Damn, are groceries going up where you live?

[Blue_Roses]

Everytime I go to the store, they've risen a little more:argh:

And gas too!

[zanne]

1. Not only is the price of food rising...

We're also getting less of it. Next time you shop, notice the weight on the front of the packages. You'll see you're getting less for more.

[Blue_Roses]

4. you're right

I've noticed that too! :argh:

[Subdivisions]

32. I third that notice. n/t

[CherokeeDem]

18. Are you ever right on that!

I love puffed wheat cereal for the taste more than the price. I went to get a bag yesterday and it was only 99 cents, for one half bag. When I picked it up I thought this one must not have gotten filled completely, so I got another one and another one. What use to be a nearly full bag of cereal was now 1/2. Needless to say, I didn't buy it..got Raisin Bran on sale, at least there was 3/4's of a box. Same thing happening with laundry detergent and everything else, the price point I bought is now much less volume. This is getting really bad.

[BonnieJW]

29. I don't know if you like it, but

old fashioned oatmeal is the cheapest and most nutritious and only takes 3 minutes to cook in the microwave. Sweeten with a bit of maple syrup, and you have one delicious meal.

[CherokeeDem]

33. I do!!

And I agree...one of the most nutritious meals and tasty, especially for me with brown sugar and butter (I'm a Southern girl!!)

[Liberty Belle]

42. There was a salmonella recall on puffed wheat or rice a week or so ago...

You might want to check with the FDA before eating that again.

[Saturday]

20. I've noticed that too.

Same price, smaller quantity.

[appal_jack]

44. Yup

I was in the grocery store yesterday evening, in the pasta aisle, comparing prices, when I noticed that not only had many of the jars shrunk from 28 oz. to 16 oz (or even less), but also many of the bags of pasta are now 10 oz. or 12 oz. What gives!?! Pasta should come in pounds.

The FSM will not be pleased. May his noodly wrath strike down the pasta-apostates.

Seriously though, selling us less while charging us more seems to be the predominant business model of the day.

-app

[Golden Raisin]

74. And peanut butter

went from 18 oz. to 16.5 oz (or something akin to that --- can't remember exactly) but the jar (at first glance) appears to be the same size although when you look more closely you see they've changed it by cinching it in a bit. Sneaky bastards.

[Irishonly]

50. You Are So Right

My garden is being planted this weekend. The last time I bought tomatoes on the vine, six tomatoes cost over seven dollars. Who would have ever thought a BLT would not be a super cheap lunch. I don't buy bacon often but I noticed it was no longer a pound, it was 12 oz. Food items that used to be on sale- two for $5.00 are now two for $7.00. We used to always buy one brand of bread now we either get bread at Target or buy what is cheapest.

I haven't been inside a Walmart for years so I don't know about their prices although I don't know if my 10 year boycott can last with the high grocery prices. I buy a lot of groceries at Target but what's funny they are about the same prices as grocery stores were a few years ago. We are fortunate to have farmer's markets close to us and there is one almost every day of the week. Fruits and vegetables are much cheaper than in the stores. Our plum and peach trees are going to produce a lot this year. One of our neighbors have orange trees and another has avocado trees.

Between gas and food the budget is getting tighter and tighter.

[roguevalley]

56. everything is going to hell. but for the fun of it, I will give you prices

of some food in Barrow, Alaska where everything must be shipped in:

steak up to $35 for a good one

milk: $8.99 a gallon

I am looking for gas prices but can't find them yet. I am sure they are in the OH.MY.GOD. range as well.

[gateley]

2. Yes!

And some have risen more than "a little more".

Friday I went to the store - Gas: $3.38/gal. On my way home, $3.45. Yesterday, $3.49. I can hardly wait to see what it is today. :eyes:

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Oh, you have no idea!

