I live in a small town̈ with a lot of tourist traffic. We have a small independent grocery store that is really expensive. We have a dg and family dollar. The nearest chain grocery store is 50 miles away the nearest big box is 95.

 

Honestly, a big part of your situation isn’t inflation but limited options. The small independent charges what they want because they can. Dollar stores are to big grocery chains what check cashing stores are to banks. You pay for access with higher prices and limited stock.

 

You can't get produce thru shipping but I get a significant amount of groceries through Amazon, some from walmart. For example I recently got cookies, almond extract, walnuts, mayo, Montreal seasoning, seaweed snacks. There are coupons and subscribe and save on amazon besides discounts sometimes.
For fresh food there are online meal plans, I haven't really looked at them but they have opening offers to get you to try.
We have a Safeway in town but its not that hard to shop discounts and knock off 50%, the savings are right on the receipt, not that I think the savings are real its more a game.

 

I wonder if all the high grocery prices and expensive fast food will have the unintended consequences of Americans in general losing a little weight and or becoming slightly more healthy?

 

Most of the time it’s the exact opposite. Cheap food is usually devoid of nutrition.

 

I live near several supermarkets. All within 5 minutes walk. But the prices keep going up, and up, and up. Things that were £1.25 on offer last week are £1.80 on offer this week. Still, I am managing to keep my food spending to only slightly more than it was, or the same, by being more careful, buying cheaper brands and so on. I spend about £30 a week on food. I rarely buy deserts or sweet stuff. I do put a bit of golden syrup on porridge. I eat fish, but not meat.

 

£30 = ~$40.
I wish I could eat that cheaply! My bill runs $80+ per week, and I don't eat the expensive stuff like beef or lots of eggs or drink wines or beer, or "prepared" meals.

 

I don't know how the price of food compares. I go to a supermarket. Not the cheapest, because it's nearer and has more choice. I rarely pay more than 75p for a loaf of bread. I eat a lot of Quorn, but I only buy it if it's on offer, and I only buy cheaper stuff, not things like imitation ham slices, which is about 2 or 3 times the price per kg. Things like fish fingers, I buy the value brand, 10 for 80p, and I only have 3. I get a cheap brand of low fat margerine that I actually prefer to Flora. Whisky is not included in the food £. I get the cheap supermarket tuna, less than half the price of the name brand. I buy frozen fish when it's on offer. Weirdly, salmon is cheaper, even when it's not on offer, so I don't wait for offers for that. 4 for £ 3.29.

 

Some food inflation can be managed, up to a point. Beef too expensive? Shift to chicken, e.g., or pork.

Just because something it very expensive doesn't mean we have to buy it.

But as I said, up to a point.

Some food costs can be offset by cutting out pre-packaged and pre-prepared meals and cooking from scratch. Essentially, trading time for cheaper overall costs. Boxed cereal too expensive? Shift to oatmeal with a bit of milk and some brown sugar. Make up a stir-fry out of fresh veggies, or even a package of frozen veggies. Get creative with spices and herbs.

But at some point, we can't continue to pay higher prices. Where is that point? Different for different people, of course. But the number one thing people can do, IMO, is to work to cut out processed, pre-packaged and pre-cooked food.

PS: Sometimes it doesn't. I have a bit of a barter thing going on with a few people; I trade what I produce for what they produce. In one case the guy wants to trade eggs and chickens. I talked it over with my wife, and the chickens, while they seem an interesting idea, are too much. We can get a whole chicken, cooked and waiting under the heat lamp at the local grocery store, for $8. We get two meals out of it. Hard to beat that if one has to process the chicken (feathers and all!) from scratch.

 

...PS: Sometimes it doesn't. I have a bit of a barter thing going on with a few people; I trade what I produce for what they produce. In one case the guy wants to trade eggs and chickens. I talked it over with my wife, and the chickens, while they seem an interesting idea, are too much. We can get a whole chicken, cooked and waiting under the heat lamp at the local grocery store, for $8. We get two meals out of it. Hard to beat that if one has to process the chicken (feathers and all!) from scratch.

Costco rotisserie chicken $4.99. I believe Sam's Club has similar pricing on there's, never been tho.

We get 1 or 2 each Costco run, then taper down before Thanksgiving & Christmas. Having those for the Holidays, plus all the fixings.

 

Napoleon had a prize for butter substitute, thus margarine.