In a season marked by generosity and giving, I was struck recently by articles about “greedflation,” or the practice of corporations juicing their own profits with artificially high prices because they know customers will have no choice but to pay. The reality is that actual inflation has leveled off, yet the small businesses I work with every day in Philadelphia continue to pay higher prices — all due to corporate greed.

This is especially true in our area, where grocery prices have spiked 24% since 2020 — the highest price increase in the nation.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia has the nation’s highest grocery price hikes, report says

While a range of government policies and investments have reduced inflation and had a positive impact on job creation and economic growth, working families — the same people who own small businesses — are still struggling to pay their bills. As inflation has come down much closer to normal levels in recent months, corporate profits have risen by a whopping 75% in two years, with margins that would have set records pre-pandemic.

Just like we all are paying more for groceries and gas, small businesses in our area are paying more for the goods and services they provide to their customers.

In my conversations with business owners, the consistent refrain is that they feel the squeeze from all sides. They are caught between the competing interests of taking care of their employees by offering competitive wages, taking care of their customers by offering affordable goods and services, taking care of their business by ensuring the doors stay open, and taking care of themselves and their families, all while paying overinflated prices that have trickled down the supply chain.

Small-business owners can’t pass along price increases at the same rates they’re being charged by upstream suppliers, or they will lose customers to Amazon and chain stores. As a result, their margins are in decline, and their own income is in decline. This is especially true for small grocers and restaurants, which have always struggled with slim profit margins.

A small restaurant owner recently told me that their refrigeration — critical to the operation of their business — needs to be repaired. The cost is nearly identical to the holiday bonus he had intended to pay to the manager, and he is now struggling with the choice he has to make. In addition, in order to ease some of the financial pressures on his own family and to better provide for his 8-year-old daughter, he was considering driving for a ride-share company during the restaurant’s off hours.

These struggles are real and are not unique to this particular business owner.

I applaud the efforts of public officials, including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, to put pressure on big corporations that have taken advantage of this period of economic recovery to boost their own profits instead of ensuring that their own workers, small-business customers, and consumers can share in the post-pandemic recovery.

But we don’t have to sit on our hands and wait for our legislators to save our small businesses.

As consumers, the biggest difference you can make is to actively support small businesses in your community — shop local, shop small — this season and every season.

Small businesses play an indispensable role in fostering economic diversity and community resilience. They foster a sense of belonging, provide employment opportunities, and create a dynamic and resilient economy. And they depend on us.

Our shopping habits make a huge difference.

From gifts to groceries and coffee to cannoli, our shopping habits make a huge difference to our collective quality of life in Philadelphia. When you say yes to your local small business, you say no to corporate greed; you keep your dollars in your community and ensure that thriving small businesses remain a way of life and a way for families to fulfill one version of the American dream.

Jill C. Fink is the executive director of the Merchants Fund, a public charity in Philadelphia that has been providing financial support to small and family-owned businesses since 1854.