If you feel like you’ve been spending too much money on groceries lately, don’t worry—you’re not alone. TikTok user Dakota Neifert (@sewerlidd, they/he) shared their shock in a viral video about how a month’s worth of groceries from Walmart nearly quadrupled in price over the past two years.
“I feel like I’m gonna be sick,” they state in the clip, showing their Walmart app in the background.
Neifert had been looking through their Walmart order history when they found an order from two years ago for a month’s worth of groceries.
“45 items cost $126,” they elaborate. “A whole month of groceries, just for me, basically.” The old order confirmation at the top of their screen notes “53 items received,” with an order total of $126.67. No delivery fee or sales taxes were charged.
Neifert explains that they realized there was an option to reorder that exact purchase, and they were curious to see how much the order cost in 2024.
“Now? This order of 45 items for one month would’ve cost $414,” they say, slowly revealing the number on the screen. “That is four times more.”
They finish with a rhetorical question: “How the f*ck—how? Like, what?”
Commenters commiserated with Neifert, sharing their own experiences with price inflation at the grocery store.
“I used to spend $180 for two weeks for my family of four and the dog,” one user said. I am now spending upwards of $430 and trying to figure out what else I can cut. sorry kids you don’t get barbeque sauce.”
“And this is why I went from buying healthy food back to only buying sandwich materials,” another commenter added.
A few users expressed relief at seeing a similar experience. One user said: “Thank you for sharing this. Now I feel a little less gaslit about the grocery prices cause it HAS gone crazy and it’s NOT just me!”
Neifert made a few video responses agreeing with some comments and pushing back against others.
“Yeah, bro, like looking back at that order, it was interesting to see how many unhealthy, little single-use f*cking things I got. Like little mac and cheese, rice bowls, y’know, all those little f*cking things,” they say in response to the comment about buying only sandwich materials.
They go on to note that they’ve started buying fewer conveniently packaged foods over the past two years and are still spending more money. “Every month I’m buying less and less sh*t, but I’m paying more,” they say.
One user tagged Walmart in the comments, asking them to explain themselves. Neifert responded: “What really is to blame is all the f*cking people that run this economy of ours, deciding to take advantage of the pandemic.”
Neifert theorizes that companies capitalized on the public’s cabin fever and distraction during the pandemic. “They’re making it worse and worse, but just so subtly that you barely notice, y’know. Freakin’ frogs in the pot of boiling water.”
@sewerlidd #greenscreen #groceries #economy #inflation ♬ original sound – Sewerlidd
How much has inflation impacted grocery prices?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that average food-at-home prices in 2023 were 5 percent higher than those in 2022. This yearly increase is actually an improvement, as average food-at-home prices rose by 11.4 percent from 2021 to 2022. However, both of these are higher than the historical food price inflation average of 2.5 percent annually.
While the pandemic may have negatively affected food price inflation (the price inflation for 2020 was 3.5 percent), the USDA believes a specific set of negative circumstances in 2022 caused the current high inflation in food prices.
In the summary of its Food Price Outlook for 2024, the USDA writes: “Food prices rose partly due to a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak that affected egg and poultry prices, along with the conflict in Ukraine, which compounded other economy-wide inflationary pressures such as high energy costs.”
2022 saw the highest food price inflation in the U.S. since 1979, and the echoes of it are likely still affecting market rates, despite the inflation rate slowing down over the past year.
The Daily Dot reached out to Neifert via TikTok and Instagram direct message, and Walmart via email.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