Everytime I go to the store "just to pick up a few things" I am blown away by how much I've spent! And gas is just unbelievable. I've driven since 1980, so lived through the gas lines, but it has gone up about 11-cents a gallon, in a week, according to the news, in my neck of the woods. (Northern NY...):-(

[DrDan]

5. yes - groceries are definitely going up here in Florida

bread in the mid-$2.00 range -

was in Palm Springs last week on business - milk there was $6.99 a gallon! and gas was $3.75 or so.

[Carni]

16. BAD bread here is 3.00 a loaf

By bad bread I mean the cheap wonder bread type breads...the so called artisan breads at the grocery stores in my area are like 5.00 a loaf and they aren't very good. Shopping is just a joke!

[RadiationTherapy]

54. I call it "cotton candy" bread...

it melts in your mouth.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Prices don't jump up "a little" around here

Everything jumps up a lot.

They have no shame.

Don

[0007]

7. You just ain't a wolfing. They might as well put a gun to your head

before you enter the store.

[Breeze54]

8. Of course!!

They're going up all across America!

I only buy what is on sale now and I'm very careful what i buy.

I also try to buy vegetables, etc.; locally.

[nancyr]

9. It's bad.

I have to wonder how on earth a family can even afford to eat these days.

[TK421]

10. The price of milk is outrageous!

:mad:

[Frustratedlady]

11. Our groceries have been going up for the past year.

They kept talking about 4% rise in food prices, but our prices were doubling, in some cases. Our fruits and veggies are no longer affordable, due to shipping (bananas at 89 cents/lb.). I have started stocking up on canned goods, paper products and cleaning supplies when they are on sale.

Our meat prices are beginning to come down a little, as no one could afford to buy it at previous prices. Milk products have risen.

According to reports, rice, wheat and oil is being rationed in some areas, due to supply/demand in other parts of the country, I would imagine.

[CTyankee]

12. I'm saving money by cooking from scratch a lot. I gave up packaged stuff

primarily because of the sodium content, but it is saving me $$$ as well! I guess it is a benefit of being retired. I have time to plan and cook from the basics, so I am coming about somewhat better as a result.

Cooking from basics costs me more in time, of course, but that is what I have a lot of. I don't scrimp on quality but I also don't serve huge portions. During the winter I was cooking with my crockpot, which yielded enough for 2 dinners and 1 lunch. So I effectively stopped going out to lunch (when I worked I brownbagged a lot tho).

[deaniac21]

61. Me too. I ordered a hamburger (no bun) yesterday and a chocolate

malt (sans cup)

[Fireweed247]

64. That is what I do as well

It is amazing what you can do for yourself and how much you can save. People will pay large amounts for a small can of beans, soup, chili, sauce... when you can cook them yourself and put away 10 meals in the freezer. Once you learn to make bread, it becomes really quick and easy and from that same dough you can make cinnamon rolls, pizza etc. Perhaps when no one has the cash to drive anywhere anymore, people will spend more time in the kitchen again.

[Carni]

13. It's Horrible!

Produce especially is insanely expensive... as is fish, or seafood of any kind.

[maddezmom]

14. Milk 1/2 gal $3.39

and a few others from my shop yesterday

Pears 1.79 a lb.

4 pak TP 3.99

Tonic water 1.29

Not sure what exact prices have been in the past, but I'm thinking 1.29 per lb pears, 2.99 TP, tonic .99...as for milk it's been steady for a while and now it's gone up at least .25 in the past couple weeks. I've started really planning out my meals and stuff so nothing goes bad before I can use it.

[Maddy McCall]

31. Good lord. I could get a gallon here six months ago for that.

The price of eggs is what's blowing my mind.

A dozen here costs $2.50.

