President Joe Biden is weighing how hard to hammer big food companies over painfully high grocery prices in his upcoming State of the Union Address. But some some aides remain wary of focusing too much on food inflation, given how little power the president has to singlehandedly force down prices.

Biden embraced the concept of “shrinkflation” in a Super Bowl message targeting major snack food corporations — as the president framed it, there are now “fewer chips” in your bag, while companies are “still charging you just as much.”

And the White House has been aggressively testing out the messaging on the airwaves and in internal polling ahead of Biden’s speech, according to two White House officials familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak on the issue and were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Recent polling circulated within the White House has been favorable to Biden’s push to blast what he’s described on the campaign trail as “corporate greed” driving higher prices across a range of sectors.

  • ChihuahuaOfDoom@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Around 2004 I could fill a standard grocery cart for around $100, just yesterday I barely needed 2 paper bags to carry what I purchased and it was $90. I don’t understand how anyone with rent or a mortgage can afford to live anymore.

    • Carnelian@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I don’t understand how anyone with rent or a mortgage can afford to live anymore.

      You ever see that art installation of the robot which is leaking oil, but continuously tries to squeegee the oil back in until it eventually shuts down?

      • Ms. ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Assuming it isn’t a different piece I haven’t heard of, it’s called “Can’t Help Myself” and it isn’t squeegeeing it’s own oil or hydraulic fluid back. It was shut down by the artists (though it would have stalled out on its own at some point it was definitely wearing down).

        For anyone interested here is a vid talking about the unhinged artists and the robot piece:
        https://youtu.be/vSnvVuKg6d8?si=5G2fh8vW-zY9ouJH

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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      9 months ago

      Shit has been going on for decades. 20 years ago elmontery(spelling? Whatever) was normally priced at $2.99 for a 10 pack. Now it’s $6 for an 8 pack.

      Also, pretty much every frozen pizza has shrunk. Tostinos pizzas used to be close to 13oz and the cost like 89 cents. Now they’re about 10.5oz and they’re $1.89. Both these changes in size happened over a decade ago. There’s a lot more, but over the last few years it’s been accelerating like mad.