Food Prices, Shortages & Inflation - The Trash Index

[Wifezilla]

And a sign things are getting REALLY serious...

"During the past year alone, the average cost of a half-gallon of ice cream has gone up about 10 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

Some ice cream makers such as Vosss Bar-B-Q in Yorkville couldnt wait longer to raise their prices.

The stand raised its ice cream prices by about 25 cents this season, said Kenton Voss, operations manager and ice cream maker.

It held off for as long as possible, but ingredient and energy costs have continued to rise, he said.

Theyve been going up for the last couple of years, Voss said. You cant run a business and not make money."
http://www.uticaod.com/features/x911396561/Rising-cost-of-ingredients-means-more-expensive-ice-cream

 

[old fashioned]

Normally I don't pay much attention to this guy, but I did think it would fit right in here...especially since we've all known this for along time.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=68754d42-17cb-42b9-b39a-3ffd473e02eb

 

[Boogity]

Did you read any of the comments?
"Guns, ammo, food, the new stocks"
". . . the world is circling the drain. Invest in canned food and shotguns!"
"You might want to stock up on actual food also."

 

[k15n1]

Whether or not our food is cheaper compared to other parts of the planet doesn't matter much. If you were used to paying $1 for a 5 lb bag of flour and it now costs you $3, you and your family are going to feel it. Especially since wages have been flat.

I seriously doubt that the cost of flour (or any other basic ingredient) is going to make or break your budget. If you are such a precarious economic state, I certainly hope you're participating in this forum via a computer at the public library!

Knowing that food is cheap gives perspective an enables good budget management in hard times. To save money, it makes more sense to cut back on the most expensive bills first, before trimming the smaller bills. For example, I was having a going-green fit a while back and realized that water basically doesn't cost anything here in MN. There was no point in cutting back on water usage because it would take time, money, and even a 40% reduction would only save 10 $/mo. Similarly, the cost of food is relatively low and cutting back on that is probably not the place to start.

 

[k15n1]

but the recent price increases are just that increases because the average income has either stayed the same or for nearly half of Americans it's lessened... so in my eyes that's not just simple inflation...

Like wifezilla said... in just 3 months time the price for a can of coffee has went from 8.98 to 14.76 my hubby sure didn't make up for that amount in his paycheck... and with that only being one food item... if they all increase that way with out an increase in pay that is some MAJOR price INCREASES in my book...

You seem to be saying that there are increases in food prices that are not inflationary. What do you think is causing these increases?

BTW, in economic terms, 3 months is not very long. I would call this a temporary fluctuaction. I'll just remind you that food and energy prices are volatile and are excluded from important economic indicators, such as core inflation because they produce short-term results that are misleading [1].


1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_inflation

 

[i_am2bz]

Whether or not our food is cheaper compared to other parts of the planet doesn't matter much. If you were used to paying $1 for a 5 lb bag of flour and it now costs you $3, you and your family are going to feel it. Especially since wages have been flat.

I seriously doubt that the cost of flour (or any other basic ingredient) is going to make or break your budget. If you are such a precarious economic state, I certainly hope you're participating in this forum via a computer at the public library!

If it was JUST the cost of a 5 lb bag of flour going up, it wouldn't matter much. But almost everything edible appears to have gone up, from peanut butter to soup. I'm probably spending $10-15 more for food per week than a year ago, buying the exact same things. :/

 

[Wifezilla]

The flour was only one example. Name the price of a grocery item that has GONE DOWN and stayed there consistently over the last 3 years. I am not talking about loss leader sale items. I am talking average cost.

"Meat prices are expected to rise 6 percent to 7 percent this year, the largest annual increase since an 8.4 percent jump in 2004, according to USDA forecasts.

Among specific cuts, choice-grade, boneless sirloin steak averaged $6.04 a pound during July, up from $5.89 in June and up from $5.66 in July 2010. Lean and extra-lean ground beef averaged $3.89 a pound, up 1 cent from July 2010 and the highest monthly price, unadjusted for inflation, in records going back to 1991. Bacon averaged $4.76 a pound, down from a record $4.84 in June.

