Q: Who’s To Blame? / A: The Entire Food Supply Chain
This is a republishing of SpokenFood’s inaugural article.
We’re calling it WalletGate. That’s right. National implications involving conspiracies and our own government.
Unlike the scandal from the 1970’s, this aptly named scandal affects every single, living being on the planet who eats, and while we’re no longer an agrarian society, solely dependent upon oneself to make, grow, shoot our daily food, we are dependent on our national food supply chain of manufacturers, distributors and retail grocery stores. We can’t live without their food. And are we ever paying the price these past 3 years.
Know this right now. Our entire distribution chain is suspect; most are engaged in price-gouging.
In what became a critical conversation recently, an anonymous employee in the UNFI network told SpokenFood this: “30% is automatically built-in to the price.”
In the 1970’s, the United States government, including the President of the United States, Richard Nixon himself, conspired to lie to the American people about a political cover-up that became known as the Watergate scandal. In the food distribution world, since the end of the Covid era–beginning in 2022–we at SpokenFood.com have uncovered an equally disturbing trend with massive national effect, even possible government implications.
Our U.S. Government: A Very Willing Accomplice
After years of “post-Covid B.S.,” the excuses from grocers and restaurant owners are becoming clear as mud. It is beginning to reveal a dark suspicion beneath why our food has become so damned expensive: no one has a straight answer.
Here’s the reality – look at the graph.
Unwritten policies—alleged but never acknowledged publicly in the food supply chain—seemingly come straight from the food distributor executives who supply the grocers and restaurants we rely on. Are they pulling the strings, and we’re footing the bill? Something has to explain these large increases.
It’s time for you, the consumer, to change the narrative.
Our food supply is a public utility—an absolute necessity, not a luxury.
Just like water, power, gas, or public transit, food is essential—yet it’s being treated as a profit playground, siphoning off extra dollars from wallets, purses, and Venmo accounts without justification.
At SpokenFood.com, we are reframing the price-gouging debate. This is where real change begins.
Most people think of food as a commodity—just another product you buy, priced by the market. Pay up or go hungry. End of story. Not so.
Do this now: start thinking of your grocery bill as you do your electric bill or gas or phone service—vital infrastructure, governed by rules, limits, and accountability. Your grocery store is your food supply. Think they can just raise rates whenever they want? (Answer: they are but they shouldn’t.)
Your food got to your local restaurant or grocery store via a national distribution chain—just like your utilities. While your energy rates are regulated, why aren’t your food costs?! They spike every, single month. And it’s not getting better.
Distributors are reporting millions in profit.
So ask yourself:
• Can a power company raise your bill during a heat wave?
• Can a pharmacy jack up insulin prices during the holidays?
• Can a water utility triple your rate because of “supply chain pressures”?
The answers are: “No. No. And hell no.”
So why are grocers and distributors allowed to hike prices with vague, often disproven excuses—like fuel costs for trucks? Because it’s possible some of them are greedy and they’ve been allowed to operate this way, unchecked.
➡ A Yum Brands restaurant employee, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said their managers routinely cite gas prices when explaining higher food costs.
➡ A grocery employee supplied by United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) echoed the same explanation: fuel costs. But UNFI itself did not respond to three emails and two phone calls to company managers and vice presidents seeking comment.
For those conspiring parties: This is the very definition of price-gouging.
Congress, the FTC, and many state attorneys general have seemingly turned a blind eye since prices began spiking after COVID. Some claim it’s part of doing business in America. Others exclaim loudly they’re “doing everything they can!” None of this is getting any traction. The truth is this: someone’s getting paid (and it ain’t you).
Look at the chart again. Really look at it.
Over the past two months, we reached out to 30 of the largest food distributors in America for comment – they lied. Our numbers don’t lie.
Look at the chart one more time. Then call your Congressman/Congresswoman. Then call or email the FTC.
Until the everyday consumer gets involved, we’re not budging this needle. They’re locked in.
Sources & Images: FTC, BLS, CPI, PPI, ChatGPT, UNFI, Yum Brands, Wikipedia
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