All good cookies start with eggs, sugar, flour and lots of butter. As we got ready to bake cookies last week, we noticed we didn’t have any eggs or butter.
So I immediately hopped in my truck and drove to the grocery store. It was one of those rare trips when you actually leave with just the two items you went in for. Miracle. But at the checkout, I realized something very troubling. With just two items in my basket, I pulled out a $10 bill assuming that would be enough. To my dismay, it wasn’t. One dozen eggs and one pound of butter cost me $13.41. This isn’t good, I thought.
Never in my life have those two items cost so much. How do families with kids do it? What if I would have added a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread? Surely that would have pushed me over the $20 mark. What do high prices have in store for us I thought to myself? What does this mean for our overall economy and the state of our city?
I would be lying if I told you this was the first time I experienced the shock of high prices. Buying food for a restaurant means a daily barrage of ever increasing prices. Last week the price of flour doubled. Doubled!
The price of eggs has skyrocketed as the avian flu decimated millions of chickens across the entire US. Cheese, beef, lamb, you name it. All going up by greater than double digit increases. Trying to keep consumer prices down means businesses have to improve efficiency, keep labor costs down (good luck there), or cut into profits. That’s bad news for small business owners and investors who count on that revenue for household income and savings. Add inflation numbers we’ve all heard about and this worsening economy keeps chipping away at savings in the bank. Inflation makes our dollar less valuable since we can’t buy the groceries we used to. I remember when $100 used to be enough for the week. Now we have to double that. According to a study put out last month, every recession in the United States since 1950 had two common denominators: a shock to energy prices and a quick and sudden rise in interest rates. We are currently experiencing both. The Federal Funds effective rate has almost quadrupled in 7 months and economists put the likelihood of a recession during 2023 at 100%!
As for gas prices, I’m sure you can tell me about that! How much does it cost you to fill up your tank? Too much I bet. Skyrocketing prices at the pump, grocery store and higher interest rates hurt all of us, adding mierda on top of an already overheated heap of manure.
Just look at all of the closed businesses throughout our city. Whether they closed because of violence at the cash register like we saw at Lotaburger, or whether it just got harder to survive this post covid apocalypse, we’re hurting in this City. Look at all of the “closed” signs or reduced hours due to staff shortages.
Rising interest rates plus higher gasoline prices make it almost impossible to stay afloat. How do our citizens afford to fill up their tanks before driving to Santa Fe or Los Alamos to work. How many of you tried to buy a car this past year but couldn’t because there was no inventory. Why are we not making it more affordable to fill the tanks in our cars or trucks with gas and diesel. What are our leaders doing to keep the price of goods lower OR at least improving the outlook for better than average opportunities? Though we certainly keep the environment in our minds and our hearts, having to decide between buying eggs and butter shouldn’t come between me and health or a job or a roof over my head. We constantly make sacrifices. Do I pay for eggs and butter? Or do I fill up my car to get to work? Do I pay higher rent in a better school district or do I save for retirement.
These daily choices come down to the decisions we make to create a better tomorrow. What opportunities am I fighting for? What sacrifices am I making for our kids, for our futures? Before you let political leaders make those decisions for you, stop to think about what matters most to you. To your community. It is my experience that freedom, independence and economic liberty give rise to the best opportunities this planet has to offer. When you’re in the voting booth this coming November, ask yourself who will make this situation better. Because I know more people will have fewer cookies to bake with the price of eggs and butter going through the roof.
Javier Sánchez is the former mayor of the City of Española, NM, and the co-owner of La Cocina New Mexican Restaurant.