,
because no one is stopping them.
Then compete! Start a farm. Start building houses. Start a medical company. You have found a need, now fill it!
@@Nemesisnxt ok, you got the millions needed to fund it? The bar is set very high. This isn't going to be solved by the garden on my balcony.
@@Nemesisnxt Good luck starting those things without millions in upfront capital. 😂
@@EVIL-C Ya, you are probably going to have to get a loan or some investors. You will have to take risks to make it happen. “There can be no great accomplishment without risk” -Neil Armstrong
That's Socialism for you.
As a small farmer in east-central Nebraska, there's so much I could write on this, but I'll keep it to a few points. By small, we have 160 acres--for someone from a city, that sounds like a lot but in the farming community where families these days typically own between 2,000-50,000 acres, we are a blip on the screen. The only reason I can be here is because I am inheriting the land from my parents. The cost of land in my area, which is not even the best in our region, is inflated by both in-state and out-of-state people that bid the land into something unreachable. Another 160-acre quarter-section just a mile from me recently went for over $14,000/acre or over $2 million. I can't buy that. I can't finance that. I can't even sniff that. And I have a farm right here. Do you think someone who would like to just get into the farming community could afford that? Absolutely not. And the equipment to farm it? Nope. So if a small farmer cannot get any bigger, and if someone trying to get into farming cannot afford it, what happens? The big get bigger, or someone out-of-state buys it and rents to the highest bidder--again, someone who already farms more than they could ever possibly need to make a living. This not only pushes kids away when they get out of high school, but it keeps new blood from coming in. It also means that since they paid so much for the land, they are 'forced' to plant cash crops capable of bringing the most bang for their buck with minimal effort or input--namely corn and soybeans (or whatever other regional crops in other areas). It's always been said that if the gov't subsidized fruits and vegetables the same way they did corn and soybeans, farmers would be growing that instead.... yes and no. There's something to be said for being able to plant with a 24-row planter in a few hours and then move to the next field and so on, especially if you have 10,000 acres to get in. And that goes for animal agriculture as well. Around here, our 'esteemed' Governor has hog confinements all over the place. Back even just 30 years ago, a small farmer could raise a few hundred head a year and make some extra money to go along with the crops. But the more and more Pillen, and people like him, have industrialized that, they make contracts with the meat packers and the price plummets. Why does WalMart have low prices? So they can sell a billion of some cheap piece of junk and make a few pennies per item; but the sheer amount nets them a big profit. Same with hog confinements (or chickens, turkeys, etc). For us, it wasn't worth the hassle or time involved for a slim profit--much less if something happened, then you are in the hole. There are exceptions to the rule of course, but they aren't always locally available to some folks. I could go on and on and on, but it looks like I've already wrote more than anyone will probably read, so I'll stop there. Thank for all that you do, folks
Ding, ding, ding! 🫶🏼
💙👍🏻🫶🏻
I read the whole comment. No lies detected.
Thanks for educating. I this we need to scale down to small am out of acres, 1-3. And learn to share and work together. This goes at the end of the rainbow is happiness, not money.
I only buy meat in Omaha from my Farmers who have sustainable farms with pasture raised animals that don’t feed GMO corn. Only 10% of farms in Nebraska and the nation are sustainable and they have to compete with corporations. While we like cheap meat for the cost, if folk’s actually knew how animals are farmed they probably wouldn’t eat it. Eat local, get off the corporate food chain, especially in Nebraska where our Governors like to starve people
Years ago, when I was growing up, companies would triple their prices on sugar, coffee, flour, butter, peanut butter, and cheese. The consumers boycotted the products. Yes, nobody purchased the products. It sat on the shelf. I can remember my mom not being able to bake, dad not having sugar for his tea, and no PB sandwiches.After months of boycotting, prices came down. We need to stick together.
That’s why they use the circus
What country?
GRAPE boycott 1970s
More and more, I look at the price and just walk away.
I agree. We hold the cards as consumers yet do nothing!!
We shop at a family grocery chain, buy our coffee from a local coffee roaster, buy locally grown meat and veggies in season. We can afford to do this and live where this local business support is possible, a truly privileged situation. My mother lived in a rural town where the local “grocery” was the dollar store, supplemented by three convenience stores. How is this possible? I think you present the answer: the drive for corporate profits deprives so many people in this country, contribute to food deserts and is responsible for poor nutrition and hunger. It’s appalling!
Guess what I would love to do this but I simply cannot afford to do so! Don't want to spend that much $ anyhow because it does not benefit those who help me either. It's just the way things are right now. God bless.
What each person can do depends on what is available to them, but for those who can afford it, grass fed or pastured meats can be shipped to them. For others, perhaps community gardens could help. I live in a city and there are many churches that host farmers markets as well as a few that have gardens to provide free food to those in need.
We can shun the overly processed food as much as possible. I don’t think people have to be perfect about doing this, because any percentage of the grocery budget that is directed away from the powerful corporations helps.
Also we can use our vote. At the moment, Democrats are the ones headed in the right direction and we need to reward them. The Republican Party is the one headed into authoritarianism and full on push for corporate takeover, so we need to make them lose seats until they are forced to turn around.
Excellent!
Aren’t you special?
I have tat beat. I get coffee from local growers and roasters. I get eggs and milk from 2 next door neighbors. I avoid all US products as they are unhealthy and 6 times the price of similar from Mexico and Colombia. And go to the local farmers market every Friday.
Unfortunately I’ve said it before: greed will destroy this country.
100%
That’s what these CEOs of corporations want
Totally agree
It already has. The class division in this nation is predicated upon it.
I originally made this comment while working at a bar. To fellows came in one afternoon right after the fall of the former Soviet Union. One made the comment “well we won the Cold War.” I said “You don’t understand. That was the first battle. The second will be in this country. Greed will destroy this country.”
Instead of trying to impeach anyone, congress should be investigating these companies that are price gouging.
The majority are making money off the problem.
Absolutely. No conspiracy theories here.
In other words, instead of impeaching "anyone", investigate those who foot the bill to keep "anyone" in office. Chicken and egg.
Who do you think put them in power? All of these companies are owned by black rock and vanguard. Follow the money.
Some people JUST NEED TO GO! Yes infighting isn't ideal, but some are just damn selfish! And there is never going to be total agreement! Have to get true people who REALLY care about ALL instead of themselves! Why we have a democracy...checks and balances!
"I want to see people living life, not just fighting to survive" THIS! Thank you for your truth & wisdom fast food worker by job, change- warrior by soul! Can't wait to view & share this documentary!!
48 years old and walking around the grocery store with a calculator like I did when I was in college I had hoped life would be better by now. 😢
I was watching a video on prices from the 1970’s, I was truly misty eyed!!
