View Full Version : Rising food prices
Today I have heard or read several news articles about a rampant rise in food prices in the next few years. One of the articles I read suggested stocking up on foods now to prepare. Another actually suggested putting money aside now to help pay for food in the future. Food purchasing is one area of my frugal life I can really focus on. I have done well in cooking at home, etc. What else would you do in response to rising food prices? I know I will stock on coffee (my only true vice). What other foods have long enough shelf life and value that warrants stock piling?
iris lily
1-30-11, 12:00am
There aren't any foods I'm going to keep for years,well, purposely,* that seems daft. Sorry!
I guess, if I were worried about that, I'd be figuring out how to increase my own production of food that I eat. Garden garden garden. Preserve.
*DH is liek a little squirrel. He collects foods and puts them away and then forgets about them. I had to clean out every kitchen cabinet we had becuase we are paiting them, and I found jars of fruit going back to 1992, canned at home by DH. I will not eat that. He had a 300 year supply of popcorn. One elderly relative used to give locally raised popcorn for Christmas and DH kep it all even though we eat popcorn once every 3 -4 years.
loosechickens
1-30-11, 3:03am
As the price of energy goes up, food prices are likely to rise. As we feel more of the effect of global climate change, there will be more crop failures in parts of the world, and that will cause food prices to rise as well.
rather than try to store large amounts of food, doing such things as eating lower on the food chain, getting more protein from beans and grains as opposed to meat, which is a very inefficient way of using plant proteins that can be used directly instead, learning to garden and preserve some food yourself and cooking from scratch will all help lower your food bill considerably even if prices rise a good amount.
We pay a much smaller percentage of our incomes for food than in most periods of our history, and less than people pay in many other areas of the world. it's going to be o.k. Don't panic. There are lots of things more effective than just trying to hoard food in fear of prices going up.
Not that it isn't a good idea to stock up on staples when they are a good price and on sale, but it is equally important to manage your stock of food well, so that things are eaten before they get too old, and end up being wasted.
I was going to say the same thing loosechickens said. Americans have no idea how good we have had it.
Wildflower
1-30-11, 6:47am
We are really focused at our house lately on reducing unnecessary food costs as much as possible. Our food budget is limited and with prices likely to rise alot in the near future we are cutting way down now on how and what we eat. Much, much less meat, cooking everything from scratch, eliminating any waste of food, no junk food whatsoever, and our garden will be much bigger this year to help sustain us. Will be canning garden's excess bounty this year as well. I, personally, have limited the amount of food I am eating greatly, and the side effect of this change is losing the extra pounds I've needed to for a long while now. I am not starving at all, eating so much healthier overall, and feeling so much better physically than I have for a long time, plus our food budget is benefitting as well. The fear of rising food prices have turned into a very positive change in our household....
Stocking up is good on some items if you can afford to do so and have the space to store it. But alot of things eventually get old or stale sooner than you would think, like for instance, coffee. I've stocked coffee in the past when on sale and it went stale before I could use it all up....
Stocking up is good on some items if you can afford to do so and have the space to store it. But alot of things eventually get old or stale sooner than you would think, like for instance, coffee. I've stocked coffee in the past when on sale and it went stale before I could use it all up....
You might want to try experimenting with coffee substitutes such as chicory. I think I read somewhere that roasted, ground chestnuts were used by Native Americans for their breakfast pick-me-up. To be blunt, there will soon come a time when imported foods and beverages are going to be out of reach for most of us, IMO, and it would be good to have satisfying substitutes that you can get locally before the SHTF. (In the meantime, you might try storing extra coffee in the freezer.)
I strongly suggest gardening for food and eating lower on the food chain as L.C. says. If you're vegetarian and grow and preserve lots of vegetables you'll be relatively self-sufficient and most likely healthier. I'm personally trying to learn about edible wild plants in addition to starting a vegetable garden.
