Consider how much people spent on food back then vs now.

Consider the percentage people in smaller countries without large efficient firms spend on food.

Consider the far high prices of Canadian milk, cheese, eggs, and chicken as the law caps production and provides no way to eliminate smaller inefficient producers by outcompeting them.

Nowhere in the world spends a lower percentage of income on food than the USA.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/food-expenditure-share-gd...

The system works for consumers. Tremendously well.