@alainamoon I hear you! We have got to get really loud!! I have a master's degree & am on SSDI, food stamps, and poverty level due to health issues, long haul things from mono & Lyme disease. Caregiving for my folks & my Mom isn't getting enough homecare & she is a 100% service-connected totally and permanently disabled Veteran. They want her to go into a nursing home where they'd pay for 15K a month & she'd still get her check to pay on the mortgage but they won't pay for her to have more care at home and expect me to be there 130 hours a week! My Dad is declining rapidly and no one is helping him concerning doctors listening that he has a handful of things going on not just one thing. My Mom is healthier at home, I have her on a whole food diet & some slightly processed pasta & her Hagen Daz coffee ice cream. But even with some carbs (only water and coconut milk for fluids) she isn't on any diabetes meds and she lost over 80 lbs. In the nursing home, she was over 200 lbs and on sliding scale insulin with an HA1C of 8 and now she's below pre-diabetic numbers just by my shifting her food. She's 81 this May so in 2 years I totally changed her health! Food IS medicine OR Poison~
Budgeting is never a bad idea.
@@Nemesisnxt the budget is $200 a month for a family of 3. I always have a tissue to dry my tears when I go to the store.
Greedflation.
Not Biden
I am 70 year's old and I don't remember being this frighten about the costs of living. If these price gouging big corporations and companies are not stopped I will be homeless in two year's. I can't believe our politicians are letting this happen without investigating the record-breaking profits and prices gauging. It must be because they all make a high wage and get free health care for life.
Business as usual business as unusual. The greedy are rewarded.
It's all a part of their g o p plan. Lie, steal and cheat To have their orange god back in the white house.
They won't change becuase they bet on us not living long. However life expectancy rose with quality of life. It's same thing that was told to me about social security while I was in highschool.
I suppose now they will let nature take its course with us as quality of life degrades for most of us.
Do not be afraid. We will vote blue, and things will improve. Until then, please seek food assistance in your community. The United Way, Local food pantries. Apply for state benefits too. We will get through this.
I got tired of doing nothing: I gave up meat, dairy, and eggs, took out half the backyard to grow fruit & vegetables, and started cooking. I am now healthier at 70 than I was at 50. 💚
Get quail. They don't take much room and make good little eggs. The problem is you have to have a good little house for them or predators eat them.
We do the same at our house. Our front yard is all garden boxes, we compost, have rain barrels to collect all rain..... It makes a huge difference and it's satisfying to grow your own food!
Teach your community!!
I'm there except chickens but luckily 2 neighbors got them and I get their extras.
Don't speak too loudly.They will make it illegal and you'll have to uproot all your trees and pull up your garden be careful
My friend who was a farmer told me that as equipment costs grew and grew, over the decades and years, and tractors, planters, sprayer, harvesters, etc., etc., became more computerized, those equipment companies refused to allow farmers to do their own maintenance of their equipment or fix their own equipment. The equipment makers forced the farmers to go through them for maintenance ad repairs, with their reason being, they had to protect the proprietary electronic and computerized secrets of their manufacturing process. This is gouging the farmers with the high cost of repairs and maintenance due to having to go through the manufacturer for that.
Right to Repair bills have been enacted in Europe...
Yep, you can't get a better example where a manufacturer directly screwed the very people who got them where they are today. (J Deere)
Well, they constantly tell farmers to produce more, more, more...driving commodity prices into the ground, and the farmers foolishly listen to them....buying all the super-expensive, chemicalized, 'high-yield' seeds that Monsanto, etc...have a monopoly on.
Colorado passed Right to Repair last year! First in the country. Every republicKON was against it! Every one!. Now, companies like John Deer are appealing!!! Will Rural America understand what party supports them??? NO! They will still vote against their best interests as long as their politicians HATE and BLAME the same people they do.
Yep, once upon a time a $3000 tractor was sufficient. Now they pay over $600,000. The smaller farmers of less than 160 acres are now a thing of the past in the US.
I've been running a small business for about 20 years. When I started it was because of the lack of quality I witnessed in corporate produced products. I've been doing very well and expanding my business one small step at a time, keeping a minimum 35 percent profit margin but never going over 50 percent. My philosophy is that I wanted to build better products at a fair price that benefited both the consumer and my business. When COVID happened and wood prices skyrocketed, I had to raise my prices a little and lower my profit margin to keep myself and everyone happy.
I managed to keep my business going to this day just being fair to people and myself. Greed can only last if the consumer lets it continue. I have kept one guiding rule for my business besides not price gouging, I never sell my products to corporations, franchises and Mom and Pop type stores are my customers and I help them fight back against the corporate greed by only selling to them.
A handful of corrupt officials shouldn’t own and control the means of production, distribution and exchange. Workers make America run, workers should run America.💙🌎Ⓐ
🔁
You Socialist! I ❤ you!
Biden has proven once again that Socialism kills the economy every time.
LOL!
Right those few that have control of nearly every industry, called monopolies, are controlling the means -the ways-the jobs/workers- the prices we pay. End monopolies and their gouging now.
Michael Pollan talked about oligopolies, The Sherman Antitrust Act, and Teddy Roosevelt in ways I haven't heard in the media for a long time. And he gives Biden due credit. Great guest. Voters should listen to him.
I certainly am!
@@thestraightroad305 👍
I enjoy reading his books and listening to his pov
Too little too late.
Biden due credit? He hasn't done a damn thing to help us. Especially when it comes to inflation prices or rent prices or utility prices or college debt or literally anything! he is literally doing nothing and saying vote for me, im better than the other guy! Who aint, considering what he is doing to Gaza, they are both equally bad.
Thank you for bringing this back to public attention! I've been trying to tell whomever will listen... This is the new age of the Robber Barons!
Have you watched the documentary called the giled age have you study the antitrust laws the federal trade commission and the election laws, Lewis powell an the memo, union wars of Blair mountain union wars of hometown steel , look what jp morgan did to the farmers turn of the century on rail road prices , also Trump unfit , and love canal , for everyone that thinks we should get rid of all the regulations ❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊 so glad to hear other people talk about this
Thank you for your service Robert. 😊
The cost of housing is what’s really out of control. I know young couples, some with kids, who both work full-time, and spend over 50% of their income on tiny one- or two-bedroom apartments. Add in the cost of transportation to and from work (our area does not have great public transport), and it’s no wonder the price of groceries looms large.
You'll never guess who repealed the regulations set in place in response to the 2008 housing market/economic collapse caused by criminal bankers, CEO's, corporations and wall street crooks.. Within a couple years all those crooks started buying up housing at massively inflated prices to drive actual families out of the market. I'll give you a hint he's very orange and a narcissist, him and his party is ground zerk for where all the massive issues that crop up in this country that harm the middle and lower classes time and again..