By comparison, boneless chicken breasts averaged $3.25 a pound during July, up from $3.13 in June and up from $3.31 a year earlier.

Fresh, whole milk at retail averaged $3.65 a gallon nationwide, up from $3.62 in June and up from $3.31 during July 2010.

Fruits, vegetables and other items have also grown more expensive at the supermarket, contributing to food inflation thats on track for the third- or fourth-biggest annual increase over the past 20 years, according to CPI data.

A broader price index reflecting food consumed at home rose 0.6 percent during July from June, the largest monthly gain since March. Compared to July 2010, prices for food at home rose 5.4 percent, the largest year-over-year increase since a 5.7 percent jump in January 2009."
http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news...-inflation-accelerates-further-128050843.html

"Bill Simon, chief executive officer of Walmart U.S., said the company realized minimal pass-through of 3.5% quarterly grocery inflation as its core customers remained under intense economic pressure.

Food inflation has surpassed gasoline price as the most important household concern, Simon said. Shoppers are reacting to inflation by trading down to lower-price items and smaller pack sizes, he said."
Read more: http://supermarketnews.com/retail_financial/walmart_target_0822/#ixzz1VxNBy1Eq

 

[k15n1]

And a sign things are getting REALLY serious...

"During the past year alone, the average cost of a half-gallon of ice cream has gone up about 10 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

Some ice cream makers such as Vosss Bar-B-Q in Yorkville couldnt wait longer to raise their prices.

The stand raised its ice cream prices by about 25 cents this season, said Kenton Voss, operations manager and ice cream maker.

It held off for as long as possible, but ingredient and energy costs have continued to rise, he said.

Theyve been going up for the last couple of years, Voss said. You cant run a business and not make money."
http://www.uticaod.com/features/x911396561/Rising-cost-of-ingredients-means-more-expensive-ice-cream

Is this a joke? You're worried about food prices and you use ice cream as your example? I thought this thread was about food that you actually need, not luxury items. You're stressing over prices of arguably optional items, like meat, coffee, and ice cream.

Maybe I should leave you all to your worrying. Now that I've read about inflation and other economic indicators (because of this thread) I realize that a thread devoted to the volatile price of food is... a bit pointless.

 

[Wifezilla]

I'll just remind you that food and energy prices are volatile and are excluded from important economic indicators, such as core inflation because they produce short-term results that are misleading

"In general terms, methodological shifts in government reporting have depressed reported inflation, moving the concept of the CPI away from being a measure of the cost of living needed to maintain a constant standard of living."

The top line shows inflation if it were calculated the same way it used to be in the 80's.

Some food for thought...
"Some years back, then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan began making public noises about how the CPI overstated inflation. Where the fixed-basket of goods approach would measure the cost of steak, year after year, Mr. Greenspan argued that if steak went up in price, people would buy more hamburger meat, mitigating the increase in their cost of living. The fact that switching the CPI concept to a substitution-based basket of market goods from a fixed-basket violated the original intent, purpose and concept of the CPI, never seemed to be a concern to those in Washington. Artificially reducing reported CPI inflation would have a variety of benefits, beginning with reduction of the budget deficit due to the cutting of cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security payments.

Accordingly, geometric weighting was introduced to the CPI reporting methodology, which had the effect of mimicking a substitution basis. Since the revised CPI still did not show as low an inflation rate as a fully substitution-based index would, Mr. Greenspan began focusing the Fed's inflation targeting and measurement on the inflation rate used to deflate personal consumption expenditure (PCE) in the GDP. Such was a substitution-based measure."
http://www.shadowstats.com/article/aa871

 

[Wifezilla]

Is this a joke? You're worried about food prices and you use ice cream as your example?

YES! It WAS A JOKE! Did someone pee in your Wheaties this morning?

You seem to be missing the big picture. Put down the microscope and step back a bit. Sheesh.