Europe is in a recession. The US is in a recession. Japan is experiencing money woes as well. What’s a bright side to this?

Americans are spending less on paper products, soap and accessories, conserving gas but are buying more Spam. 

Spam “seems to do well when hard times hit,” said Dan Bartel, business agent for the union local. “We’ll probably see Spam lines instead of soup lines.”

Even as consumers are cutting back on all sorts of goods, Spam is among a select group of thrifty grocery items that are selling steadily.

The Hormel company has increased their production of Spam because the inexpensive canned meat product has become popular once again. Inexpensive foods may not be chic but they are filling and will definitely serve a purpose.

Items that were once considered recession proof have not proven to be recession proof this time around. Gambling, cable and coffee drinks. Instead of spending extra on taking a day trip to the casino or watching a movie on cable, people are keeping the money in their pockets. Splurging once in a while to buy a coffee drink from Starbucks isn’t happening either. At the same time gas prices decreased, food prices didn’t budge. Also as the weather is getting cooler it is important to have some heat at home. Home heating may not face drastic increases but you still need some form of heat just to keep your pipes from freezing.