Sickness and Politics in the House

It's hard having a house full of sick people, being sick yourself, and taking an interest in the political life of the world and the nation. All you want to do is collapse in a chair and stare mindlessly at a television screen for a couple of hours, but alas! The political wheels grind on.

This morning the front page of News.com shrieked another horror story about food prices. Go to http://www.news.com.au/money to read for yourself. It appears they will rise. "Families are paying $1300 a year more than two years ago and it's about to get a lot worse...experts warn food inflation is set to stretch household budgets to breaking point ... the average households weekly food spend dangerously close to the $200 mark." Yes, that's what it says, "Dangerously close". Visions of weapon wielding food dance before my virally challenged eyes, and I continue down the page. An economist is reported to have said that households currently spend about $185 on the weekly food shop. Dangerous indeed.

My own take on this is that if we stop eating for a few months, companies over-pricing our food will be forced to lower prices. Some readers blame the labour government. Some add the rise in food prices to a possible carbon tax and completely freak. One wag points out that packages from the supermarket weigh less than they did a couple of years ago, so we are "paying more for less." Several posters make the expected remarks about "Ju-liar" (supposedly clever play on the name Julia, given name of the current Prime Minister who may have been flitting about national supermarkets at midnight changing price tags but probably wasn't). The sensible responses, the quieter responses, point out that "I make my own" and "I buy in bulk" and "I shop at the markets." That is the answer, buy less processed and 'treat' food. Eat healthily. Use the methods that numerous 'pay less' gurus suggest. They work. I know they do, and whenever a story like this one hits the national news pages I think ruefully of the chocolate, ice cream and biscuits I might have to forgo. Then there are the desserts we used to make and now buy. The cakes and biscuits. All self made. These days my children bake more than I do! The various snack foods that harm our health ... maybe that's the danger that lurks in the supermarket food aisles, maybe that''s the threat. They should be labeled "Moment of sweet/salt fattiness on tongue and shorter, poorer quality life ..."