Greedy grocery stores
The Biden Administration took the "greedy grocery stores" to task for high food prices. Like nearly everything that happens during an election year, it was all theater and has no basis in math or economics.
In theory, grocery stores could reduce the price of food by approximately 20% since they have Gross Profit Margins of about 20%.
The Gross Profit Margin is (Revenue from sales/Cost of goods from supplier)*100. It does not include labor or the cost of the facilities or transportation.
To achieve that reduction, the employees would have to agree to work for free and they would have to work next to the public road. They would have to provide their own booths and tables and transport the goods from the nearest warehouse. They cannot even sell out of the parking lot because the parking lot is a part of the facility.
The net profit on retailing groceries, as an industry, is about 2.2%.
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| Apropos of nothing at all, the data shown above is the total, US public debt divided by the US Gross Domestic Product. |
Ready-To-Use-Therapeutic-Food
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| The woman in the foreground is holding a squeeze-pack of RTUT food |
Plumpy'nut was a convenient food used to quickly straighten-out children in later-stages of malnutrition/famine.
It came in squeeze-paks for ease-of-handling. It was shelf-stable, high in protein and calories and fairly palatable. It was roughly modeled on Nutella.
The basic composition of P'n can be replicated by combining (by weight):
- 1.0 parts Smooth Peanut Butter
- 0.7 parts Sugar
- 0.3 Powdered Milk
- 0.3 Vegetable Oil
Throw in some trace-mineralized salt. About 5ml (one-teaspoon) per pound of finished product is about right when the weather is hot. That will be above what the American Heart Association recommends but if you are outside cutting up fallen trees after a hurricane then you will be sweating your buns off and need salt.
The proportions are listed in this fashion so you can take the weight of the peanut butter (example, you might decide to use a full, 40 ounce jar of PB) and then multplying that "40" by the 0.7 for the sugar (28 oz) and 0.4 for the PM and VO (16 oz).
Powdering the sugar and dried milk in a blender will make for a smoother, more consistent goo.
Mix thoroughly and pack 150 grams (2/3 cup) into a 1-qt freezer, zippered poly bags. Snip off a corner and squeeze a ribbon of goo into your mouth to consume. That amount of goo is good for 800 Calories.
Of course, if you see the hurricane coming you can make a couple pans of brownies and get the same benefits in a form that is harder to carry around but easier to eat.
Oral Rehydration Solution
- 8 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (non-iodized is more palatable because iodine adds a metallic taste)
- 1 Liter or Quart of potable water
Many deaths caused by catastrophes are due to contaminated food/water causing diarrhea and then dehydration. "Sports drinks"/electrolytes are usually formulated for taste rather than the biological needs of the person drinking it. They have sugar they don't need and not enough salt.
Oral rehydration solution: gallon of water, heaping handful of molasses (honey, corn syrup ect.) four finger grab of salt.
ReplyDeleteYou might consider adding some Morton lite salt to your oral rehydration mixture. It's a 50/50 mixture of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. Also a dash of baking powder.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Plumpy'nut before. Very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteYou all be safe and God bless.
I believe you have the formula for Gross Profit Margin wrong. It should be Gross Profit Margin = ( Net Sales - COGS ) / Net Sales. COGS is the price of the product only and nothing else. Net Profit Margin equals [ Total Revenue - ( COGS + Interest + Taxes + Operating Expenses ) ] / Total Revenue. Gross profit margin is what politicians use when they want to blame the middleman for high prices.
ReplyDeleteSir: I award you three (count the, THREE) gold stars.
DeleteThanks for the correction.
I meant baking soda. There are recipes online for the WHO recipe for oral rehydration salts.
ReplyDeleteExcellent recipes! Long ago, my wife and I "completed" our primary food storage cache. Since then, we've been adding bulk food like COB with molasses to storage to help out our neighbors under the not-too-altruistic concept that not-starving neighbors remain good neighbors. Adding some high calorie extras like this peanut butter mix to the relief bags would be a blessing for all concerned.
ReplyDeleteHoly Guacamole. That is very good info. THANK YOU. I have almost everything I need for that right now.
ReplyDeleteI make a twist on switchel during the summer. 1 Quart water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, pinch of baking soda and a little vinegar or lemon juice to cover the blah taste. Sometimes I skip the baking soda.
It's fun to see the Left squirm, trying to shift blame for the rampant increases in our cost of living caused by the Left's policies. It's pretty hard to LIE to people when they're LIVING the TRUTH! Fact is, everything I buy costs more now. I either need to make more money or use less stuff. The grocers are up against the same issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's always funny to see people like Traitor Joe Biden sitting there on stacks of money, trying to make believe he's "one of us..."
For the hydration mixtures, adding 1 - 4 tsp of vinegar per gal (I like ACV) will cut down on the mixture's propensity to draw flies.
ReplyDeletePedo Joe read a statement written by SOMEONE ELSE about grocery prices in hopes that if he read it well enough he might get another pudding pop, a fresh pair of Depends and an 8 year old to molest. That brainless oaf doesn't even know what day of the week it is half the time and I guarantee he is TOTALLY unaware of what groceries cost.
ReplyDeleteA question about your P'n recipe: Most peanut butter already has sugar in it, and often a bit of salt, too. Should I factor that into the amount of straight sugar being added, or just ignore the embedded sugar already in the PB?
ReplyDeleteThe basic composition of P'n can be replicated by combining (by weight):
ReplyDelete• 1.0 parts Smooth Peanut Butter
• 0.7 parts Sugar
• 0.3 Powdered Milk
• 0.3 Vegetable Oil
The proportions are listed in this fashion so you can take the weight of the peanut butter (example, you might decide to use a full, 40 ounce jar of PB) and then multiplying that "40" by the 0.7 for the sugar (28 oz) and 0.4 for the PM and VO (16 oz).
Recipe cites .3 PM and VO but directions note .4 each.
Clarification please.