[liberaldem4ever]

15. It is really bad in the Seattle area

We are rapidly getting priced completely out of this area. Groceries are getting so much more expensive and to tell you the truth, I don't even look at the price of gasoline when I go to the station anymore. I just know I have to have it, so I just pump it and leave. My husband and I are getting so frustrated, and he has a fairly decent job (to us) and I get disability from a back injury. So we kind of have 2 incomes and we just really aren't making it at all. It has ruined our marriage and I think we will get divorced eventually over the stress of finances (we have been married 20 years in Aug). We moved here from Texas in 1995 with high hopes to have a good future here and it has now turned into a nightmare. I have no idea how people who make minimum wage live here at all. Rent is insane on top of everything else. Sorry for the rant. Just typing how I feel makes it a little bit better.

[Carni]

19. Sorry to hear this!

Not that it will make you feel any better or change anything, but believe me you're not alone...I know a ton of people that have gone through the worst hell imaginable over the last two or three years! It sucks!

[liberaldem4ever]

38. Thanks. I have to have hope that a Dem

in the White House and bigger majorities in Congress will allow some new ideas to help people out will happen. Somebody better turn this country around soon. This pro-business anti-little people administration has almost ruined our economy and real people's lives. The thought that the American people will somehow vote for another Repub in Nov. is almost unbelievable to me.

[dawgman]

28. I live in N Seattle

and I completely concur. My wife is finishing her degree and I am the only income earner. The mortage of ~$2000 (for an 830 sf 2 bedroom house), the cost of food, the cost of gas, the cost of raising two kids. It hasn't hit crisis level yet, but I make about six figures and I feel the pinch. If this keeps up it will be a real time for belt tightening. I have already made the list of what to cut out and in what order.

[liberaldem4ever]

43. We don't make close to six figures

My husband wants to move back to Texas but I would hate for him to lose his good job with King County. I really love this area and I have been blessed to be able to live here for as long as we have, but his argument to leave gets stronger all the time.

[dawgman]

46. Trust me...

The company I work for wants to move me to Salt Lake City. And even though I would hate to live in a red state the cost of living down there makes a compelling argument as well.

It is just plain expensive to live up here in the Pac NW. Five years ago I was unemployed and living with one child, renting an apartment living off my wife bar tender money and my door bouncer money. I know what it is like to struggle up here and I feel for you.

[liberaldem4ever]

52. I was shocked to hear them say on HGTV

That the same house that cost $750,000 in San Francisco would cost $175,000 in Michigan. Good grief, that is a lot of difference. We moved here so I could work at Microsoft. And I did, for 1 1/2 years before I was injured in a car wreck. We wouldn't have tried to live here if we thought that we wouldn't be able to have 2 salaries. It was pretty expensive when we moved here. Not anything like this. Good luck with your job. That is a beautiful area to live in and less expensive, but is kind of a bummer to live in a predominately conservative area. The area of Texas where we are from we were outnumbered 100 to 1 by conservatives (maybe more). Moving to Seattle was like going to a different world. I love knowing so many great Liberals here.:)

[knitter4democracy]

69. It's true. Our house would be so much more on the West Coast.

Our 1800 s.f. house with two car garage, nice yard with a big back deck in a good school district in Battle Creek, MI would be soooo much more where my cousins live in CA than the $154K we paid for it. There are many houses going for very cheap here, and our other living costs, while going up massively, are still cheaper than elsewhere. We live on Hubby's internist salary, and we wouldn't be able to in many other parts of the country without a massive change in lifestyle.

[sagetea]

60. Please don't get a divorce over finanes...

I know it seems that there is literally no light at the end of the tunnel. I can sympathize with your fear confusion hurt and anger.
Yet I know that we have to go through this to eventually come out of it as closer human beings.

My husband and I work at the same company, corporate is out of Stanwood Wa. they moved us down here to start up an extension over here in Idaho. It started out,good, now we lost our contracts,and as with that our jobs. Because we work at the same place we both are losing our jobs.
I know finances are going to be difficult for us. I know that we will no longer have insurance or 401k, we are putting our house up for sale, I guess just to see if it will! Yet there is a small part of me that is kinda happy, because our lives just got simpler, my husband is ( by trade a truck driver) so he has already found work, I on the other hand, will get to stay home this summer, and have time to plant a garden, and maybe raise a few chickens.

