Picture this: you’re doing your grocery shopping at a store in Athens. You’re going through your list: eggs, bread, frozen veggies, meats, the whole nine yards. As you peruse the shelves, you notice they seem quite bare. You also notice a lot of the items are a bit more expensive than they usually are.
This is what you can expect in the coming months, if you haven’t noticed it already.
Appalachia, the country and the world as a whole are experiencing supply chain issues. There are shortages — not of goods — but of the means to transport these goods. Shipping containers, chassis and even truck drivers are in a shortage right now. This issue stems from the pandemic: the entire global economy shut down and tried to pick itself back up right away, triggering a myriad of issues that were bound to happen due to present but ignorable problems in the supply chain.
The White House has warned, “There will be things at Christmas that people can’t get,” in reference to gifts and the general increase of consumerism that comes with the holiday season.
On top of the supply chain issues caused by the pandemic, inflation rates are at an all-time high.
The Consumer Price Index is 5.7% higher than it was at this time last year. The Wall Street Journal estimates that once grocery store prices increase by 5%, consumer spending habits will change. This is bad not only for the economy but also for individual consumers.
While it is important to recognize this is impacting all areas of consumerism, the most important area to think about is grocery items. In times of great economic distress, like what we are facing now, the inability to buy a new pair of Nikes is much less salient than the ability to put food on the table. In an area like Appalachia, very rural and disconnected from the rest of the country, we can expect to be hit harder by this issue than any other area of the U.S.
This is a nationwide issue that is only going to get worse as it develops and no solutions are presented. Students — especially off-campus students — ought to be aware of this issue and prepare themselves for possible food shortages. The university should be prepared to help off-campus students through these troubling times, whether it be through dining hall vouchers or increased size of food banks — if it is able.
Mikayla Rochelle is a graduate student studying public administration at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Tell Mikayla by tweeting her at @mikayla_roch.