You might want to check Chris Martenson's website as well for lots of good articles:
http://www.chrismartenson.com/ . One of his most recent newsletters had an article on how the price of food is inflating even more so than we think.
I was thinking about this very topic recently when I went food shopping and saw prices up on some items from just the week before. I buy only staples, chicken, seafood and fresh fruit and veggies....no convenience foods at all. My income is not going up, yet costs are....and don't get me started on gasoline, YIKES! The only way I can manage is to buy less and eat less. I'm also hoping my container gardening will do better this summer. I already have herbs and am going to try some vegetables.
Certain things will definitely be going up this year - coffee, sugar, wheat, chocolate, rice. If you use those things, stock up. I noticed on my weekly shopping trip that prices had risen in one week on certain packaged goods (which I don't buy luckily) - things like boxed cereal. I think all of this will be a boon for local foods though - when it becomes too expensive to transport food from around the globe as we do now, we will have to buy more locally grown foods or grown our own when possible.
We regularly stock up on food purchases as we will be moving back to Canyonlands NP this spring. As it is 1.5 hours drive one way to the grocery store, we do a major stocking up before we go, then another one about 3-4 months later.
Things we bought last year included:
From Costco
Oatmeal, now in 10 lb boxes, slightly higher price
Granola Bars/Clif Bars
Croutons (as we do not eat sliced bread)
canned chicken
canned tuna
Real Bacon Bits
Olive oil
Dried berries
Granola
Salsa
From Winco:
Tea
Mayo
Raisins
ramen noodles
coffee beans
canned olives
soy sauce
peanut butter
jams
maple syrup
Dried apples
Dried coconut
Oat Bran
Hot Cocoa Mix
Dried Papaya
Dried Mango
Dried Cranberries
Dried Cherries
Dried Strawberries
Flaxseed
Pasta
Almonds
Walnuts
Split peas
Dried Apricots
At Walmart:
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Dish soap
Jerky
Pepperoni sticks
peanuts
Vitamins
Tortillas
Lip Balm
Tissues
TP
Paper Towels
Microwave Popcorn
We stock up enough so that we do not need as much when we go in every three weeks for our grocery items. While I would love to do some major gardening, I will be working and the sun is pretty brutal here in the desert. I would have to shade the plants more and would only be able to do potted plants. I will be doing some stuff, but not as much to really make a difference.
Our truck holds ~ 132 gallons of diesel, so we typically fill up once every three months and then use our motorcycles to get to work. I can go ~ 90 miles on one gallon of gas. We have (in our RV) a gasoline filling station, so before we go into Canyonlands, we will fill it up, and use it as needed for about 3-4 months for the motorcycles. Then, when we go into town, we have a small 5 gallon container for getting gas.
While some things will definitely go up, most foods have been steady for a while. I will have to look back on my spending for the last couple of years to see what the food prices have done.
I think part of a long-term strategy is probably admitting that our food has been unnaturally inexpensive for years. Much like our gasoline, the price we pay for food currently in no way reflects what it really costs both in the dollars and cents and the environmental externalities. So anyway, the strategy is looking at the budget and trying to devise a way to devote a more realistic percentage of income (or time, if you plan to grow your own) to food. It's nowhere near as exciting as trying to figure out how to spend less on it, but probably a healthier and more realistic way of looking at the future.
I agree that food has been overly priced due to our willingness to accept products that have been heavily transported or processed. I believe in moderate stocking up as there is nothing more aggravating than throwing out spoiled food. I do think climate and the global economy are showing the wear and tear of our habits. It just seems that the media has picked up the latest info and put it out there in a more mainstream way. For example, the first report I heard about rising prices was on my local all news channel, which I generally listen to for weather info.
Maybe they're just being creative about pressuring us to buy, buy, buy. If we won't buy flat screen tvs and new $40K cars, at least we can go insane spending money on processed, storable food. One, two three, Panic! Now, Spend!