We bought are house 4 yrs. ago, I bought it knowing that it was going to take commitment, but also thinking that there may come a time when we were going to have to live tribal, and I have 3 acres to raise food an animals and still have room for friends and family that if they have need can live too. My hubby laughed at me then, now he is thinking that it would not be such a bad idea.
Again, this is Idaho, so I am living in a red state, I have no friends, my daughter was not getting a very good education, until I found a liberal arts school, so she is actually getting an education now!
I understand that we were part of the consumption, that we now have to live without, and in my heart of hearts, I knew in Dec. 2000, that this was going to happen. These stupid people were going to change the way we lived, and prospered and keep it all to themselves, so I feel that most of us in the back of our minds were kinda expecting it. It was a great fear, maybe even a nameless one that we couldn't really pinpoint, until now when it actually hit us in our hearts and bank accounts.
No matter what, we are survivors, we are smart, and we stand in our own truth, and make sure that others are aware of it.

My grandparents and my husband's parents, survived the great depression in the '30's and told us many stories of how they made it through, I plan on honoring their memories by utilizing their knowledge they have left to me.
Sorry for the long response, I don't normally talk on here, as somebody usually writes something that I was pretty much going to write, LOL, but when I read your post, it made me cry, reading how you sounded so scared. My grandma, used to tell me, never dwell on what you can't do, live on what you can do.
My admiration goes out to you,
Ho`

[Fireweed247]

65. money problems are the number one cause of divorce

I'm sorry-That is awful! I am sure many other people are having these problems as well. Divorce usually leads to even more financial stress.
Maybe since you are so aware of it, you can somehow stop it.

[global1]

17. Say 'Thank You' To George W. Bush, His Administration And The Repugs That Were......

in control of Congress over most of his term. The prices are not going to go down again either. This is set in stone. Yes - package size goes down while prices go up. And sales that are run by the stores - just get you back to a little over status quo. We're hearing on the news networks and reading in the papers that gas will go up to $4.00/gal this summer. Whether it would have if they didn't tell us this doesn't matter now - because the upper limit is set and the oil companies sit back and say - well if that's what they're going to expect - let's push it there faster.

Next we'll hear the new gas threshold of $5.00/gal - and we'll get there as well.

Seems to me that raising all prices is going to hit some sort of 'diminishing return'. People are not going to be able to afford to buy anything and all these corporations that are squeezing us are going to start feeling the pain.

Everyday I read on the Internet those stores that are in trouble of going under. More and more of our traditional stores are feeling the pain already. People just aren't spending like they used to. Airlines are filing for bankruptcy. To me the consolidation that will follow will mean higher airfares. That will lead to higher car rental prices. That will lead to higher hotel room prices. UP!!! UP!!! and UP!!!!

Only the wealthy will be able to afford to do anything - but those people that help to make these people wealthy by not spending will ultimately hit the wealthy's pocketbook as well.

Seems to me the way to stop this upward spiral is to do just the opposite - lower prices on things to stimulate people going out and buying again. Once people start buying again and start traveling again and start spending again - things will begin to turn around. But what are the chances that that will happen?

[The2ndWheel]

24. That's how we got here

"lower prices on things to stimulate people going out and buying again"

How do you solve the current problem with our previous solution that made the current mess we're in?

[global1]

30. Well Then I Guess You Better Get Used To Rising Prices On Everything From.....

soup to nuts and a falling dollar. Good Luck!!!!!

[The2ndWheel]

40. Most of us are a burden on the ecological system

whether we massively consume or not. The only reason most of us exist is because of cheap, concentrated, non-human energy(and cheap human energy before that). That cheap, concentrated, non-human energy results in a larger impact on the habitat we all live in. Why else does the "cost of living" always seem to go up?

