Deflating Inflation

I will heartily admit that about some foods I couldn't care less about the brand or breed, I just eat it. Like Pizza, I really don't have discerning taste, I will eat anything. However, when it comes to orange juice, macaroni and cheese, and ice cream, I am a food snob. Not that I won't eat other kinds, because I will (and I don't complain too loudly) but there is definite superiority in Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and Breyers, Haagen Daas, or Ben and Jerry's ice cream. (Aside: Did you know that Haagen Daas is actually a purely American company that decided to use a European name because they thought it would sell more ice cream?)

For anyone associated with our freezer, there are usually, at anyone time, between 2 and 5 varieties of ice cream in various stages of emptiness. I love ice cream. This is why I was especially alarmed when Jared pointed out that the carton of ice cream is now shrinking. Originally, you received a full half gallon. Then it went down to 1.75 quarts (FYI 2 quarts is a half gallon), and now has recently constricted to only 1.5 quarts!

Of course, I never would have noticed this on my own, it took my well-read husband to point this out to me. So that leads me to wonder, how many other unassuming customers are just going around thinking that their child or dog or husband is the reason a container of ice cream used to last them 3 days and now only lasts them two? As a result, we will likely see an increase in domestic abuse, child starvation, and animal cruelty.

On the other hand, if the rice and flour industries had paid just a bit more attention to the craftiness of the ice cream industry, perhaps there wouldn't be mass hysteria about rice and flour shortages, and empty shelves at Costco. If they were smart, they would have covertly changed their 25 lb bag to a 21.3 lb bag and kept the prices the same. That way only the very small minority would figure out that they were being ripped off and the rest of us would just wonder how we were eating more rice all of a sudden.

Conversely, I wonder if the shrinking ice cream carton is really an indication of a possible ice cream shortage...oh my...perhaps I should go stock up...