Thank you for bringing on important voices like Michael Pollan. Please do this more often.
The food companies realized they can gouge us, and we'll pay.
Don't have a choice .
Everyone's got to eat. Unless you have the land and time to grow/raise your own food, grocery stores are how it works.
The consumer has much more power if we listen to our brain and not our bellies. Yes, we have to eat, but no, we don't have to buy certain products to get the nutrition we need.
It should be illegal.
Biden told them to stop, so don't worry about it.
Because corporations are out of control!
Citizens United v FEC says it all.
SO what is it the corporations control every thing or the don't have any control
Out of control and aren’t paying their fair share in taxes! Grrrr😡
💯💯💯💯😔
Capitalism unchecked is terrifying. Everyone in America worships it but it will likely be our demise since we can't control it.
I live in northwest Montana, and FWIW I'm 100% for sure voting for Senator Tester.
A Democrat higher taxes more government higher homeless rates great idea
I've lived in northwest Montana for most of my life too, and Jon Tester is the only one who makes sense. He's a family farmer who goes home to work his farm every weekend. He fights to protect public lands and women's rights, supports the strong bipartisan border bill that Trump quashed, and he knows what we're up against with food prices.
@@doc4lady i want you to remember this comment two years from now.
I am, at the moment, I Budapest, Hungary. every day or so, I walk to a local public market or to one of a group as small chain stores (Spa, Penny, Conrad) Most of the produce, proteins, pickles come from within 200 miles Away. Even most processed foods (tomato sauce comes in a hyper pasteurized cardboard box as does most milk), originates within miles from NYC. I cannot buy food of this quality in the states (I live in Newark, NJ just 30km from NYC). I can go to a market that is more tourist driven and pay higher prices but I don't have to. Top to bottom, Amazon, Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midlands, need to be highly regulated or disassembled.
Don't believe that prices will rise because of loss of efficiencies. These companies are all posting record PROFITS while actively gouging prices and reducing pay to employees and degrading produce quality
Six parent companies produce the majority of packaged goods in supermarkets. Since 2020, the operating principle seems to be to repeatedly half costs, double prices. We pay more for less. Huge shareholders are pleased, tiny shareholders get screwed by increasing living expenses.
I am, at the moment also Hungary!
It is because 3 major mega corporations own everything.. and they must profit every quarter
Wow. THREE? That's two too MANY according to Wall St.
The legal term for what they do is - "Cancer." And their OWN law, which supersedes the Constitution, the BOR, the Bible, the Koran and the Golden Rule mandates Profit and infinite growth at ANY cost. i.e., Cancer.
who are the 3 major mega corporations?
Not make a profit every quarter but make a BIGGER profit every quarter
Try they are making record profits while gouging consumers...repuglican!
When I searched: do 3 mega corporations own everything
the response came out that they don't own everything, but they do control much of the global economy (which is concerning to me.)
I got this! GREED! Save yourself a half hour! Prices are up because of corporate GREED!! Period!
They gouged us during the pandemic and lied about dwindling supplies, and they’ve just kept it going!!
Exactly!
And they are the people that got a big fat Tax Cut 8 years ago.
@@virginialeary Exactly...Trump is a Snake Oil Saleman
The Fed also printed trillions of dollars between 2020 and 2022. Increased money supply = your dollar is worth less. Can't pretend that isn't the main driver of inflation!
I found it interesting when the $20/hr fast food worker bill hit the news every franchise owner that was interviewed on national media owned between 10 and 25 franchise locations. It's pretty hard to believe that these owners are just getting by when they keep buying more franchises.
yeah they do that obviously to lose more money than they could with just one.
Raise the wages and they raise the price…Greed always wins 😢
They aren't just getting by.. Profit margins are insanely high and profits are through the roof corporations have managed to have their cake and eat it too, for far too long in this country, all at the expense of the average American and the families theu support. From WW2-1982 wages kept pace with inflation and cost of living increases. The average American could get a regular job and within a few years could buy a home and start a family. That's middle class wealth, conservatives and their corporate butt buddies jave slowly chipped away at that wealth creation From the Reagan Administration onward. I know I'm fed up with the trickle down false promises of prosperity for all if only the wealthy get more goodies, handouts, bailouts and tax breaks. It's absolute b.s. and is slowly killing the prosperity of the country itself. Their whole scheme has been nothing more than a redistribution of wealth from the bottom 60% to the top 1% and too much Concentration of wealth to the top will ultimately cause stagnation.
Robert Reich, what you have to say is so important! I am a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher, and I like to stay well informed. However, I just started having questions about anti-trust and how it works several months ago. I guarantee you, the American people do not know about the monopolies And what Trump did to help them. The Democrats have got to get better at messaging. Robert, get Biden to let you make your drawings and videos to get these messages across to the American people. It is so important! That would help Biden win.
I agree! The Biden campaign needs to use Robert Reich to their advantage--he is a national treasure!
Imm a small 50 cow calf operator/owner and I agree with what your saying, these big places need to be stopped and put the small farmers back
Agreed!💪💙🇺🇸🌊🗽
Unfortunately, capitalisms competition leads to monopolies, every time. Winner takes all : one winner at the end.
Solution: collaboration, democracy in OUR economy, we, not the unelected minority elite decide together (elite get one vote per just as we do)
The democrats SUCK at messaging !! The Republicans don’t even have a platform and message better . Aggravating
During Covid my wife worked at Safeway, owned by Albertsons. She was upset because during Covid the back room warehouse was packed with store product and the store wiped out. When she asked management she was told not to stock product on shelves.
Unfortunately, local produce & meat often cost a lot more, making it difficult for people on tight budgets. Make it illegal for corporations to make “donations” to politicians & political campaigns! No more payoffs from lobbyists!
Yes! This is another HUGE problem that goes side by side with the monopolies. They are NOT a “person” and should not be able to donate - period!
Ranked choice voting: public financed elections: ban stock investing and if needed to talk legislators into this, offer to pay them millions as a temporary pay boost. Because they are voting against their own incentives and we should be open to that before they get donations to get us into lengthier and longer wars
In other words, undo the damage that the SCOTUS initiated. Money is NOT speech in a democracy!
Gov. Walz passed the "broadest Right-to-Repair legislation in the nation." HOWEVER, due to lobbying from Big Ag, the legislature removed farm equipment from the final bill. In other words--yes, I agree!!
Producers should form co-ops and sell directly to consumers. All of us would benefit.
Hear! Hear!
Find a local Co-op and buy from them. That's how Capitalism works. When enough people do this, the market will adjust.
