I’m Vanese Ferguson with Coffee Talk.
There may be listeners out there who don’t remember or didn’t have this experience, but I so distinctly recall the secret, almost forbidden pleasure, of rolling up to the A&W Drive-in diner as a little kid with my family and the waitresses would come out to the car and take your order and bring it all back on a tray that hooked on the window. The Root Beer was frothy in frosted glasses, and we got to eat in the car! Not at the kitchen or dining room tables. It was such a huge treat in addition to the luxury and expense of eating fast food that wasn’t cooked at home. And it didn’t involve shopping trips where your Mom made careful, economically sound purchases for the family’s food consumption that always included a vegetable in the meal. It’s a bit ironic that after COVID-19 when it seemed like everyone ate in their cars, if they bought a take-out meal, that it is no longer a guilty pleasure by any means. The other sad irony is that with the inflation we’ve seen in the grocery sector in recent years, it is actually more affordable to eat fast food, but not nearly as nutritious. Food inflation is expected to rise by between 2.5 and 4.5 per cent in all food categories, according to the 14th edition of Canada’s Food Price Report 2024. And that’s after experiencing food inflation last year which ranged between 5 and 7 per cent. While we weather this challenge, and it is a significant challenge for families dealing with other financial pressures like high mortgage costs, I have one suggestion – flyer shopping. I started doing this in my early 20’s.and got hooked. I’m list person so I go through the flyers and make lists for each store of what I think is a good deal then figure out whether the gas spent to get between various businesses is worth the savings I’m going to achieve. And you don’t even have to go through a paper flyer – cause now you can have them delivered to your inbox. But I sure do miss the old drive-in restaurant.