Definition of Basic Basket

It is called as basic basket to that set of foods that are presented in a certain quantity that is considered to satisfy the needs of calories and protein of what is known as the average household: father, mother and two children.

Set of foods that minimally satisfy the dietary needs that a person demands

Now, it is important to emphasize that the basic food basket implies a minimum of food, that is, it is the basics, it is what a family group needs so as not to fall into the need for food and a situation of poverty, but by no means consuming it will be ingesting all the nutrients enough.

From this it follows that it cannot be considered as an ideal diet and to be followed, but quite the contrary, since other foods must be added to it to make it complete.

Consuming it, a family it is guaranteed, as we pointed out, only, not to fall into unsatisfied needs.

For example, it is that it cannot be used as a role model in what is known as education nutrition, not even to determine the food needs of a person or community.

Composition and calculation

Normally it is composed of: milk, eggs, rice, corn, cheese, coffee, bread, cereal, oil, sugars, vegetables, fruits, butter and meats, and is taken as a reference to the dietary needs that have a Elderly between 30 and 59 years of age.

The calculation of the basic food basket is carried out in relation to the information that the central bank manifested with respect to the prices observed by those products that are within the basic basket.

The amount of kilocalories that a typical household needs per day must be multiplied by the price of each product.

The sum of each of the foods yields the cost per day of a basic food basket.

When a person or family cannot cover: the basic food basket, clothing and home, it will be located within a state of indigence.

So, the value of the basic basket is the one that marks the dividing line with indigence and undoubtedly stands as the basic instrument to measure the poverty indices in the countries, because it will make it possible to determine the population that is below the poverty

Therefore, it is very important to have measurements in this sense that are reliable and representative to be able to know for sure if a population can pay or not the expenses that the basic basket.

Knowing these values ​​will allow a government to know if the inhabitants can, with the average salary they earn, afford the basic food basket.

The scourge of inflation against the basic food basket

One of the main scourges that threaten access to this basket is inflation, which consists of the general and relevant increase in prices of products and services, including those included in the basic basket, and which results in the depreciation of the currency national.

Meanwhile, to know this information, the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, should be used, which is the index from which the prices of a set of goods and services are valued default.

In inflation scenarios, clearly, the poorest families cannot even afford the expenses of a basic food basket.

For example, it is said that the worst and most regressive tax that exists directly attacking the most vulnerable class is that of inflation.

Because of course, the rich will be affected by the considerable increase in prices but they will be able to continue buying them, while the poor will not be able to even buy the most basic things.

Both the basic food basket and the inflation index, among others, are indicators made by organisms public and technical, which normally depend on the ministries of economy or property and whose mission is to survey prices, for example, and then produce reliable statistics in this regard, such as the value of a basic basket or the CPI.

These organizations are the ones that, based on this price survey, will establish the value of the basic food basket and it can be determined from the income means of a typical family if it can cope or not.

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