Higher Prices For Food Are About To Get Worse

[Purveyor]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans are noticing higher prices at the grocery store, and it's about to get worse.

Food prices at the wholesale level rose last month by the most in 36 years. Cold weather accounted for most of it, forcing stores and restaurants to pay more for green peppers, lettuce and other vegetables, but meat and dairy prices surged, too.

The big questions are how long food prices will keep rising and how high they'll go.

The impact is already visible. Wendy's, paying higher prices for tomatoes, now puts them on hamburgers only by request. Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts have raised prices because they pay more for coffee beans. Supermarkets warn customers that produce may be of lower quality, or limited.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Higher-prices-for-food-are-apf-51443885.html?x=0

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Thank God for low infalation!

:woohoo:

[notesdev]

6. spelling!

it's "infellation"

;)

[ixion]

2. This is where is all begins

as soon as the food supply degenerates, the REAL change starts happening.

[apnu]

3. Yeah, we'll all be eating Kibble. Red Meat will be a luxury that only the top 1% can eat.

We are seeing the beginning of the cyberpunk age, right here right now.

[RebelOne]

10. Luckily, I'm a vegetarian,

so I don't have to worry about the price of red meat, but the price of fresh veggies is rising.

[ixion]

23. Yeah, veggies have gone through the roof...

so I'm starting to grow my own veggies!

[shanti]

51. again

a hungry man, is an angry man. :(

[SkyDaddy7]

4. Ramen Noodles!! nt.

[Newest Reality]

5. When will we see People Chow?

Well, also known as Soylent in various colors. Keep in mind that GREEN is People.

Are there there any good recipe sites for serving the rich?

[BadgerKid]

7. Rich served with a light orange sauce could be tasty. n/t

Are there there any good recipe sites for serving the rich?

[KamaAina]

13. I prefer mine with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

:evilgrin:

[Rowdyboy]

16. Here in Mississippi we could live off "Haleyburgers: for weeks....

But God the fat content would be horrible!

[KamaAina]

19. Plus you have a limitless supply of Haley's Secret Recipe BBQ sauce

a wholly owned subsidiary of BP. :eyes:

[jacquelope]

20. Rush Limburgers!

er, nah, I'll go vegan before I even think of that option!

[Ignis]

33. Eat the Rich! ...the poor are tough and stringy.

[old mark]

8. K&R- I am seeing fancy commercial bread selling for over $4 a loaf,

regular supermarket brand whole wheat bread for over $2.50.

mark

[BadgerKid]

9. Anyone know the homemade cost? n/t

[CountAllVotes]

30. buy a small bread machine

I did this for a long time (like almost 2 years) and I'm sure I saved a lot (a loaf cost me maybe .50 - .75 cents.

The problem is that it cost $150.00 and now needs some of the parts replaced which cost about $100.00.

So I don't think this is the answer.

If you make your own sourdough the cost is flour, water and salt period. Cheap as all hell and a fool proof recipe can be found in the old versions of Joy of Cooking.

Would recommend this particular version for the best recipes in all of the Joy of Cooking books:

Rombauer, Irma S.;Becker, Marion Rombauer
Joy of Cooking : The All-Purpose Cookbook : The American Household Classic Newly Revised and Expanded with Over 4500 Recipes and 1000 Informative Illustrations
Bobbs-Merrill 1975
Over 4500 recipes. Over 1000 illustrations.

Note: sourdough bread recipe requires a lot of elbow and you have to stay on top of the starter once you get it going or it will die.

Good luck!!!

[pitohui]

35. it makes no sense to eat bread, history's first junk food

eating bread probably made sense when it was CHEAP but it's empty calories and don't let anybody tell you some hooey about how nutritious "brown" bread is, get a glucose meter and test your reaction -- your blood sugar don't give a damn if the bread is brown or white

in any case, bread was invented as a cheap way to feed the masses, once it is no longer cheap, why fill your body with this garbage? it's a carb, it doesn't satisfy, it's junk junk junk

when money is tight, you need to be looking for ways to get protein and quality vegetables/produce, not junk carbs

i gave my bread machine away to some other sucker once i wised up, haven't eaten bread for years, haven't missed it, there just isn't any reason for it

there is no "natural" bread, point me to the tree where bread and sandwiches grow...

