Heat or Eat: A Real Problem in America

            On trip number two back to Giant Eagle, I noticed facts about cost and available product choices that I hadn’t realized before. First, looking at pricing for most items, Giant Eagle brand has the cheapest options. Where there is a Giant Eagle brand competing with another brand, it will require the least money spent. However, going along with that, Giant Eagle has multiple brand names under its own. Some of these names include Market District and Nature’s Basket brands. This is potentially misleading for consumers who believe that they have a choice of who to buy products from in the grocery store.

While Giant Eagle does currently have some great BOGO deals going on, when these aren’t happening, grocery items get very expensive. My list added up faster than I would’ve imagined it to. To me, $250.00 seems like a lot of money to be spending on groceries for a week. If I compare it with the price of eating out though, it seems like a great money saver. Say the average meal is $10. If a family of four eats out for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, they will spend $840.00 a week. Typically, meals are more expensive than just $10 when out at a restaurant, so having all three meals at home during the week is definitely a money-saver.

This past summer, I was living in an apartment in Pittsburgh, taking classes and working full time at a pizza shop. I was making $7.50 an hour, which is just above minimum wage, and I was really struggling to support myself. I ended up having to asking my dad to help me cover the costs of my apartment bills, because between rent, utilities (which were way more expensive than I ever expected), and food, I would not have been able to keep up with all the payments on my low salary. It is impossible to live off of Pennsylvania’s minimum wage as a single person, much less as a family of three or more. It is crucial that minimum wage be raised so that families with providers working minimum wage jobs can live with a roof over their heads, not having to decide between “heating or eating.”