Food Prices Going Up

[enjoy the ride]

There are other factors that cause cyclical increases so I would not be surprised at some increase.
First there was a long standing drought in the southeast and parts of the midwest. This caused a lack of pasture and feed. So feed went up at the same time people were having to buy feed who would normally pasture or grow their own. Eventually, the cost got to a lot of people and they butchered out a lot of their livestock. So now there are less animals needed feed and I think some prices in those hard hit areas have dropped significantly but now there are not as many animals to be butchered.
These things cause animal products to go up and down in complex ways. Normally there would be downwards pressure as well as upward but due to high gas and chemical fertilizer prices, I think that people are trying to keep the price increases up to make up for the increased expenses they had to absorb last and this year.
But the nice thing about food increases is that many people can and will produce a lot of their own. So convenience food may be higher but I do think that much food will be limited in increase. People may not purchase the variety they have in the past.

What really worries me is that all levels of government are very reluctant to reduce their spending even though they have auffered the same loss of income as many people have. But they have one advantage in that they just dip into people's pocket rather that make the hard choices that people do. In my area, there were three seperate sales tax increases on the ballot and two actually passed. So now I get to pay more for everything. And the Governor is proposing more increases. This is scarier to me that the things mentioned above along with inflation. I'm going to try to get as set up as I possiblily can so that any purchases for the next couple of years are made now.

I really want that darn wood stove......................

 

[me&thegals]

Gotta add my 2 cents, so to speak I'm a bit forgetful about a lot of food prices since we have happily been mainly living out of the garden since about May/June. But, at my favorite store, I used to have to work pretty hard to get my bill up to $100--like that would constitute a major stocking-up trip. Lately, I've just had a halfway full sort of grocery list and have gone over $100. So, it's not scientific at all, but I'm pretty concerned about when the garden runs out and we get sick of freezer/canned food and start shopping again for real. Yikes!

 

[VT-Chicklit]

Food prices are high here in Vermont, just like every where else. I have noticed though, that I can still keep within budget by shopping the sales and being more flexable in where I shop.

I am now shopping at three stores each week to get my groceries. I shop the sale items from Price Chopper (they also double coupon), unfortunatly Price Choppers regular prices are higher than some of the other stores. I then go across the street to Hannafords where I check out their meat deals and dairy. Both Hannafords and Price Chopper discount sticker their store cut meats when the get close to code. I usually find either beef or pork with stickers at a reasonable price. After Hannafords, I drive 2 miles down the street to Rail City, an older smaller supermarket that has good prices on cold meats and store cut meats. I just got large packages of fresh chicken tenders for $1.59 a pound. I stocked up!

In the past I would never have gone to all three stores to fill one grocery order, but now a days you have to be more creative to make ends meet. I worry about the time (in the near future) when even this measure won't be enough.

 

[shareneh]

I have to admit, I don't worry so much about the grocery bill anymore because I have changed the way I shop for groceries.

First of all, I stopped buying processed food like pizza, ready made dinners and soda pop.

I buy mostly canned goods, veggies and fruit I don't have and splurge on orange juice. Everything else I need I have put up and it looks like it will last all winter.

I now make sure I have enough groceries to keep until I shop again. I usually go shopping every three to four weeks. The only thing I have had to stop for is milk and bread.

It took about three months to figure out what I needed to keep me between trips so some times were leaner than others. I still spend about $200 on groceries but I only shop half as much so I save about $200 a month give or take.

My family can't wait to see what I have cooked up and we have gotten rid of the "Fend For Yourself" attitude. That means we sit down and eat together and also invite company over to sample my latest concoction.

 

[sweetcorn]

I think it's still possible to eat cheaply though if you stay away from convenience foods , and grow and preserve as much of your own produce as you can. Plus it's healthier , just takes more time .

 

[sweetcorn]

Interesting food link about what people eat around the world and their grocery costs .

 

[Homesteadmom]

Right now we are having great sales for the holidays & I will get that stuff stocked up in my pantry & freezer. I bought our Thanksgiving turkey today, but I plan on getting at least one more if not 2 more before the month is over to put in the freezer for later. I like to make enchaladas with my leftover turkey. Plus soup & sandwiches too. And taco's too. I make soup from scratch but they are really putting the canned soups on sale this yr & having a lot of coupons for them too, so I have been getting a lot of them too for dh's lunches. He likes to have a hot lunch like that as his warehouse is 62 degrees everyday right now & will only get cooler as the days get cooler.
The next town over has a small IGA store that has Thursday specials each week & this week was meat specials & I had dh stop on his way home from work(he drives right past it) & get a horn of longhorn cheese that was $2.45/lb, now I just need to get my processor out & shred it all up & put it in the freezer. They have better sales in the winter as the Snow Birds are here & there is a mobile home park right across the street from them that is full of snow birds & another one just 2 blocks down.

 

[FarmerChick]

sweetcorn
that link to food costs for people seems off to me---I am in NC and they said NC was $341 per week for a family of 4.

No way. Not that I can see?????

Hmm....interesting though.

 

[sweetcorn]

Neither would I spend that much in NC but I don't buy all that junk they bought either. See all the cases of pop and bottles of juice stacked up back there ? lol If you noticed ,that includes carry out meals they bought and didn't cook too . I can shop for the 7 of us for under 100 a week but I cook from scratch and garden , but I've many a time, been behind someone in the checkout spending 2 or 3 hundred bucks on a lot of convenience foods . And the only veggie I can see in that whole pile is a few tomatoes .






ETA: Also , this isn't supposed to be " the average cost "for an area , just what these particular families spend.

 

[FarmerChick]

yea I see your point.

did you notice the "american" food was mainly boxed garbage! and take out pizza. In some areas pizzas are getting very pricey and if you need 2---yikes! LOL

it was interesting "seeing" the food on the table. Germany had tons of veggies on their table and cost was high. I wonder, was that german mark money, or quoted in the american dollar?

hmm...I thought checking out the food on the table was more interesting than the prices..LOL