Not that the energy is cheap. Economically it might be cheap, but it certainly isn't environmentally cheap. No source of energy will be environmentally cheap when the purpose of having that energy cheap is so that we can increase our activity. We won't conserve energy. At least not until all 6.5 billion people have everything they need. Throw in the extra few billion people we'll add to our population before our total population even begins to level off, and that they will also need everything that everyone else has, and you can see that conservation isn't part of any equation. So we can increase our efficiency, making energy cheaper, but we will continue to pay a large price for those actions. We can live in a solar utopia, but we will still have environmental problems. We don't get to escape physical reality.

So yeah, everyone does have to get used to rising prices. Or, everyone has to get used to impacting the habitat on greater and greater scales. It's one or the other.

It doesn't really matter what we do, we will never reach the perfect state to existence. We can live in caves and hunt with sticks, we'll have problems. We can live in that solar bubble, and we'll have problems. We'll never win.

[deaniac21]

75. We are all gonna die.

[Kittycat]

21. Yes, and Tomatoes... TOMATOES are priced through the roof!

$3.49 for a pint of grape tomatoes. $2.99/lb for regular taste like shit hot house tomatoes.

We planted seeds in a grow set-up downstairs, and just got some of them in the ground last weekend, like Peas & direct sow/cool weather varieties (lettuce, green beans, carrots, etc). Some of our herbs and onions are coming back up from last year now. I cannot wait! Not only does homegrown taste better... It's $1 for a pack of seeds, and we can give extra plants and produce to neighbors.

Now, if only I could get our Home Owners Association to let me have chickens - then I could have yummy organic, cage free, brown eggs.

[OwnedByFerrets]

22. Have been for quite some time....

and it is not abating at all.

[moez]

23. Stupid friggin' ethanol.... n/t

[elocs]

25. Yes, food prices have risen, but in this country we spend a small % of our income to feed ourselves.

Our food is nearly as cheap as it has ever been in our history and we pay far less of our income on food than most of the rest of the world.

Americans Spend Less Than 10 percent of Disposable Income on Food: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july192006/food_prices_71906.php

The U.S. consumer is spending a bit more of their disposable income to purchase food than the previous year, but they still enjoy the cheapest, most abundant food supply in the world, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) has recently released food expenditure statistics for 2005. They show that Americans are spending, on average, 9.9 percent of their disposable income on food.

That's up slightly from 9.7 percent in 2004 but very consistent with figures over the past five years. The percentage dropped to single digits for the first time in recorded U.S. history in 2000.

Twenty years ago, American consumers spent 11.7 percent of their disposable income on food. Thirty years ago, that figure was 15.1 percent. Going back in history, Americans spent about 20 percent of their income on food about the time today's baby boomers were born. In 1933, the figure was more than 25 percent.

Yes, I am paying more for food, but I still consider it a bargain. We pay a lot for packaging and convenience and just plain junk. Plus, how much of what you bring home from the supermarket is not "food"? It is still very possible to eat well and eat healthy without spending a lot of money. I guarantee that most of the rest of the world wishes it had it as bad as we do when it comes to food and its availability and price. In some poor countries people spend as much as 75% of their income on food and in much of the world rice is a staple in their diets and its price has risen to historic levels, so let's put our "high" food prices in perspective.

I also don't think most of the rest of the world are shedding many tears for our "high" gas prices either when they are paying much more and have for a long time.

[nichomachus]

39. Believe government statistics at your own peril. They are all phony.

[elocs]

47. I don't need government statistics, I have my own, so there is no peril.

I spend 15% of my weekly income at the supermarket and not all of that is for food. I am in no way suffering because of "high" food prices. Food in this country is still very cheap and widely available. I also don't need government statistics to know that much of the rest of the world pays much, much more for their food than I do if they can get it.

[elizfeelinggreat]

51. I believe someone posted a thread recently

explaining how the cost of food and gas rising doesn't come anywhere near the housing cost increase.

The latest food and fuel cost increase just seems to be the straw that's breaking the camel's back.