[CountAllVotes]

38. frankly, I'm not much into bread

I have a slice now and then, but no, not really into it.

Usually I end up with a stale loaf. :(

I hate wasting food!

[StarsInHerHair]

43. you're wrong wrong wrong, must not have heard of buckwheat flour,

wheatgerm, grinding oats to a powder/flour..........I don't need a bread machine, & I recommend Bernard Clayton's complete book of breads.

[dgibby]

41. I got my bread machine at Goodwill for $5.00,

never been used. I love homemade bread!

[old mark]

47. That's probably where I would shop for mine- I got a pasta maker there once

for about the same money...made of stainless steel, from Italy, brand new.

mark

[old mark]

48. You can also buy frozen unbaked bread in packs of 5 loaves for about

$4.50. It is usually similar to French bread, and is available in whole wheat. Thaw overnight, bake in 20 minutes. Smells great, not bad bread, either.

mark

[StarsInHerHair]

44. flour, salt, baking powder, yeast-I prefer RapidRise Fleischmann's yeast,

eggs, water-CAREFULLY heated to activate the yeast but not kill it; and butter or whatever fat source you prefer, so long as it is basically solid at room temp.

PLUS-home-made bread is NOTHING like the store-bought "bag of fog"; REAL bread is HEAVY, solid. You don't need a breadpan for every loaf, French bread is simply shaped by hand into a tube-like shape & placed on a baking sheet.

[RebelOne]

11. If you live in the Atlanta area,

Kroger grocery stores sell white and whole wheat bread for $1 a loaf.

[gadjitfreek]

12. All of our local bread discount stores have closed up.

Used to be able to go into Freihofer's and grab a loaf of bread for a buck until five months ago when the shop closed.

[plumbob]

28. Yep and store brand milk is $5.80 per gallon.

Lettuce is $2 per head.

[Kip Humphrey]

14. Better to blame the weather then, oh, I don't know, quantitative easing?

[KamaAina]

15. Tell me about it! Green peppers are like two bucks apiece!

even at the Indian store, which usually has cheap produce. :wtf:

and might I add, this is in California, not somewhere on the frozen tundra.

[emilyg]

32. Grapes went up $1.25 /lb. since last week.

[Elwood P Dowd]

17. Energy & food prices going out the roof, yet those of us on Social Security get zero

COLA. I must be paying at least $100.00 more a month on food, gas, and electricity over last year, and it's continuing to rise.

[plumbob]

29. Didn't your Medicare payment also go up?

Amazing how in one breath they can give no raise to you but yes to one for themselves.

[Elwood P Dowd]

36. I'm a little over a year away from Medicare. (nm)

[RebelOne]

55. I have Medicare and it has not gone up as of this time. n/t

[cyberpj]

42. My husband hasn't had a raise in four years. And health care prems, deductibles and copays all keep

rising - not just one or two but every year, every one of them.

So many of us being pushed backward financially when it seems we're also being bombarded by financial company ads telling us we don't save enough to expect to retire.

I'm starting to wonder if there have been increases in suicide rates lately.

We're in an apartment but I plan on balcony gardening this summer.

[skepticscott]

18. We may be reduced to Soylent GOP

made from ground up Republicans...

And if gas prices continue to rise this summer, it will only get worse.

[Downwinder]

21. Anybody have a good recipe for roast I-pad?

To avoid inflation.

[NickB79]

22. Victory gardens, anyone?

During WWII, victory gardens supplied 40% of all produce grown in the US. It's an idea that should have been revisited a long time ago. A few million dollars (pocket change for the US government) would buy enough bulk vegetable seed for distribution to willing gardeners to grow hundreds of millions of pounds of vegetables in backyards around the country. Subsidize fruit and nut tree seedlings and see even more production in years to come as they mature.

