No Better Butter

When I came to Mexico, there were several taste adjustments I had to accept. In some cases it meant giving up a certain food altogether, since I couldn't find the special taste I was looking for: i.e. NO VANILLA yogurt! In other cases, the choice was between an inferior taste or an exorbitant price (i.e. chocolate). Thus, I learned to make do with what there was, accept the inevitability, and move on to other things. This was in the late 70's and most of the 80's, before the market started to open up.

Then came the signs that Mexico was practically annexing to the US. Suddenly, and once begun, increasingly, there were American products on the shelves at the supermarket. The old Conasupo was ousted by "Bodega" and later "Mega" versions of supermarkets and those in turn were ultimately shaken by the coming of Walmart and Sam's, etc. etc.

Here's the thing - when the market in Mexico was still limited and I couldn't get the products I loved from home, it made going for a visit that much more anticipated, as in: "oh, when I get there, I'm going to have a delicious snack of vanilla yogurt!! Or a reese's chocolate peanut butter cup!! Or some REALLY GOOD BUTTER for my bread!!! Once things opened up, thanks to NAFTA and globalism in general, the longing for a certain taste has almost become a thing of the past... or has it?

Take the following for example: After so many years of making do with strange-tasting margarines and butters, the arrival of ICBINB to our supermarket shelves was for me a big thrill. Toast with butter and jam in the morning was once again a delicacy! Baked potatos dripping with melted butter became a more standard part of our menu!

But last week, the price for ICBINB was suddenly WAY TOO HIGH! UNACCEPTABLY HIGH!! I do have my limits when it comes to spending money on food, and there's no way I was going to pay double for a product that's not even really an essential and certainly not the healthiest of foods! Better to spend less money and be all the healthier for it.

Upshot of the story: I am back to the taste adjustment thing. I had it good for awhile, but seems like price hiking is getting serious. I don't know how these big supers and bodegas are going to keep stocking and selling their goods, since we who buy are not seeing any great raises in our wages! Are we going to end up in a situation like the horror of the 80's - where you never knew what anything would cost from one day to the next? Hope it doesn't go that far this time, but the way things are looking, I'd have to repeat Fned's motto: "hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst".