05/20/2025 Just a Few Things

On the Grains
Last night, during the nightly “hey, can you grab a few things while you are out” trip (I was not out, but we all know how this will play out), I noticed something interesting in the food aisle at our local Target. Bananas are on sale for 29 cents each, which hit me in the face like a shovel. In high school, I worked at a local grocery store a quarter century ago and distinctly remember bananas priced at 29 cents a pound. I’m not old enough to talk about gas prices being a nickel, but that served as a stark reminder of the impact of food inflation. At the same time, banana prices are nearly non-existent in our cart, grocery prices, and the push to eat healthier have changed our shopping patterns. I’m not complaining about whether the banana producer got a pay raise; I am concerned that they will likely take a pay cut while everybody else receives a pay raise. There are no banana futures, so we will move on to row crops.