Find a local farmer and buy from them
This kind of collective action is incredibly effective, but incredibly difficult to organize.
A lot of people don't know to or in some cases even just can't "find a local co-op", get there, and buy direct.
They legally can't. That is what is so fucked up about America.
Why doesn't mainstream media report on this situation?
Because they're bought out by the same corporations that are perpetrating the problem.
Because it's not good for corporate cable media's ratings.
Because they are part of the problem.
We are in a sewer of toxic greed.
Led by Newsome in CA.
Has always been, 'A sewer of toxic greed.'. The darkness of MAGA forced a deeper look at US. Yes, the greed has grown beyond even the Robber Barons, and Cotton Kings. But, it's always been here. I, like most people who love their nation...Just kind of looked away. Or, just didn't know.
So true
@@michaelcap9550 Charles Koch of Kansas.
@@michaelcap9550 - Trump of Mar-A-Lardo.
Here in Linn County, our church joined the Feed Iowa First urban farming program. Almost half the lawn is now a garden providing tomatoes, celery, corn, amaranth, and other produce for local food pantries. More city parks are getting community gardens, too.
Find out what local programs are available, and support them as possible.
That's nice but that doesn't fix the problem!
@@sylviagoodman6008Sounds like it may help the local area a little.
I was in NY a couple of days ago and many street vendors were selling 1pound plastic crates of strawberries, just like the ones in the grocery store, they were 2/$3.00. One guy sold them for $1.00. I looked at them closely and they were fresher than what I find in Aldi. Wonderful for the people in this particular neighborhood to get cheap fresh fruits and vegetables but it was very puzzling.
Did you ask them where they were sourcing the strawberries?
71 years old and walking around the grocery store with my brain like I did in my California college. 10 items = $5, give or take a dollar. Before the pandemic in NYC (2019), it was about $3.50 an item and add $10, or about $45, with coupons and sales. Now those 10 items are more than $5 each and add $15 (or $20 to be safe), or about $75! That’s a HUGE price increase, especially since there are no supply chain issues anymore.
No competition is a license for price gouging, especially when you (Big Business) can buy a Congressperson for pocket change.
I'm 76 and pine for the $.29.9 gal. of gas, the $2500 new Mustang, etc. It's not inflation, it's decline in the value of our dollars. Nothing backs the dollar so it's just a printing process that creates more dollars. The more of something that is out there, the less the single unit is worth. Why have a Federal reserve when it's a private entity? THERE is our royal family.
Corn is one of the the most highly sprayed crops with pesticides, unless organicly grown , and modern corn has zilch nutritional value. We need to grow healthy foods and encourage personal and community gardening .
High fructose corn syrup is deadly, causing multiple health problems, and it's in nearly everything.
Pesticides and modern technology has increased yields by hundreds if not thousands of percent.
What is community gardening?
Places have already seen how produce “going green” can impact price. CA passed a law that only allowed free-range pigs. Boars Head manufacturers left the state, pig farmers are struggling and now the price of pork has increased.
That's happening in a lot of places but the problem is still here because the vast majority of Americans don't have access to those smaller markets. If you live within those usually small communities and they are either close to home or you have a vehicle, then your golden. Millions don't have even that luxury.
And then there's the winter months. If you don't know how to can or dehydrate those garden foods, you're back to capitalist markets.
@@Nemesisnxt Technology sure but as far as pesticides, what does it matter if the food grown has little to no nutritional value or causes major diseases down the road.
Help us seniors as eggs were 2.09 last week and 4.00 this week. I worked my whole life and receive very little social security. Cant something be done? I know others are way worse off than I am , but they have raised my house taxes, home insurance, car insurance , utilities, gasoline and groceries. Credit cards raised interest rates to 29.9% on some cards. I know others are already drowning , but I’m getting close. Profits are at record highs for the rich while killing us little guys. Please help. Lifelong Democrat and from a multi generational democrat family. My votes don’t translate to what I would like. 70 year old now single woman who also was damaged by health issues requiring using my 401k. No one is doing anything to help. Emergency social security increase is needed now. Oh my. Stop sending money and helping over seas wars.
I am in the same boat. My ssa income goes totally for medical. That kea es my husbands ssa to pay for everything else. I teach grocery shopping to help others. Being frugal is not a game. It’s real for your survival.
Fantastic interview.....thank you Robert. Truth matters. Have had the good fortune to avoid the contaminated food chain basically. A little space grows alot of food. My heart goes out to the many people with no choice, no inkling that their food is such poor quality. It is a very sad state of affairs. It is my hope that big business is forced to rethink their greed and help people instead of monopolizing the food chain at the expense of poisoning the people. It will be a very difficult to change the greedy mindset, but we as a people must try. Poor health is a direct result for so many.👍💗
Our local Kroger used to be my favorite store. But shortly after the ppp loan program they had a team go in and radically rearrange the store. They put in new upgraded fixtures and made the shelves two feet taller. Then they hiked the prices so much that I seldom shop there anymore. So the government gave them money so they could hike the prices. Basically if they continue on this path and merge with other markets so that the grocery conglomerates can continue to gouge, without any oversight or controls in place it is getting more out of control. The corporations need to have some rules. No multimillions for ceo. No stock buybacks for start. This is how government creates its own pork. A serious lack of oversight and controls creates a conscience less rich class who only care about themselves and nobody else.
We appreciate you, Dr. Reich!
This is why local regenerative grassfed, grass-finished beef and bison, and other pasture raised meat is so much better for the farmer and consumer.
Sounds good in theory but from my research getting meat that way costs at least twice as much as a grocery store
20:03 1.Watch carbon cowboys, films by Pete Blyck
2. Farmers using AMP Grazing is absolutely NOT a CAFO, so don’t allow states to call small farms who use AMP grazing a CAFO, causing small farmers to be unable to compete against large food.
Small farmers using AMP grazing have brought back quail, broken the parasite lifecycle, and virtually eliminated their use of chemical fertilizers.
In 1988 I turned 18 and went grocery shopping for the first time as an adult.
Remembering home ec class I went with coupons available almost everywhere in almost every city or town.
I filled a shopping cart over the top for $14.
$14 and coupons paid for a shopping piled high and heavy with food in 1988!
Times have definitely changed.
I grow organic plants and sell them while teaching people how to grow their own food and take back their health and bring the Earth back with them. I am watching the food industry poison and brainwash trusting people who haven’t learned what real food is all about. Thank you all for getting this in front of so many. Keep up the great work!
Thankyou for your thoughtful comment.
