how are your grocery prices now?

[grasswire]

Many prices at my market are up 30 percent in the past month. Signs are posted saying that the higher prices are due to the raise in corn prices nationwide. As I forked over cash at my big monthly shopping trip checkout, I realized that $100 out of the $300 was lost money due to biodiesel fuel that someone else is consuming! My family doesn't keep a car, and we sacrifice ease to live that way.

How can consumers possibly win??!! Or, better yet, how can we stay even??

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

1. I just did a "small" shop and it cost me $105. I am not a happy puppy here. eom

[havocmom]

2. Takes fuel to plow, plant, harvest, get food to market

Prices will keep going up.

Plant a garden. Put some seeds in a bag of potting soil in a window if you have to, but learn to grow some of your foods. Teach kids to grow food plants.

I mean it.

[karlrschneider]

9. Yup. I just picked the last of our corn and tomatoes. I'll freeze the corn

and make sauce from the maters (and freeze that)...should last the winter. I'm seriously thinking of building a greenhouse.

[madokie]

15. In case you do build a greenhouse heres a link for some heirloom seeds

http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Tomatoes-Red/Rouge-D-Irak

I plan on placing an order later this year, I want to start my tomatoes myself this next year rather than buying plants.

[havocmom]

17. Oh, come on, tell the rest of that story about those particular seeds

;)

I send that link, along with the remarks from the seed catalog and what I posted yesterday about it to a lot of people. Hope they send it to more people.

The world is not served by a military power making life more difficult and costly for farmers in Iraq or anywhere else.

[madokie]

24. I would have but I slept since then and I had to go back and find the link I sent to my neighbor

anyways sorry about that. I tip my hat to you. ;-)

[karlrschneider]

20. Oh, thanks! I did start with seedlings this year and got TONS from just 9 plants.

Well maybe not tons, but...a lot. :D

[madokie]

26. I still have some 'maters on my plants but only a few

I have some 'watercumbers' though. My wife got the cuc's and the mellons a little too close to each other. I think I'll go pick one and see what the thing tastes like, heck I might be on to something there, huh :-0

If you haven't already check out the website I sent, I promise you'll love it.

[karlrschneider]

31. Yeh, I did check it out...THANKS for that!

:D

[havocmom]

16. I'm harvesting chard tomorrow. Making chard patties and freezing.

Will get a second harvest of it before winter as it does fine in the cool of fall. Tomatoes can be put up in SO many ways.

Re greenhouse: Have to tell ya, I got lots of laughs, but an old hatch back car we aren't using makes a fine place to get seedlings growing. ;) Want to make a frame with hinges to attach to a couple of the fencing panels and use old storm windows to make narrow, space saving green house/plant starters. Love me that passive solar heating!

Teaching kids to grow things is wonderfully empowering for them. What ever the age, there are lessons in natural sciences that can be taught while having fun OUTSIDE in the fresh air instead of inside with a game-boy!

Teach kids to change the conditions of reality, not hide from it all in some virtual world until they are harvested by the corporations.

[madokie]

28. yes and if you let the kids plant and help take care of the garden when they want to

rather that feel like they have to and they will grow into a gardener too, I know I did anyway

[kestrel91316]

34. Chard is a GREAT veggie to grow! Very versatile, easy, and holds up

in summer without bolting too readily.

I love chard.

[mrcheerful]

3. As long as republicans are around we can't we can only survive

and be a pain in their sides, or there abouts anyhow.

[Bobbieo]

4. Prices are up every day , even at Wal-Mart!!!!

[Blackhatjack]

12. I thought Wal-Mart was famous for 'falling prices'?

I guess the 1% increase in sales last quarter was not enough from them. Now that they killed off the local merchants they are going to raise prices like the other corporate businesses.

[gollygee]

5. Everything costs more - not just groceries

My daughter had outgrown her shoes so yesterday we got new ones. Ouch.

But yes, I notice it most when buying food and gas.

[AllegroRondo]

6. going up all over

corn prices are up, driving up the cost of corn, milk, meat, cheese

fuel price are up, driving up the cost of everything that requires transportation

[Dogmudgeon]

7. We're screwed, long-term

The "food-vs-fuel" era has arrived.

We will pay, and scrimp, and suffer. But the poor will weep, and starve, and die.

--p!

[Le Taz Hot]

8. Truthfully?

Right now fresh veggie and fruit prices are at their lowest and I'm canning as fast as I can get stuff in jars. I also haven't noticed much in the way of price increases in basics -- butter, flour, sugar, milk, etc. But then again, I'm in California's Central Valley and buy 80% of our groceries at our local farmers markets and our local college (huge ag department) so that might have something to do with it. Sorry, maybe others are experiencing more of what you are.

[karlrschneider]

11. You're lucky to have a geographical advantage many of us don't.

Are there dairies near you (and milk cow farms?)...milk is way up in most of the country.

[Le Taz Hot]

22. Actually, yes.

Although I live in Fresno County, Tulare County (next county to the south) is the largest dairy producing region in the nation. The ag department at our local college (Fresno State) has a great dairy so they have all manner of VERY fresh dairy products for sale year 'round. I don't mean to sound haughty, but the question was asked and I did answer truthfully.

