From The Cheapest To The Most Expensive; Food Prices In Perspective.

If food wasn't a must for humans, I wonder what the price of many food items would look like with the current economic situation of the world, because this inflation of a thing is general. It's everywhere even though some parts of the world feel the heat than normal.

I am part of the generation who bought groundnuts and sugar for One Naira. There was a time when 5 Naira would do for lunch as a child, but these small denominations don't hold value anymore. It's as bad as not being able to purchase sachet water with them at the moment.

Food is essential, and we don't have a replacement for it. Whether it's cheap or expensive, we have to purchase them so that we can have the strength to carry on with our daily activities. Regardless of what the price of food items are, there are still levels to food price which a lot of things can influence. Already, food is expensive globally, but some prices are too outrageous for food and that's one of the reasons why I barely eat out. I don't even remember the last time I did so because I know the value of these things and wouldn't pay outrageously just because I am in a big restaurant or something. The majority of the people who pay outrageously for food are only paying for packaging and not the meal.

The environment is one of the major things that influences food prices and many times I don't like getting into this conversation because a lot of people think I have a stingy man mentality. Some time ago, one of Nigeria's popular influencers advertised a fish for 5 million naira, and I was like, "Am I buying a shark?"

A friend tackled me saying that I was talking from a poor man's perspective. He said five million naira isn't too much for a fish if a group of people contributes to enjoy it together, and I had to think again but insisted that I can't buy that kind of fish no matter how rich I am because such money would feed thousands of people for a day.

Luckily for me, a fisherman called the influencer out on social media and said the fish doesn't even cost up to fifty thousand naira and at most, it wouldn't exceed that price. I showed my friend the new video and he was speechless.

The cheapest food I have eaten is cassava flakes and this food is a lifesaver for many of us. I remember when I was in school, that was one food that I mustn't run out of and, luckily there was a lady opposite where I lived who always blessed me with groundnuts. Some people successfully tagged it as a poor man's food but that's not true. There are levels to drinking cassava flakes that would make you push Jollof rice aside because of the orishirishi that will be available to make the cassava flakes a nutritious meal.

I am not saying that I am drinking cassava flakes in any special way, but it's a very valuable food. I don't take it often now for a reason, but there are times I crave it and just go for it, especially on hot afternoons. I always enjoy it with ice, sugar and coconut or peanuts. With as low as two hundred naira, I can easily arrange cassava flakes for myself and I wonder how much eateries would take if they included cassava flakes on their food menu.

Eating out can be inevitable sometimes and if I hadn't been out there a few times, I would have properly used my home-cooked meal as the most expensive food I have eaten. So that day, a childhood friend of mine who relocated to the UK over 10 decades ago came to Nigeria in 2019.

He requested that we link up with some old friends and I couldn't say no. To cut the story short, and for the first time in my life, I unknowingly spent $17 at a hotel on food at a sitting. I got 4 wraps of pounded yam. They were so small that I would have finished even 10 of them. I took Egusi soup and beef pepper soup that was served on a weird plate. Upon finding out the price, I felt terrible because there was nothing spectacular about the food and I would have prepared it better with half the money spent. I have taken pounded yam several times since that day but didn't spend outrageously on it because it was prepared at home.

I have eaten in restaurants after that experience but haven't spent up to that just for me only, and I don't see myself doing that at the moment for different reasons. The first is that I don't have much money to waste, especially in this inflation period, and I would prefer to prepare the meal myself to save some cash.

It always crosses my mind why I need to spend outrageously when I can make these meals myself at a cheaper price, it's not like the outrageous fee will double the nutrients or something. I am in no way condemning people for eating out as long as the meals are well-prepared and whoever wants them has the money to pay their bills.

All image in the post belong to me.