(I doubt you meant to imply this but food is not "very cheap and widely available" to those who don't have any or much disposable income. )

[TheWatcher]

70. It doesn't affect me yet, so therefore it doesn't exist.

[elizfeelinggreat]

49. "disposable income"

and FOOD. Somehow those words don't belong together. :shrug:

[elocs]

58. "Disposable Income" is simply

the amount of income left to an individual after taxes have been paid, available for spending and saving. That does include food. I assume that most posting here and complaining about the high price of food are not the desperately poor who are having trouble making ends meet and actually buying food. In this country the poor do go hungry, in other countries of the world the equivalently poor starve. In this country, for the average person, food is both inexpensive and available. For the rich, food is insanely cheap. For the poor it is more of a problem, but that is also determined by what kind of food is chosen.

As far as disposable income goes, I can give a personal for instance. Several years ago I decided that I didn't really need cable tv, getting a dozen channels for free over the air. I thereby save $60 a month, $720 a year. That savings is enough to buy me 14 weeks worth of groceries or to put gas in my car for 6 months. We complain loudly about the rising price of food, but often have little problem spending our money on things that are far less needful and that are in reality luxuries.

[CTyankee]

71. I've stopped coloring my hair. I just realized when I retired that I didn't need to look "young"

any more. Who was I going to impress?

Now I am considering going to "cost cutters" to have my hair trimmed. At present I am paying $50 plus tip for a cut each month. I'd like to pay half of that if possible.

It pays to reconsider all of your expenses. I did that with my car insurance. I had no idea I'd save money simply by being retired!

[OregonBlue]

26. Much of what I buy is up 30% and some things like bread are up 50%.

I bought a bag of groceries the other day that would have cost $40 not long ago, typical milk, bread, eggs, etc. It came to $66 and I was shocked. I have to drive 30 miles each way to buy my groceries so I guess I'd better start thinking of expanding my garden.

[demmiblue]

27. Groceries going up, box sizes going down.

[waiting for hope]

34. Milk is now over 5.00 a gallon -

With two kids I burned through two a week - pretty soon people are going to be experiencing poor health, for all the stuff that is good for you will be unattainable price wise.

[deaniac21]

35. We've not witnessed this phenomenon where I live but it

may be because we've been having a lot of heavy gravity days.

[slackmaster]

36. I don't eat

:shrug:

[Kajsa]

37. They sure have, Blue_Roses.

last time I shopped for groceries, I noticed the average price
had risen 10-30% on everything.

Here in SoCal, the gas prices are around $3.86/gal-low octane
to $3.96-$4.00/gal- high octane.
Diesel is well over $4.00/ gallon.

:(

[Yavapai]

55. Bush has sold us out to the Arabs and Chinese.

[nichomachus]

41. My other half

manages a grocery store, part of a small family chain. He said he spends a lot of time doing price changes these days - all upwards. The other day, he said he was marking some stuff up 30%. (Don't yell at him, the suppliers are raising their prices.)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

45. Now they are marketing 8 ounce boxes of cereal for 4-5 dollars.

5 pound bags of sugar are now 4 pounds... Apples and lemons are a dollar a piece... It is pathetic.

[dgibby]

48. good info

there are many good web sites devoted to this (google sustainable living, survival skills). I would be happy to list the sites, but don't know how to publish links. If someone would tell me how to do it, I can give you lots of info. Also, Carolyn Baker just posted an article last night about food rationing in the US. Seems rice (@$1000.00/ton) is getting hard to obtain and some of the big stores (Costco, etc) are limiting their customers to one large bag. This is sporadic (Calif and NY), not nationwide (yet). The problem is that we are experiencing a world wide grain shortage, which affects just about everything (meat and dairy prices are directly related to grain prices). Causes are many, cost of production, conversion of fields from food production to ethanol production, increasing oil prices, droughts, rust infection, and last, but certainly not least, GM foods (thank you, Monsanto). Hunger/starvation is rapidly becoming a major worldwide problem, and will most certainly affect the US. Couple that with the tanking economy and devaluation of the dollar, as well as global warming, and I suspect that the Great Depression is going to look like a picnic in the park! Most of the web sites I've been reading are encouraging us to store nonperishables, start a garden, buy local, in season produce, go green,etc. Also, drought in the southwest and southeast is going to affect the water supply negatively, so conservation of water is of up most importance. Sorry to be so negative, but things are NOT going to get better anytime soon, soooo, it's best to be prepared. Oh, check out the DU gardening, rural/farm, and energy/frugal living groups-lots of really good info there!

