Carmen Hall: Food price hikes will hurt poorest most

The price of groceries is only going in one direction, up. Photo / File

I don’t like to scrimp on food. I think it harks back to a time in the distant past when I couldn’t make ends meet. I was a solo mother with two kids and bills to pay.

After rent and power, there was not much left over and no matter how hard I tried to work within a budget I often ended up living day to day.

It’s not a particularly nice feeling thinking about where your next meal is coming from and being flat-broke. Those emotions fuel stress, anxiety and depression.

I know what it is like to check your bank balance 50 million times and count down the minutes before your paycheck appears.

I have learned tricks of the trade to bulk out meals to make them heartier and stretch further. I am no stranger to leftovers and reinventing mince or chicken into a myriad of different dishes.

Vegetable soup has got me through a few winters.

I don’t know if I would have made it, however, without the support of my parents who helped me out by lending me a few dollars when I needed it for a loaf of bread or a pound of butter.

They were also known to rustle up a few sausages or some drumsticks out of their freezer.

I did not have to use a foodbank however, I take my hat off to those who are working tirelessly in our community to keep people fed.

I fear there will be more people seeking their assistance this year.

There is no doubt everyone is talking about the cost of living and the horrific increases in food. Stats NZ said food prices had jumped 1.1 per cent in December and were 11.3 per cent higher than a year earlier.

It was the biggest annual increase in food prices in 32 years.

Economists have said it could take months for food prices to cool off thanks to inflation, supply chain disruption and the recent poor weather.

Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said it was spending $70,000 in the coming year on chicken and sausages and $25,000 for 12 months worth of eggs at discounted prices, as it faced increased demand.

Rotorua Whakaora founder Elmer Pfeiffer said there was a need in the community which was also reflected through its figures, and local shoppers described food prices as “crazy” and “a joke”.

I am slashing my grocery bill but my thoughts go out to those families who have no fat to trim.

Sadly, they will pay the highest price.