Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.

Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food “as a rare treat,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices.”

Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.

A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.

  • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    So during a famine, we’ll have to live on what, canned corn for the duration? I think I’d rather eat the hemp.

    I’m no farmer, so I could be way off, but I feel like there are much better crops we could keep in surplus in case of famine.

    • TORFdot0@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Corn is used in cereals, tortillas, chips, as a sugar substitute, and as animal feed. The one thing you won’t be eating is canned corn because that’s not the kind of corn that we subsidize.

      Corn is actually probably one of the most effective crops we could use in a surplus

      • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        It’s used in all of those things, but it’s not the only ingredient. On it’s own, corn can’t make a ton of unique products, you have to mix in other crops/ingredients and process it.