Think this post is maybe what you refer. Natural Hygiene was taught by Natives to USA medical people & those teachings remained the law of the land up until the late 1800's when big pharma began to take over making Natural Hygiene unjustly obsolete until early 1900's when Herbert M. Shelton re-founded the orthopaedic practice at his health sanatoriums & by the 1950's he ran for potus, but big oil land grabs & big pharma swindles had a monopoly by then, also it was further corrupted by the liquor industry that had spiraled out of control as a drug of choice ever since the 1930's. So it is way past time to make Natural Hygiene a part of our daily lives again, as the once sober apple cart was upset too many times over the years by oppressive governmental inebriated addicts who have been increasingly abusing a once sound medical practice here in America for far too long. Here is my take on needed improvements for those who have yet them or even considered changing these corrupt current laws yet. Back around the 70's reagan began shutting down state hospitals to save taxes for the rich resulting in an ever increasing spiral of homeless street people & overcrowded prisons. Reagan was inebriated on his bubbly. That points to another mess up that occurred back in the 30's when they made alcohol their drug of choice as legal recreation & criminalized other intoxicants. Past time for a resolution to both these gross errors. 1- make all drugs & alcohol legal medically with supervision. 2-drug & alcohol test all law enforcement, politicians, educators & gun owners at their own expense, never as illegal recreation in use currently. Until those insane obsolete laws, rules & regulations are changed with appropriate resolutions the errors of the past will continue to escalate.
Unregulated capitalism has turned our economic and production systems upside down.
Yes, Capitalism is the worst, except for all the others. You do understand you live within the greatest economy ever created on earth, versus being a peasant farmer in China. Although, you probably are as Communist as Mao.
Corporations have a responsibly to make the most profit possible for the stockholders, Government has the responsibility to protect the public from the corporations. Thanks to Citizens United the government works for the corporations.
@@vidsbyme2590 that’s correct. And the Trump stacked Supreme Court is bringing America into a wasteland.
Incorrect, CAPITALISM has turned our... systems upside-down. This is a feature, not a bug. There is no such thing as good capitalism. You can't regulate your way out of a failed system.
Yup, capitalism isn’t it great?!?
America is currently plagued by the hydra-headed evil duo of inflation and recession. The worst part about this recession is that consumers are racking up credit card debt. In April alone, credit card debt went up 20% while rates have doubled in a year. Inflation is so high that consumers are literally taking debt for basic life necessities. Collapse has indeed begun..
We face a new challenge every day. The new normal is this. We now see that this is the new normal and must adjust, having formerly believed it to be a crisis. Everywhere in the country, this year will be extremely painful economically. What can we do to increase revenue while undergoing quantitative adjustment?My hard-earned $180,000 in savings must be allowed to disappear.
Sincerely it's best to seek an advisor right now, unless you're canny yourself. As a business owner in both the service industry and eBay reseller of all product categories, I can tell you we’re in a deep recession and everyone is running out of money.
Yeah, financial advisors could make a lot of difference, particularly in a market such as this. Stocks are pretty unstable at the moment, but if you do the right math, you should be just fine. Bloomberg and other finance media have been recording cases of folks gaining over 250k just in a matter of weeks/couple months, so I think there are a lot of wealth transfer in this downtime if you know where to look. I have been using an FA since 2019, and I return at least $121k ROI, and this does not include capital gain.
My CFA ’’Sharon Ann Meny , a renowned figure in her line of work. I recommend researching her credentials further. She has many years of experience and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to navigate the financial market..!
You should see Robert’s video I think it was about something about the coping mechanisms people use to cope with stock holder capitalism and how it became a thing and shifted from stake holder capitalsim
I seriously look forward to the Saturday Coffee Club. Thanks so much.
The prices are inflated because the grocery store CEO’s know people have to eat…
Gouge, gouge, gouge!
Not the grocery "store" CEOs--the grocery INDUSTRY CEOs.
Pet food doubled in price in the last couple of years.
Soon no one will have money for food and the stores will go out of business
I used to buy a case of canned cat food for $14 before the pandemic but now it costs $26.
Yet the price of eggs went down after the pricing spike during Covid.
If it was all greed, then why did they lower prices?
Thank you for posting these great voices! The truth has to get out there! Everybody should share this interview.
This evil country is killing us with the food and water sources, out of greed. I lived in Italy for three years where I had healthy, reasonably priced food, and free and outstanding health care. I regret that I ever returned to this, my birth country.
Great. Get the hell out.
You can always go to Venezuela.....
Go back to italy.
Wow. Italy is hardly an example of a good place to live. Their government is full of corruption.
@@michaelcap9550--Get lost.
Thank you Robert Reich and Guests
MORE welfare payments from even more fake money creation? Even hear how Weimar Germany ended up doing that exact same thing?
When Thomas’s English Muffins went to $5.26 I said, “Screw you. I can live without English muffins!” And there were NO other brands offered, so the only choice was $5.29. They can shove those English muffins!
Aldi's sells them for less than two dollars. Same product, different package.
Grocery Outlet.
Every American needs to see this. Thank you, #SenatorCoryBooker #GoVEGAN 👏🌱
Regenerative farming practices are improved with incorporating animals, and cattle are the best mulching system to take down old grass and mulch it with probiotics in as little as 12-24hrs and depositing it on the land. This is completely different from conventional practices because cows don't need barns, metal bale rings, but they do need fresh pasture daily.
@@leelindsay5618but they still are slaughtered. You don't need to kill animals and get a balanced diet.
@@leelindsay5618Agreed. We need small full circle farming. Going vegan is not the answer.
Regenerative ag is simulating where our country was back in the 1800. Our soil has been eroded away with chemicals and tillage. Livestock is essential in the cycle. My question is why not provide a great life to an animal with one bad day. Why torture an animal to live a long painful life??s@traveler65
Quit calling it Inflation, IT IS PRICE GOUGING ! ! !
Corporate greed
It's inflation. You don't understand business
@@marylamb7707
Inflation is literally a measure of price increases. Those price increases all come directly from decision of those who set prices.
Stats indicate that much of the increase in prices is more than what's needed to cover increased costs ... it is gouging.
@@BillTrowbridge
Many factors determine price.
I know. I'm a business owner.
@@BillTrowbridge
It's bidenflation.
Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, former Sec. of Labor, does a great job explaining economic topics for ordinary people. I am sharing this on Facebook to give it more exposure, because Michael Pollan has written some of the most important books about food and the food/grocery industry in the US that you could find. They reinforce what Democrats are saying, that since the pandemic especially, the food industry from farms and ranches to grocery store options, is too concentrated. Almost all farm and ranch acreage and food processing is controlled by a few large corporations. A few big corporations own almost every grocery store you could shop at. No competition means there is no incentive to bring down food prices. Anti-trust efforts from the Biden/Harris Administration are finally forcing some price reductions.