[Newest Reality]

25. Great point and it is a practical idea for each of us

to consider if we have the ways and the means to grow some produce. Goats and chickens, (milk and eggs) are also a great option if you are rural and can handle a learning curve. That covers some protein needs. For those with an area to do it, at some point the cost of care and feeding will be offset by rising, commercial prices.

Your idea for the subsidies is good, but I don't see it happening. As with everything else in our lives, there are powerful lobbies and dominant, corporate interests at stake and they take priority with our current government. We can't be encouraging and subsidizing natural persons when the artificial ones have a preferred status and must, at all costs, pull profits and prosper at our expense.

[pitohui]

34. i used to do chickens in the suburbs, a couple of tips

since chickens are not allowed in most suburbs, you have to do them on the down low, be sure to have females only (buy pullets, which are guaranteed to be egg laying females) -- nothing says, "hey they got them some illegal chickens over there" like a rooster crowing at 1 AM...heh heh

chickens don't need a male, you only need a female to get eggs, in fact, all commercial eggs sold in supermarkets are unfertilized eggs

when you are around to supervise, let the chickens out where they can graze for insects, i won't explain why but it causes the yolk to be more orange and presumably to have more vitamin A content than supermarket eggs that have yellow yolks

chickens eat anything, they eat left overs, the only "learning curve" is if you buy chicks and have to get the special feed for chicks but it ain't rocket science

but just don't let anyone KNOW you have the chickens, because all you need is some freaking busy body to come along and tell you that your chickens are a nuisance

i never got in any trouble & nobody even knew my chickens were there, had 'em for years, sadly, i lost them to the chicken's worst enemy...the raccoon, those guys can break into anything...watch out for your suburban raccoon

[Newest Reality]

40. Thanks! Always

good to share information about necessities for the new way of life ahead.

I have had a pygmy goat, but things happened am I not in that situation. They are rather friendly and enjoyable to have. They are small and easy to keep, IMHO. That is, if you have a little rural land around your place and are zoned rural. They make great lawn mowers/weed eaters and can save a lot of gas and effort. They can provide fertilizer, and if you keep females, (males have a strong, obnoxious odor and can be surely and agressive, and are really only good for mating in this case) once they have a kid, you can then harvest about a quart of milk a day.

We used to have a chain and a weight and just move our goat around in the field. In a day or two, she would clear the entire area she had access to. Their droppings fertilize and the grass grows back green. You do need feed for the winter and something for them to get inside for warmth and sleeping.

[xchrom]

24. Recommend

[StarburstClock]

26. Propaganda like this ignores 1 huge reality: what if people don't buy the inflated items?

This old propaganda media narrative of "prices are going up and there's nothing you can do about it" completely ignores the reality in America now, most people cannot afford to pay more. As the prices go up the sales will go down, it's economics 101 as the demand will not meet the overpriced supply.

The U.S.'s bullcrap media will never go there though, that would require "thinking".

[caseymoz]

54. And they will replace food with what?

It's simple biology, which trumps economics any day. Now they might replace beef with pork or chicken or spam, but what if pork, chicken and spam all go up? Then I guess we could buy sawdust or eat discarded microchips until general food prices are affordable again. It will probably slim us all down.

What you don't seem to understand is, they're talking about a mean average price of all food. Not the price of a few food commodities.

[timo]

27. I am grateful

we live on a farm and while we cant grow everything we can at least supplement no buying eggs or chickens and we have a big garden!!

[Blue_Tires]

31. Soylent Green isn't a novel; it's a blueprint, baby!

[Dappleganger]

37. We just began couponing again...

and I read several active forums/blogs on the grocery stores/drug stores we frequent. I am going to begin stockpiling those things that are on sale and learn to do without others unless it's on a really good sale. We are also reducing the amount of meat we consume (which needed to be done anyway).