[undeterred]

53. Gas station coffee went from .99 to $1.24 in one day

I drink small black coffee. I just looked at the clerk and said "It went up a quarter in one day?" and she said "No, it was on sale before". I guess that's what she was told to say.

[JuniperLea]

57. $4.35 for a loaf of bread!

The healthier, low fat, high fiber, whole grain variety anyway. The pasty white squishy glue kind is still under $3.

Everything is up, but this was the "WHAAAAAA?" moment last time I went shopping... that, and $6.49 for 18 eggs. $6 for a pound of butter too.


Edited to say... Greater Los Angeles Area prices are always pretty bad anyway.

[Dr Fate]

59. The portions at my favorite lunch spots are shrinking too. n/t

n/t

[ItNerd4life]

62. Stop production of ethanol

Sadly that is one of the biggest reasons. Most farmers are growing corn for ethanol instead of food crops. Also, dairy/meat farmers are switching from raising cows, to growing corn for ethanol. A good friend of ours this is his last year of raising cattle, next year he grows corn. I'm going to miss buying 1/4 cow from him, it was excellent meat.

[Two Americas]

63. food and fuel

Food and fuel are both inexpensive here compared to what people in the rest of the world are paying.

Suburbanization is the problem. You can't have that - sprawl, development, land speculation - and cheap food and cheap transportation. Suburbanization has driven farming farther and farther away from the population centers. Suburban development has precluded public transportation, and has benefited the greediest and most exploitative among us. Suburbanization forces us to drive.

If people with six figure incomes - those in the upper 10% in household income - are complaining about food and fuel prices, imagine the millions who are truly suffering.

As Democrats, chatting back and forth about personalized challenges and solutions is a distraction. We should not be talking about how we, with advanced degrees and professional careers, could be stretching our personal budgets. We should translate our fears and pain, which are relatively minor compared to what the other 99.999% of the people in the world are facing, into strong advocacy for restoring the public infrastructure - public transportation, the regulatory public agriculture agencies, public utilities, public education, public health care - and rejecting the "personal choices" individualistic mentality that is the root cause of our social problems.

Don't look first at how you as an individual are doing - look first at how the left behind and the forgotten are doing.

Food and fuel are not the problem, unless we are going to assume that the suburban life - only available to a small percentage of the population, unsustainable and destructive - must be supported and preserved and promoted at all costs.

[Lugnut]

66. I can't believe you just noticed.

The past year has been eye-popping to me.

[ramapo]

67. It has been going on for months

Grocery shopping makes you sick. Restaurant prices are soaring. Gas prices are rising daily.
The environment is a mess. Americans are killed almost daily in Iraq. Jobs losses climb. Offshoring continues. And our media wonders if not wearing a flag pin disqualifies a candidate for the presidency.

What a country!

[librechik]

68. yes, of course--practically everything has to be shipped in to Colorado

this time of year

what I hate is when they mark up the stuff that's been sitting on the shelves for weeks already.

[Midlodemocrat]

72. Yes. Quite a bit. Which is why I'm making the effort to shop only

at Costco. I just came back from spending $1000 on groceries, HBA and cleaning supplies. It is going to last me 3 months if it kills me.

That way, I only have to purchase perishables.

[Career Prole]

73. If war is good for the economy then milk and gas

should be two bits a gallon aaannnnyyy day now. I'm not sure what the hold-up is...