I also failed to mention that we do have a garden. Not a large one as we live in your typical working-class tract home but I haven't had to buy a tomato, bell pepper, zucchini or yellow squash since May. We just started looking around our yard and assessing all kinds of little spots that were not being used much except for landscaping. It's amazing how much space you can find in a small parcel if you just kind of assess what's there and if you REALLY need it. That and we grow peppers and tomatores in post. They love them! The produce is small but its abundant. Lastly, we try to have something propagating/growing virtually year 'round.

[karlrschneider]

29. Oh, I don't think you sound haughty at all! Was just curious.

Most cattle in this part of the world are for beef, so dairy products tend to come from somewhere else. I planted some artichokes which we love but they are insanely expensive at the store. The plants grew big but so far haven't produced anything edible...I suspect the climate isn't conducive to their success. :cry:

May I ask what you mean about planting peppers and tomatoes in 'post'? :-)

[Le Taz Hot]

33. LOL!

OK, I REALLY should start proof-reading before clicking on "Post message." Uh, that would be "pots."

[karlrschneider]

37. HAHA...I'm embarrassed that I didn't figure it out! I thought maybe you meant

like 'post holes', or 'compost'.....? :silly:

(I don't think the spell check would've noticed it anyway....) :D

[phantom power]

10. nobody is going to win, or stay even.

If you are interested in a sort of summary about why, this isn't a bad place to start:
http://www.paulchefurka.ca/

[karlrschneider]

13. That graph at the top really puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

:scared:

It won't be seen again for 100 million years.

[phantom power]

23. if it was *just* the oil, I think we'd muddle through.

But it looks like it's going to be everything. All at once. Peak fossil, climate change, biosphere collapse, agricultural losses, economic depression, geopolitical chaos.

I am not completely without hope, but we are all in big trouble. The train wreck has already started. Those of us in better economies just happen to be in the caboose.

[NNN0LHI]

14. Higher than hell

I will be eating Alpo soon.

Don

[MissB]

18. The prices of prepackaged stuff is definitely up.

But staples are pretty stable with the exception of milk. Since I cook mostly from scratch, our food budget hasn't been horribly affected. Most of my family drinks soymilk, which I buy by the case at Costco (and the price hasn't gone up in two or three years at least).

[davidwparker]

19. the only thing that can be good about it is maybe we'll have a return to

sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup now that the corn lobby is happy using corn as fuel.

[MADem]

21. Going up, like everything. nt

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

25. It's like this:

I shop with a list after planning meals based on the store's online sale listings. I never buy meats more than $3 per pound and 70% of my purchases are store brand. I make a lot of my own cleaning supplies. I cook almost everything from scratch. I put a lot of time and effort into saving money.

But still my average purchase has gone up 20% in just the last two months. :(

Search SoCalDem's GD threads about thrifty cooking and shopping - she has a lot of good advice.

[kestrel91316]

27. Here's what I buy at the store:

milk, butter, canola oil, occasional fruits and veggies. Rice, flour, cornmeal, beans, sugar, salt, spices.

I get my eggs, honey, and most produce at the farmer's market so it's seasonal and local.

Meat and fish and poultry are occasional treats.

I buy STAPLE food items and cook mostly from scratch. In cooler weather I bake my own bread. It's a good thing I enjoy cooking from scratch because at this point it would be as much from economic necessity as from desire and ethical/environmental considerations.

[Zywiec]

30. Same as they ever were. n/t

[partylessinOhio]

32. I see price increases weekly here in Northern Ohio where we have

a lack of competition with one major chain, Giant Eagle. Stores will price items in groups not individually to fool the shoppers, such as 4/$10, 2 for $5, and 2 for $8. Packages are made smaller yet the price is higher. For instance a half-gallon of ice cream is actually 1.75 quarts. Sale price of ice cream was 2 for $5, now it is 3 for $10.

I have a small garden but the yield is very poor this year. My limited pension is being squeezed from so many directions, I can't make it anymore. Other increases include: property tax, sales tax, license fees, utilities, water/sewer, medical co-pays and deductibles, prescription drugs, fuel, cleaning supplies, and paper products.

[Ikonoklast]

35. They are lying to you

The reason food is up is the cost of planting, harvesting, and transporting it. There is more acreage planted in corn right now than any time since 1944; commodity speculation as to the total yield has run the price up. The dry conditions across the upper midwest may knock the total yield per acre down, but overall there should be more than enough for all users.

Current large users of corn (food processors) trade in the futures markets to keep their price of raw materials consistent. They lock in prices months, if not years ahead of time. They forward contract based on anticipated need, they rarely buy on ther spot market.

Transportation costs have soared do to the price of diesel fuel, which is DOUBLE what it was two years ago. Train, barge, trucks, all use diesel. They all transport food, both in bulk and finished product.

Biodiesel is not made from corn, but ethanol is.

[Thirtieschild]

36. Can't get out of the store for less than $70

And that's just for two of us. And we buy our beef on the hoof so that doesn't include meat. Mostly fruit, vegetables, cheese. Old enough to remember spending $13 a week for two of us and, later, $25 for a family of six and that included meat. Sigh.