[kelly1mm]

45. Great post! If you want to "kick it up a notch", get as much stuff as you can

for free/super cheap and sell it at a yard sale once or twice a year. I end up making $500-$700 per ard sale twice a year selling stuff I stockpile. Since my stores have gas points, I also paid $236 for 570 gallons of gas last year. After all was said and done, last year I spent $1177 for all food, gas for all cars, paper products, drugstore items, and cat food for two adults and two cats. The key is to get lots of coupons. Ebay has them in lots of 20 for $.99 all the time. You can also sell small, light items on ebay. Just one example - I got 80 packets of old el paso taco seasoning packets a few months back. After coupons and gas points my cost for 80 was -$8.80. I sold them on ebay in sets of 20 and made (after fees) $10.20 per set for a $49 total profit.

[Dappleganger]

46. Wow, that's amazing!

A friend of mine is helping to teach me how to do this, she also recommended scouring ebay for coupons. Do you have particular ones you recommend? Your savings is fantastic!!

[kelly1mm]

49. What I do is I go on the internet to a coupon/bargain site that has the deals

for different stores online usually a week early. There are several but the one I use is www.hotcouponword.com. They have the big stores (CVS, Target, Walmart etc.) but also have the smaller regional stores as well.

So, since I know about a week in advance of the sale what will be on special/gas points, I go on ebay and look for matching coupons. Another good feature of the above site is it has a coupon database which list available coupons by source (printable, red plum, smartsource, PG Saver, different magazines etc). If the coupon is in the paper then almost always there will be some on ebay. Also, make sure to check out the websites of the item you are looking at - sometimes they have coupons on there too.

Once you get up and running (about 4-6 months for me) you will get the hang of it and start seeing your grocery bills go down, slowly at first as you are buying in bulk (if you buy 52 cans of tuna that is regularly $1.50 a can for 50 cents a can you are still spending that week $26 but that is it for the year (assuming 1 can per week) until another great deal comes around instead of 52 cans bought one each week for $1.50, or $78. Thus, for the week, you actually will spend $24.50 more than usual but over the year you will spend $52 less. It makes sense when you break it down but it is frustrating when you are first starting as your weekly totals will probably go up - even by a lot - until you have a good base pantry set up. After about 6 months you should see your costs start dropping like a rock as by then you will have your own mini grocery store.

Which brings up another point - you need space - more than you think probably - to store the stuff. I use a large portion of my basement (200 sq. feet) that has 8 4-foot wide 5 shelf units and 2 freezers for my main storage area. It is not completely full but I like it like that so I can organize it into sections for easy finding of things. Have a rotation plan, first in, first out, and have a check up day (I do it about once every 3 months) where you check the dates of stuff. I donate the near expired stuff to the food bank who says they will make sure it goes out quickly. (Side note, get a receipt from the food bank and take the purchase price off as a charitable donation on your taxes - for me last year the donations totaled a bit over $1000 to the food bank for a actual cash increase in my tax refunds (state and federal) of $180.

Last but not least, don't get discouraged as at first it will seem (and does) take a good bit of time. After a while it will become easy and the "deal finding", especially with the websites help will be fast and easy. The "cashing in" takes a bit of time but I like yard sales as I get to talk to my neighbors and giving to the food bank is a good thing to do and there is a BIG need in my area so it makes me feel good. Ebay sales kind are kind of a hassle but I already sell car parts there so not much extra time for me. Don't feel you need to do all of these things. This is what I do and it works for me. My point of letting you know this is to try and think outside the box on how to make money on things you may not use or want but you can get for a screaming deal. Arbitrage basically.

Good luck

[Dappleganger]

53. Thanks for the great info~

Have pasted it into my notes for safekeeping. :) Unfortunately we are very tight with space already but if we re-do some shelving I think we can figure it out. My list and coupons are already to go for tomorrow's shopping trip.

[unkachuck]

39. "...how high they'll go."

....about that high and this long....

....it looks like the food industry has taken a page from the oil industry....they have a fixed-rigged-necessary-commodity....they can provide us less and charge us more at will, so why not, who's there to stop them?....the invisible finger?

....I find it amazing; it's this, it's that, it's the other, but it's never price gouging....we're being traded, inflated, and speculated, all according to the corporate plan....

[ClarkUSA]

50. Time to plant a spring lettuce window box garden. Raised beds are already started.

[devils chaplain]

52. this "you can't eat an iPad" theory may have to be tested. N/T