Being in the grocery industry for 45 years I have never seen anything like what has happened the past few years. Our transportation costs alone for one of the 2 stores I manage are over 50K a year. 30% higher than it was in 2021. Wholesale prices are 25% higher for us. We are a small family owned 10 store chain in 3 states and it’s been a real challenge for us.
so you are saying it's not grocers being greedy? interesting
Maybe it's all the money we printed and the shutdown of factories that caused the inflation.
Can Trump save the USA?
Biden administration has been terrible for energy prices! We need to drill, baby!
General Mills, the company that makes Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.
2019 Q1 Net earnings attributable to General Mills $392.3 million
2024 Q1 Net earnings attributable to General Mills $673.5
This is why a box of cereal cost $8.
I was forced to retire when my company was acquired by Apollo Global Management and they gave us AI, and I don't meet new DEI law requirements. I am now literally starving. This month I made the stupid decision to buy food so now can't make my ever increasing sky high rent (landlord will only give out 6 month leases now, and increases rent $100 each time.). I can't do this anymore, I'm freaking exhausted. Our own government is owned by corporate interests and is trying to kill off American born citizens.
The problem is not individual choices, it is structural and systemic.
No amount of "buy local" propaganda is going to turn this ship around.
The priorities of the policies, regulations, and laws are the problem.
We need policies, regulations, and laws that prioritize people and the planet above profits.
Of course not. I would love to say that I could afford to shop at a locally-owned "farmers' market" but I can't afford it and in fact they would not have all the items I eat. I am an unrepentant omnivore who shops fior food just about every other day and wastes very little food other than apple cores and the like. It's not like Prof Reich's campaign against Starbucks which is relatively easy to implement. We have to eat and we have to get the best quality for the fewest dollars possible even if that means our store is owned by Republican oligarchs. At the moment there is little a shopper can do.
Like everything Profit has plus and negative attributes. It's the weight given to $, in USA especially, that distorts the balance and poisons now every aspect of life. From medicine and food to politics and justice, we're just cattle. Raisins in the sun waiting to expire. Or Explode.
The more you grow for yourself, the less you need the system.
@@3namechangezalowdevry90day7 nonsense.
@@jl8942 I grow stuff in my yard that's edible. That's organic greens I don't have to buy at the grocery store. Just about anybody could do it.
My wife works with a organic farmer who works off the farm for affordable insurance and a consistent stream of income. We just ordered beef from him for when he next has cattle butchered. Better beef and cheaper than in the stores.
I have been gardening since I was a child. I continued this as an adult. My family eats from this garden all summer long with plenty to share and we can and freeze the excess for the winter.
Not everyone has a large enough yard to have a large garden as we do, but if you have a yard, you can grow a surptising amount of food from a 10x10 patch in a sunny spot
That's nice, but it does not solve the problem we speak of today!
My garden is about 15x20 and I grow so much I have to give a lot away. But this year I am going to sell green beans for 2lbs for a dollar. I bet I am going to be wishing I planted 4 rows of beans instead of just 2.
Best net once the feds see that were all doing that they will raise water costs 10 plus times. Then they will increase the costs of organic fertilizers 10 plus times.
Not just food prices are up, everything has increased. Vehicle insurance companies have made really big graft payments into the states powerful Republican politicians personal campaign treasuries before they lose control over state laws and now it's a wild west show with policy prices through the ceiling. I've had to conduct a serious search for affordable vehicle insurance because the usual insurance companies have gone crazy and they use the reason to do so as "Everyone is doing it". I haven't had a wreck in 15 years and then it wasn't a big one, just a small piece of rubber was taken out of the wraparound lower bumper air dam and my current insurer went back 20 years to tack on an additional $50. The quote began at $280 for six months and every time I called over a month the premium increased by $20-30 until it reached $365. I found a policy with another insurance company for $280 and will cancel with the bloodsucker once I insure with the new insurance company. I've never had to become aware of the politics behind insurance companies that use graft to control state insurance policies that never will go back to where they were once the better political party of governance, the Democratic party takes over because of the authoritarian practices of the Republican Criminal Organization that the people don't want.
I used to shop at Fred Meyers, a subsidiary of Kroger. Their prices are currently obscene. Both Albertsons and Fred Meyers are only blocks apart, leaving few choices for many in my neighborhood. Not only that, but these stores sell nutritionally weak foods packaged with too much salt, sugar, and fat.
Learn how to cook real food from basis ingredients....you'll save a fortune...and your health, too.
And everything is wrapped in plastic!!!
You must be in Oregon. I'm familiar with Freddie's.
It's good that this is a bigger conversation these days. The disparity explains why not enough people understand the health effects of this cycle. I have been self-employed for 30 years and haven't spent more than 25% of food moneies in corporate owned food supply lines in 20 years. It takes planning, but it becomes easier. I've haven't spent a penny at Amazon, or on meat or cheese from a grocery store, any food with corn syrups. Overall, I save money because I have less waste and my money stays local, so my money, and that of more people in my community, continue to have what we need, and a smaller% of our money makes it to the corporations outside of our loop. Yet, here they are with record profits, it's time to shift the mono cropping, shopping, knowledge and behaviors of the people, and more people will be healthier and keep more of their money. I don't feel bad when corps loose stock or money sink em I say. 💚💙
I am happy for your good fortune but the smug and boastful nature of your comment contributes little to this discussion.
@treefrog3349 This is a comment thread, I commented. It is to highlight that this isn't new. It's been happening for decades. They are plenty of people doing the same work I am doing, which highlights that the corp still rule, regardless of whether we make individual choices to do better. It takes more than just changing habits or having a Kellogg millionaire tell us how good cereal is for dinner. It requires regulations in corporate rule. Is it smug to have made a choice to not be a part of the capitalists system that trashed this country while knowing that that isn't going to be enough? My work has been to teach this very subject and integrate communities into small loop systems. Still, the corps get the tax breaks and the incentives to create waste for profit. I don't find it smug to highlight that making choices isn't enough. It's necessary to know it isn't enough. It's also possible to live outside the system on most levels, but our tax dollars still support their profits. Real change requires regulation and taxation to shift to where it belongs. Does that feel more like a discussion now for you? I'm into discussion, but I just wanted to comment on their discussion, hoping to highlight what more they could say besides, "make better choices as consumers." That's been a problem phrase since subsidized crops and deregulation of the systems involved in feeding a nation began.
You know anybody could do this, but not everybody can without considerable effort.
