Comparing Military Commissary’s to government run grocery stores like proposed by Mamdani.
It’s been awhile since I shopped at one but there is a reason they are cheaper. No taxes or something.
Playing devil’s advicate
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How is comparing a military commissary to a government-run supermarket any different than comparing a VA hospital or military clinic to govermnent-run health care?
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Do you have any idea of whether commissaries are profitable or not?
A better way to save money on groceries is to roll back all tariffs on food.
Even with tariffs food inflation is lower than the 50-year average.
In October 2025, the U.S. saw a 3.1% year-over-year food inflation rate, with “food away from home” up 3.7% and “food at home” up 2.7%.
The average food inflation in the U.S. over the last 50 years is approximately 3.5% to 4.0% per year, though this figure fluctuates significantly depending on the specific 50-year period examined. For instance, the average annual food inflation from 1967 to 2025 is calculated at 3.97%.
Talk all uyou want…the bottom line is - people noticed and Trump rolled back some food tariffs. Likely too late since, as he himself said…“once prices rise, it’s hard to get them down”. Thanks Trump. And FWIW - the “real” tariffs didn’t start until August. But no matter what…that price increase was self inflicted…and so many felt that the other country really was paying the tariffs.
Just out of curiosity - what was inflation in 2023? How about 2024? Yep…lower than today. But Trump ran on June 2022. So Democrats need to ride the tariffs hard from now thru 2028…Remind them that part of why groceries are still unaffordable is due to tariffs.
Lol… I’m just presenting the facts and data, you can whine all you want but that won’t change the numbers.
Glad you asked, much higher than today.
In 2023, U.S. food inflation slowed significantly from the previous year, with prices increasing by an average of 5.8 percent, according to the USDA Economic Research Service. This was a substantial deceleration from the 9.9 percent.
BTW I know you suck at math, but the 3.1% food inflation today is much lower than Biden’s average in 2023 of 5.8%.
Zero chance they are. Big fat zero. They are government funded, not privately owned.
Commissary prices used to be minuscule relative to commercial groceries. They’ve crept up over the years.
Just like the VA example you mentioned, all the “socialism” in the military is extremely costly and inefficient. It only works because you have the entire nation’s population funding a relatively tiny number of beneficiaries.
Try to apply this to all citizens, and your costs will go from huge to bankrupting.
Yep…That’s what I"m saying…Democrats should run on two year old numbers and put Trump on his heels. FWIW…inflation in 2023 was .4% higher than today and inflation in 2024 was .1% lower than what it is today. but let’s look at 2022.
Huh?
Democrats should run on Trump’s lower than average inflation rate? How does that help them?
They should run on higher grocery prices…thanks in part to tariffs. And they should hammer it…just like you continue to hammer a number that is now almost 4 years old. I bet you and your buddies talk about the 85 Bears to this day.
But they’re lower than the 50 year average, if they want to help Republicans I’m all for it.
From Google search
Military commissaries are subsidized by over $1.4 billion in government funding annually, which is used to cover operating costs and ensure that eligible patrons receive an average savings of 23.7% on groceries compared to civilian stores. This funding is crucial for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to keep prices low for military families, retirees, and other authorized personnel.
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Annual Subsidy: The U.S. government provides more than $1.4 billion in annual taxpayer funding to operate the commissary system.
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Purpose of Subsidy: This funding primarily covers salaries and other operating expenses.
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Impact on Savings: The subsidy enables commissaries to sell goods at a rate that allows patrons to save an average of 23.7% compared to civilian grocery stores, a discount that is required by law.
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No Profit: Commissary operations are designed to be a no-profit system, meaning they do not build a profit margin into the prices of goods.
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Funding Source: The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) receives a direct appropriation from Congress to fund its operations. [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]
AI responses may include mistakes.
[1] https://mybaseguide.com/privatizing-commissary
[2] https://calegion.org/pentagon-considers-turning-commissaries-over-to-private-sector/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Commissary_Agency
[6] https://www.fmi.org/docs/policy-statements/military-commissaries.pdf?sfvrsn=4
[8] https://corp.commissaries.com/customer-service/faqs-listing?field_faq_categories_target_id%5B0%5D=62
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Another issue I have is people believing that every benefit that people sacrifice for should just be freely given to everyone regardless of what they give in return.
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This had nothing to do with the topic of this thread. Haven’t you discussed tariffs in enough other threads already?
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Um…if this is nothing to worry about then why did Trurmp roll back tariffs on food? I am not aware of any consumers who pick up a loaf of bread and say “Wow…$5 for a loaf of bread…but that’s okay because I know that inflation is below than the 50 year average…you know…like it was under the last two years of the Biden administration”.
I thought this thread was about how to lower grocery prices. I stand corrected. Tariffs have zero impact on the price of groceries. I failed to realize that the country pays the tariff and it is not passed on to the consumer. My apologies. Would you like for me to delete my posts that mistakenly pointed out the impact of tariffs on groceries? I would be happy to do so.
Do whatever you want.
Not the same I know, but my kids employer subsidizes lunch at their cafeterias, employees only pay the cost of the food but not the overhead. A decent burger, chicken sandwich or sushi roll is a couple bucks and a meal with side is around $4. My kid says the food is pretty good and better than fast food and fast casual places.