Convenience and cheapness has won. No one cares about a quality product. It's better to buy more cheap things than few good things, people think.

This is mostly evident in fashion and appliances today because we already embraced this with food decades ago.

The corporations want you to spend all your money, and money you've yet to earn, right now. Everything is bought on credit (in many cases, you can't even pay with cash anymore).

Especially in America, people want as much 'stuff' as possible for the least amount of money. What's often missing from this stuff is quality. The only way to reduce the retail price is to reduce the cost of production. This means your food is made cheaply with exploited natural resources and cheap labor. A lot of American grown food is shipped to China for processing then shipped back to the US for sale, all to meet the demands of cheaper food.

I would offer to everyone that they take some time to consider what they're buying, how frequently they buy it, and where it comes from. No government or corporation is going to change what you eat.

Start with reducing your meat consumption at every meal. Instead of a 12 ounce steak, get 10 ounces. Instead of a 5 piece chicken meal, get a three piece. Double or triple up on your vegetables.

The real changes happen when you start to cook for yourself. Just buying whole foods instead of processed foods is going to cut your grocery bill down dramatically. Compare the per pound cost of a whole chicken to boneless chicken breasts per pound. Also - have you noticed how woody and gigantic chicken breasts are now? Buy a whole chicken, butcher it, save money, eat delicious food.

Again, no one is going to do this work for you. And no one's going to force Big AG farmers to start regenerative farming. Especially given the promises of the incoming administration which may very well eliminate the USDA and EPA entirely. The new GOP is going to eliminate as many federal agencies as possible and shift them to states and corporations. The Republican Party is trying to put more responsibility in the hands of consumers. And when that doesn't work (we're too lazy to care) corporations will make the choices for us. Frankly, our consumer protections already suck so this is mostly already the case. But, as evident from this past election, more people in this country want fewer consumer protections.

This story is happening because of consumer demand and ignorance. People walking into Walmart to get groceries have no clue what's going on before they pick out their produce and protein. It blows my mind that a culture war is happening over the price of eggs being over $2. Eggs should not cost that little.

Moreover, I feel strongly that of all things a person spends their time and money on, it should be food. Food, Water, Air, and Sleep should be at the pinnacle of everyone's priorities.

Please, assess your finances and figure out how to prioritize sourcing and preparing quality food. Please find a local farmers' market. Support local businesses who put their earnings back into your community. Keep tabs on farmers who use regenerative farming and spend a portion of your food budget with them. These are the things that should matter more than a Netflix or YoutubeTV subscription.

Yes, this takes work. It takes work you're paying corporations to do for you and they're cutting corners (to put it lightly) to get you the cheapest crap permissible. Instead of asking, "why is this so expensive", we should be asking "why is this so cheap". Shifting priorities towards nourishment and away from convenience and streaming subscriptions should hopefully give you some opportunity to see things this way.