@@treefrog3349 the small parts of my story were not mentioned because I expect anyone to be able to do the same thing. The main point is that individual efforts aren't enough to make a marketable difference. A community making efforts isn't enough. The only efforts are legislative that takes power away from corps. I do what I do because it makes living with myself easier. I don't expect anyone to live my life.
@@pcopeland15 Everyone is different, and everyone has different opportunities. What I meant was that these individual efforts feel good personally, but do little to change the direction of our ruin. The gaffe is that it is up to us to make personal changes, but the actual changes needed are to legislate changes to remove power from corporations. The only difference we can truly make on a world scale is finding and voting for people who will actually make the necessary changes. It's a mess, no doubt.
100 to 300 percent markup from pre-pandemic prices in food is not inflation. As others have commented, it is price gouging.
Even a crook like Nixon put the brakes on price increases!
As a resident of New Jersey, my town used to be mostly farm land. New Jersey grows more than tomatoes!
In the past 40 years, all of the farm land was sold off to build shopping centers and car dealerships! Now,a lot of those malls are empty! How’s that for progress?
Nixon's price increases were a failure.
Maybe we can remove the shopping centers and open up new farm land--for family farms--if it not too late.
Because Nixon signed that law forcing ag prices to the producer to be controlled. Got can't control big multi national corps who are gouging us all.
This is my first time watching a coffee klatch all the way through--you and Heather were great, as usual, but Michael Pollen is THE MAN and I listen enraptured whenever he speaks. I have already shared this video and will do so again and again.
Robert and Michael together make me beyond happy. They both have influenced me and my choices, my politics, my passions. Thank you both for sharing your knowledge with us ❤❤❤
Excellent podcast!
Wait what? The merger between Kroger and Albertsons is not going through? Did I hear that right?
Yes😊
Biden’s FTC chair is going after monopolies and that is a good thing. We need to reward the Democrats in the 2024 election for being headed in the right direction.
@@michaeldonnelly3999 not true. The FTC is trying to block it, but it's not a done deal.
in limbo with the FTC
In the last 4 years this has been a huge topic in our household! Lack of affordable nutritious food. The disconnect from animal to plate is big too! It’s a horrible situation large scale but until the last 100 or so years has that been a problem. Great conversation, need more!
We aren't going to nationalize anything. We're anti socialism.
Thank you for the service you provide.
Left wing lies are the service.
If the thought of what we are doing to ourselves and to our beautiful planet doesn't bring you to actual tears, i fear nothing will.
i am on Vancouver Island Canada ina farming community, since covid I built a 24 bed garden, have all the veg i need and sell or give away the balance, i ALSO BRING MY EXC ESS VEG TO MY NEIGHBOUR WHO USES IT TO D=FEED HIS CHICKENS i THEN GET HIS EGGS AND THEY ARE FRESH AND BEAUTIFUL. SO NOURISHING. I live on the ocean , catch fish, see my neighbours for beef and pork and chickens, I rarely go to the thieving grocery stores, except when i NEED SOME BASICS OR INEXPENSIVE MEATS FOR MY DOG. The greed in Canada and the USA is outrageous and one day there will be a rise from the people when they can no longer eat or shelte rthemselves, Many people say oh th egood old days well that is now comng true, I am so grateful to have been able to grow up from the 50's 60's 70's and 80's that we a more reasonable time. Michael Poland is a wise man sharng such wisdom certainly helps some. Thank you
If you pay your workers well, they will buy more,of your products. Great point!
What a great discussion. Thank you so much for having this enlightening guest. I have not heard other discussions tying antitrust with ag (or other) production and the disatisfaction of the electorate. Also appreciate hearing about the change in standard pursued by the current administration.
The nearest grocery store is a 15m drive away from me, and it's an Albertsons. There's a King Soopers across the street from it, and a Walmart Grocery just down the block.
There is nowhere to 'buy local' around here, and even if there was it'd be frickin expensive.
We need to reign in big business.
Nothing with inelastic demand, or a natural monopoly, should be for-profit. And half of what's left should have a not-for-profit public option.
Money is king and follow it to congress and how they make laws.
5 reichwing sociopaths on SCOTUS in black robes said in 2010, "$$$$$ is speech." Serving their reichwing billionaire donors. Citizens United.
That ship sailed a long time ago. The system is broken and it's unlikely it can be fixed. Who contacts their congressman any more?
I live a 5 minute walk from Albertsons and Fred Meyer (Kroger). They sit on opposite corners of the same intersection. The screwing over has been non stop; it is going to get worse.
It's "the grocery game". It's the same in Canada very little competition. This is a great video, informative. One big thing that gets overlooked is that the food we grow in North America is sold globally, bid on and sold to the highest bidder worldwide. We used to only sell our excess to the rest of the world. It may only be a small percentage of the overall problem. Greedflation is the biggest problem, and not enough ethics classes in the business education system. 😢
I was just in Italy and found the price of coffee in a grocery store to be $6-7 a pound versus what I pay in USA at around $12-16 a pound. Just one example, there were plenty of others and I was a bit shocked.
Corporate America sticking it to us!
Yeah this is why I'm trying to grow food. I'm nowhere near even a small farm, but if I can support myself and few others in the community that is good enough for me :)
18:52 capitalism absolutely ISNT about competition. Capitalism is an ownership structure of enterprises which separates workers and owners, and it inevitably tends towards oligopoly or monopoly.
Saying that "capitalism is about competition and free markets" is nothing more than fantasy and propaganda.
Capitalism is about maximizing profits. Unfortunately for the consumer, the best path towards maximizing profits is to eliminate competition, which is the end result of oligopoly and monopoly. On top of that, you have this entity called the corporation that has no reason, other than bankruptcy, to ever die. It is no longer a business of people, but a financial instrument with an infinite appetite for profits. If the game is rigged, it's primarily the inevitable result of the system that's been set up.
Well said.
On that note, fun fact: a meat packing plant in Greeley, Colorado, was found to be employing teenagers at a lower hourly rate, second shift. That takes a regular job away from an adult. It also takes advantage of the "cheap" labor available from new immigrants who are willing to perform these difficult jobs.
The question is still How Much Is Enough? For shareholders, for corporations, for C-suites. For individuals worth a hundred million, if liquid, would have a mere $5.5M annually to live off without touching principle. That’s a mere $15k daily, $450k monthly. I mean WTF? How much is enough? 4 of 7 deadly “sins” in play. Greed, envy, lust, gluttony. Stop the f-ing madness.
Be a shareholder and become rich instead of complaining. LOL
Good grief!@@fasteddie7276
There is no bottom to the greed. CEO's making multimillion dollar per year salaries while folk who work for them can't afford an apartment!
Vote Biden, he's trying against all odds and needs our support. Bernie has aligned with him in this fight! So now, the repuglicans are claiming Biden has moved too far left.
