In the twilight of economic uncertainty all the melancholy of our time gathers together. Sadness and pain are the thorns stuck in the side of this land of ours, a clod crushed by the devastating effects of inflation and energy increases. What is happening these days is a harsh passage in the daily climb that every family finds itself having to face in the silence scraped just by an inevitable curse when one is forced to deal with the obligatory expenditure (food, drinks, goods energy). The testimonies of those who leave a supermarket or a fruit and vegetable shop, after paying the bill at the checkout, would be enough to understand the mood of our increasingly afflicted consumer civilization. What do the reports tell us? While waiting for the September inflation data, Cosenza ended August with the highest consumer price index among Calabrian cities. Of course, this is nothing new because it is a record consolidated over time. The latest cost of living data showed a +1.8%, 25th among Italian cities with a reflection on the increase in annual family spending of 319 euros. Numbers that generate that anxiety that holds thoughts captive on a daily basis and which represents the crux through which our financial capacity passes. Families remain clinging to the dynamics of the crisis and the current difficult panorama promises further harmful repercussions on domestic budgets. Moreover, the autumn storm anticipated by the experts is manifesting itself with all its strength, starting with fuel prices starting to rise again after a period of calm on smooth ridges. In the last week the price of diesel and petrol has started to rise again and the recorded surge is between 5 and 10 cents per litre. But the signs are strongly negative. And with the rise in prices at the charging station, the costs of transporting goods will rise again and, consequently, there will be further losses in daily spending. Bread, coffee, fruit, vegetables, electricity, water, gas: everything will continue to cost us more and more.
Everything costs more. The record for price increases in one year goes to extra virgin olive oil, the “green gold”, in name and in fact. A year ago it cost an average of 6.61 euros per litre, today the average price has risen to 9.87 with a difference of 3.26 euros per litre. At its maximum price, the difference in twelve months is even 4.32 euros per liter (from 7.49 to 11.81). A leap that often forces us to give up the quality and properties of olive oil, turning to less noble products. Experts say the surge is linked to the collapse in global production of extra virgin olive oil.
