I was under the impression that most bosses hadn’t been handing out raises — except to themselves. Not so. While shopping at my neighborhood supermarket in Fort Washington recently, I noticed that some of my favorite foods got raises.

Chicken got a raise — a 2 percent price hike just in the last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Pork chops got a raise — up 7.4 percent last year.

Beef got a raise — a 19 percent increase last year. (At Whole Foods in the District, a porterhouse steak rakes in $15 a pound.)

All of which amounts to a pay cut for me, and to quite a few others, no doubt. According to a report last month by the Economic Policy Institute, “real hourly wages have declined for 90 percent of the workforce with four-year college degrees since 2007.” It’s called wage stagnation.

How much harder must it be for low-income and unemployed people to put food on the table.

In a report on hunger in America released in December, the U.S. Conference of Mayors noted a steep rise in request for emergency food assistance in the Washington area. High rents and escalating food costs were major causes — and the problem was expected to worsen in 2015.

Moreover, the mayors’ report said that “the Washington metro area is seeing growing numbers of low income individuals suffering from diet-related illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.”

The USDA puts out annual cost estimates for preparing nutritious meals. Under the “Thrifty” plan, which is the least expensive, a family of four (two adults between the ages of 19 and 50 and two children between the ages of 6 and 11) could eat healthfully for $151.60 a week.

Judging from the prices I saw at the supermarket, they’ll be eating ramen noodles every other night.

“The most notable annual inflation increases were seen in the perimeter of the grocery store — retail beef and veal, pork, eggs, fish and seafood, dairy, and fresh fruit experienced above-average price increases,” according to a USDA Research Service update on March 3.

I did find a few bargains in the center aisles at the Safeway and Giant where I usually shop: sugar, cookies, chips, processed snacks, soft drinks. Diabetes at discount prices.

Some economists predict that rising employment could lead to a 3 percent increase in hourly wages this year. From the perspective of a grocery shopper, that would mean the average worker’s pay hike would be about one-tenth of the 30 percent rise in the cost of peanut butter since 2010.

Last Friday, I asked some of my fellow grocery shoppers if they got raises. It was an ice breaker for broaching such a sensitive subject. Most of them did not know that March 6 was the 20th anniversary of “National Employee Appreciation Day.” Apparently neither did their employers.