Nearly 20% of those polled said they no longer turned on their oven, while 23% said they were using their oven and hob less. People were opting for meals that are quick to cook in order to keep a lid on their energy use, with a fifth reporting using a microwave more.
On the second and fourth Thursday of each month, the Winslow Community Cupboard opens to about 220 people who roll up to the parking lot behind the Winslow Congregational Church to receive a distribution of food for their families. The 27 volunteers who work to fill orders were serving 150 families last December.
That’s a 47% increase in families seeking assistance from the food pantry. And with about 18 to 20 families joining that queue of cars down Lithgow Street each month, demand is ever-increasing, organizers say. So, too, are the pantry’s operating costs.
The global economic outlook is deteriorating due to inflation-fighting efforts by central banks, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and China’s prioritization of political control over economic growth. A global recession is likely, with at least slower economic growth virtually certain.
What Wall Street gets wrong is that a global recession is not “likely”, but is already happening. People consuming less, be it food, energy, or whatever, is recession by definition.
We’re in a recession. If the global situation deteriorates much further the term “depression” starts becoming applicable.
Surprised that the food bank withdrawers drive cars to the queue.
Here in the US I have the intuition that the labor market, in which Jay Powell seems so confident, is about to turn on a dime.