Less than a decade ago, deals like Burger King's 10-piece chicken nuggets for $1 meant $10 could buy 100 nuggets, a symbol of accessible cheap protein and value meals that defined fast food for working families. Those promotions, prominent in 2015 and 2018, have largely vanished as menu prices at major chains have skyrocketed. Analysis of 2014-2024 data shows McDonald's average menu prices doubled (100% increase), Popeyes rose 86%, and Taco Bell 81%—far outpacing the official 31% cumulative inflation rate over the same period. Food-away-from-home CPI has continued climbing, reaching over 390 on the BLS index by early 2026, with limited-service restaurant meals seeing sustained annual increases around 4%. USDA data confirms all-food CPI rose 23.6% from 2020-2024 alone, exceeding overall inflation and hitting budgets hardest through supply disruptions, labor costs, and corporate pricing power. This is not abstract economics: a Quarter Pounder meal that once fit neatly in a tight budget now approaches $12, while entry-level wages have failed to keep pace in real terms for many. Mainstream coverage often frames this as isolated 'greedflation' or temporary post-pandemic effects, but the pattern reveals deeper erosion of living standards. Lower-income households, for whom fast food represented reliable calories without cooking infrastructure, face a de facto pay cut as 'value' menus shrink and dollar items disappear. Connections to broader discontent are clear—polls consistently show economic pessimism despite headline GDP or unemployment figures, as everyday transactions become reminders of lost ground. What mainstream outlets soften as 'price adjustments,' heterodox analysis sees as evidence of systemic decline: monetary expansion, concentrated industry power, and understated cost-of-living metrics masking a hollowed-out middle. The nugget is a canary—when basics once taken for granted require twice the labor, widespread frustration becomes inevitable.