5 minute read
Let’s Play the Inflation Game
MOMMY BLOGGER
Let’s Play the Inflation Game
KIMBERLY RAE MILLER
WRITER, ACTRESS
As food prices continue to increase, families have started to strategize food shopping
I don’t want a lifetime supply of canned ravioli, but I am impressed by the people I see on TV who somehow manage to fill their basements, closets, and toolsheds with years’ worth of pantry- stable items that they bought for 37 cents. Extreme couponing, or couponing in general, has never been my thing. I like a deal as much as the next person, and if something I generally buy is on sale, I’m not beneath stocking up. Still, the few times I’ve opened the circulars that show up on my lawn each week to look at the coupons inside, I haven’t seen anything that we would typically include in our weekly grocery haul. When my local newspaper hosted an Extreme Couponing master class with someone I assume is famous in couponing circles, I surprised myself and signed up for it. But 2022, in all its humbling glory, has me rethinking many things in my life like if I can walk the 27-miles I drive to work each day and if a pantry full of ravioli isn’t worth a shot.
While I may never have the time, energy, or passion for couponing like the masters, I find myself regularly brainstorming new ways to trim my ever-increasing food budget. For instance, I’ve learned to leave my husband and kids home for shopping trips. Everyone is an adventurous eater when they’re roaming the brightly colored aisles of the grocery store, but they’re far less committed to trying new things once they’re home. We’ve nixed our weekly takeout night, as restaurant prices unsurprisingly reflect the same uptick in food costs we’re feeling at home. Instead, I’ve been making my own pizza dough at home (Note to grocers: more self-rising flour, please!), turned Taco Tuesdays into a tradition, and making the most of my Instant Pot Indian Food cookbook.
I’ve cut back on meat significantly. Thank goodness my kids love tofu. Not only has meat been harder to come by lately, but it is by far the steepest price increase we see at the store. I’ve also been picky about the fresh produce that we buy. We go through pounds of fruit each day, but I’m relying heavily on frozen vegetables to cut back on waste and cost.
I’ve even attempted to figure out the in-app coupon system for my local grocery store. Please note, if you rely on an app to incentivize customers, please have in-store wi-fi or at least don’t block cellular service, so customers can actually access it. All in all, as prices continue to increase in just about every aspect of our lives, keeping our food budget manageable may ultimately be a pointless endeavor. Still, I will continue to try to find healthy food I can ultimately afford to feed my tiny humans. Although let’s be honest, they’d probably prefer the canned ravioli. ■
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By Joe Toscano, Vice President, Trade & Industry Development at Purina
At Purina, we are committ ed to pets, people and the planet we all share. You love your pets and want a safe and clean environment where you can play together for years to come, and so do we. That’s why Purina is committ ed to the safety and health of our pets, and to our planet. From the soil where our ingredients grow to our manufacturing faciliti es where our pet food is made, you can be confi dent that we’re using resources effi ciently throughout the journey of your pet’s food. How are we pursuing a more sustainable future? To start, we are working to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and striving for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Purina is also transiti oning away from paper FSIs and focusing instead on digital FSIs. In 2021, Purina’s FSIs were printed on 1.1 billion pieces of paper, which equals roughly 54,217 trees. For 2022, our Dog Chow, Friskies and Beyond brands have all committ ed to not running paper FSIs. If all of our brands fully transiti on to digital FSIs, we esti mate we could save roughly 136 acres of forest while sti ll off ering our consumers great deals on their favorite pet products. When it comes to sustainable business practi ces, we source ingredients responsibly and conti nuously work to reduce our energy, water and waste in our operati ons. Every ingredient in our food serves a purpose. We work to ensure it meets the nutriti onal needs of your pet. Purina is working with America’s farmers to assess the ongoing challenges facing their community and collaborati ng to help implement innovati ve approaches like regenerati ve agriculture to improve the health of the ecosystem and enhance overall producti on. Purina is working to help Nestlé source 20 percent of its key ingredients globally from regenerati ve farming by 2025. We also partner with leading nati onal conservati on organizati ons like The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, and Pheasants Forever to promote healthy ecosystems in sourcing regions complementi ng the work done by thousands of farmers. Today, more than 80 percent of Purina’s product portf olio by weight is packaged in recyclable materials. We are working to opti mize our packaging with the goal of making the remaining 20 percent reusable or recyclable by 2025. We are also working to incorporate more recycled content into our packages and eliminate unnecessary materials. For instance, our Tidy Cats Naturally Strong cat litt er is available in 14 lb and 20 lb jugs that are made with 50 percent post-consumer recycled plasti c, and Yesterday’s News clumping and non-clumping cat litt ers are made with recycled paper. The aluminum cans that our wet dog and cat food come in can be recycled endlessly, resulti ng in a signifi cant decrease in waste. In fact, recycling 75 percent of all aluminum cans would prevent 11.8 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, which is why we are working on a program that encourages consumers to recycle their empty cans of wet food. Why does this matt er for your store? Research has shown that consumers are choosing brands whose values align with theirs, especially when it comes to sustainability. A September 2021 survey conducted by PwC showed about half of respondents said they consciously consider factors related to sustainability when making purchasing decisions. You can learn more about Purina’s sustainability eff orts by visiti ng purina.com/about-purina/cares. Please contact your Purina sales rep to discuss further and learn how you can get involved.
Purina trademarks are owned by Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.
