Eat less to tackle raging food prices

Anika Hussain, a 36-year-old divorcee, having three kids was at her wit's end trying to cope with the rise in food prices. She lives with her widowed mother.

“The only way I can keep my expenses within my means is by cutting down on the number of items. For a middle class housewife like me, the struggle for survival has become difficult. This year, buying food for my family has been an even greater challenge,” says Anika.

Anika’s mother, Saira Batool, says: “At regular intervals the prices of essential commodities witness a sharp rise in the market. Things have not been any easier throughout the year. We feel frustrated and helpless every time we go to a kitchen market or a grocery shop: food is becoming just too expensive.”

“Many reasons are given by retailers, wholesalers and politicians to justify the rise in food prices. Whether it is the general price hike in the international market, high production cost, or even the wrath of untimely rains damaging grains and vegetables, the inevitable outcome is the sky rocketing prices of food,” says Shehla Zaidi, Anika’s friend.

“The price levels of almost all the necessary food items have gone higher. The current year has seen the higher prices of rice, wheat, sugar, edible oil and lentil, not to talk of meat. Now we are experiencing the highest record of food inflation in the city’s history,” adds Shehla.

Ali Rizvi, a trader, says: “There are other factors working to raise the price of food so frequently i.e. monopolized market, hoarding, the multiple middle-men between farmer and retail consumer and the culture of extortion from production to sales are some of the external reasons of food price hike. These external reasons of price hike can be regulated and controlled by the government.”

“Consumers belonging to middle income groups face a great deal of constraint trying to adjust to the cost of living especially in terms of managing daily menu,” says Naveen Naqvi, a teacher.

Sajjad Hussain, a government official, says: “We are trying to solve the problem of food inflation, yet lack of resources often constrains government's will and initiative. If internal resource mobilization such as revenue from taxes could be ensured, it could have been possible for the government to tackle the food market at least by selling rice and wheat for the poor at lower prices.”

Dr. Naushad Ali, a consumers’ rights activist, says: “The right to food of people can be preserved by making their prices stable in the market. Because of frequent food price hikes, people are forced to ignore their need for a balanced diet and consume as less as they can to adjust their expenses.”