Vote all blue!
Try buying shares when you can't pay your rent! Arrogance is not cute when folk are really suffering...repuglican!
Vote all blue!
@@sylviagoodman6008 lol. Teachers pension funds are investing in these companies. I guess you want teachers to be poor like you. Smh
Interesting that no one ever talks about the importance of immigrants in food production. During the trump administration, the state of Alabama passed a law that purged all migrant labor. Farmers woke up one day and found that their entire work force had vanished. Since then, many other states have adopted similar laws. Potato farmers in Idaho have had to create mass graves to bury potato crops because the labor that was needed to pack and ship the potatoes no longer existed. The governor of Florida has created a special police to arrest any individual who helps an immigrant to live and work in the state. Among other results is that we now import tomatoes from Canada, a crop that used to be abundant in Florida, and strawberries are not only expensive but spoil as soon as you get them from the store because they have to be shipped all the way from Northern California.
Its definitely price gouging. 🤬
Excellent discussion! We would be better off to talk about this instead of all the tRump crap!
But, must add that on top of this corporate greed, trump has promised these big corporations greater tax cuts! What an insult to struggling folk!
Vote all blue!
Omg, yes!!!!
Right. He has been used as a distraction for years. Insanity.
You won't get Fox/Newsmax/OANN to tell their viewers the truth about the gouging corporations. "Bidenomics" Democrats and the Federal Reserve are to blame so far as those propagandists are concerned.
The continuously changing economic conditions in our society have made it necessary for people to find additional sources of income, thus I am looking at the stock market to fuel my retirement goal of $3m, my only concern is the recent market crash.
For majority, the solution to their problem can be found in specialized knowledge, so can as well seek guidance from a well experienced advisor.
Despite my rookie knowledge of investing, I have a financial advisor who did the trick in a bit more than 6 months after a lump sum capital of $500k, and I've so far made a fortune. I'm now buying real estates, gold and silver as advised by my FA.
Truly appreciate the implementation of ideas and strategies that result to unmeasurable progress, thus the search for a reputable advisor, mind sharing info of this person guiding you please?
My CFA ‘Grace Adams Cook’ , a renowned figure in her line of work. I recommend researching her credentials further. She has many years of experience and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to navigate the financial market.
Wow such an eye-opener! curiously inputted Grace Adams Cook on the web and at once spotted her consulting page, she seems highly professional from her resume.
This is a great show. Tremendous respect for the hosts and for Bill Pollan. Though, I'd love it if you could revisit the part of the conversation about making better food choices. I'm 52, and only now can I afford to buy what I know is high quality meat from local farms. What advice would you give those just starting out in life? Or, those people who lack either a high school or college education and are stuck working in the retail sector? Even working at Burger King for $20/hr in CA, I think it would be difficult to afford that quality of food. Do you agree?
If you can't afford high quality, ethically produced animal products, you shouldn't be eating meat.
Oop, shout out to Jersey for the Rutgers tomatoes 🤘, my seeds are ten years old and still sprouted...very delicious!
I'm a Rutgers certified Master Gardener. Our Jersey tomatoes RULE!
I am very conservative, but Mr Reich, I really respect your insights. Thanks for your work - I have subscribed.
The story that isn't being told is the working conditions in retail. It's always been a hard, low-paying job, where you're on your feet constantly, being encouraged to work off the clock, etc. They may no longer encourage you to work off the clock, they've just raised work expectations to unsustainable levels. Let's say I work for one of the 2 companies that was attempting to merge. Pay was belatedly raised during the pandemic to bring us on par with other retailers, say around $15/hr. For that sop, the worker is now micromanaged to death, right up to store leadership. Everyone is under so much pressure to produce according to this timetable, filing reports every day, *and* scrambling to do the regular work. Demand never goes down, and it's ignored, people only mention the prices. We have yo pay those prices too. Every day is exhausting and stressful in the extreme. I'm not asking for sympathy; I hear a lot of "If you're unhappy, change jobs," as if it were that simple. Hard work isn't the issue. Brain power isn't the issue. I've seen investigative reporting on Starbucks, which is honestly a relatively easy (less physically demanding) job, and Amazon, which is closer to what we face. No one gets breaks, a lot of us have to eat a granola bar or similar on the run, skipping sitting down to lunch, because of the whip-cracking mindset. We're well on the way to being forced to pee in cups, like Amazon drivers and warehouse workers.
By far the most outrageous prices at the grocery store is paper products like paper towels and toilet paper. This stuff is the most expensive items in the store. Other outrageously priced items are soaps and detergents, coffee, and OTC drugs. Actual food items especially fresh food and meats are not cheap but when I go to the store these items are a relatively small part of the total bill. Just one package of paper towels can be 50% or more of the bill. Inflation has slowed down but the huge price increases of the last 10 years are not going down and that is a hard pill to swallow for old people on fixed incomes.
I cut up my old cotton t shirts andd ise was loths as rags.wash and reuse.better for the environment and the wallet.and they do a better job at picking up messes.
I live in Iowa. We do not have any family farms left. It is all owned by huge corporations, or is rented out to them. So there are no farmers walking the fields checking his crops to see if he needs to spray. These corporations spray every 2 weeks weather the crops need it or not. They use planes to spray all day long. The wind picks up the spray and it drifts into our towns and cities. No wonder we have such a high rate of cancer.
Ceos were 1000 times more talented in the 1960s than they are now. Its a myth that these people deserve their pay.
I look forward every week to Coffee Klatch
It's hard to believe 😪 we will never have family farms again. I sure miss our farm!! We were just too small. The bank told me I didn't owe enough money!!
Thank you all! Bring back the Office of Price Control. That would shake up the oligarchs.
Price control is anti competition.
@@yourdaddy-mq4km what competition? Isn’t that one of the points in the video? When someone steals your car (economy) you don’t ask them politely to give it back. The OPC worked in WWll even with its foibles and big business hated it. So much so by the mid 50’s it had been dismantled. The mere thought of it sends chills down the oligarchs… I’d say spines, but it’s more like tentacles. I would like to take this moment to apologize to all the octopus out there.
@@jp3576 The competition the democrats has regulated out of the market.
@@jp3576 The competition that the democrats have regulated into outsourcing.
So are big corporations!
I would argue that prices are not to expensive but the money should go to farmers instead og supermarkets. People should go support farmers and buy directly from the farm
Thank you for clarifying "the minority of shareholders" are the problem.
Too many people "blame the shareholders", when the majority of Americans are "shareholders".
- But, like what they said, the minority vastly control the majority of the shares.
I learned how to make sauerkraut from Mr. Pollan on the PBS DVD FOOD FORWARD.