Just a clarification, I don't think food is over priced at all, I think it's dramatically underpriced at the supermarket, primarily due to government subsidies that take our tax dollars and subsidize big food corporations - we pay, alright, we just don't see it, or have any control over who we pay.
I too think that our foods in the US are underpriced for many reasons. Even if they weren't, they still will go up from here. Because of fuel issues alone, I think imported goods will rise in cost faster than either local or more broadly, US goods.
And the cost of producing foods is increasing - locally water, fuel, and fertilizer costs are all going up significantly. As LC mentioned, there likely will be more crop failures due to weather change. Remember the world-wide rice shortage of a couple years ago when there was a real scarcity and prices went up, (and haven't really come all the way down)?
And as the world population continues it's constant upward tick... there are more mouths to feed day after day, week after week, year after year..... And all the 'easy' land is already under cultivation.
I don't think buying lots of food to store to save money is that good an idea, unless it's a few imported things such as chocolate, tea and coffee. While I do keep things on hand for 'the big one', I assume if there is a local disaster and we have to use it, it won't be something to enjoy, but rather to tide one over, and as a preventative from having to go out and wait in long lines for the basics.
My plan to counter increasing food prices would be to grow more in the garden, to shop even more carefully, as an unrepentent meat-eater to slow cook cheaper cuts (solar oven comes to mind), to eat more legumes, and in general to be less wasteful.
My philosophy is to just be flexible. There is always beans and rice. Beans and rice become expensive? Shift to something else. For a future time when food may be more expensive, train ourselves to eat lower on the food chain, as loosechickens said. One of my friends switched to drinking only water this year, except when she is dining out. She said a few of her health problems cleared up. I'm not sure my gardening skills will ever be up to feeding even one person, but it is pleasant to try.
My approach is to live in an area where I can readily feed my family off my own land through farming, foraging, hunting, and fishing, and engage in trade with my neighbors.
I forgot to mention that the chocolate bars I buy and stock have gone up significantly in price. They are the 72% dark chocolate bars, 1 pounders, that Trader Joe's sells. I haven't purchased any for several months (?), but when I was going to buy a few yesterday to re-stock I noticed they are now $4.99 each. They had been at $3.49 for several years and I had been surprised they hadnt gone up in that time.
Too bad the time has arrived... :(
Oh, Gina, tell me it is not so. I have not made a TJ's stop for a long time and always expected that low low price on those bars.
clear water
2-7-11, 4:18pm
As many of us as possible should grow a garden. My two grandaughters have celiac disease. So everyone in the family started cooking everything from scratch. We can't really take them to restaurants. The cost of home prepared food is much less than restaurants. Also you know exactly whats in the food. As a result the food bill for our regular food has decreased . I'm teaching them how to garden. With a few raised beds its surprising what can be grown. As we started making bread for them, we enjoyed it. So went on the making homemade bread for the rest of the family. I know we should eat more beans and would if we knew how to prepare them.
I used to hoard food and had the problem of things going stale and being wasted.I think reducing waste is more effective. And of course cutting out junk food, pop etc.
Oh, Gina, tell me it is not so. I have not made a TJ's stop for a long time and always expected that low low price on those bars.
Yes, it is so. $4.99..... http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=144&d=1294381403
It's too bad there was no warning. I would have stocked up. sigh.
loosechickens
2-7-11, 9:28pm
get used to paying more and more for chocolate.......because it is likely that prices are going to rise significantly in the coming years. Here's a piece from The Independent in the UK that details some of the reasons why growers in west Africa, the traditional "cocoa basket", can't or won't keep up with demand.
for the small growers, who grow more than 90% of the world's cocoa, and who make less than a dollar a day doing it, until prices rise considerably more, AND the actual producers get more of a piece of the pie, we'll see higher and higher prices, because they are just not going to keep growing it. it's almost that simple.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/chocolate-worth-its-weight-in-gold-2127874.html
We have taken something of an opposite tack on rising food prices. We try to buy less and use it up more quickly within two to four weeks. In practice, we keep some things like canned tomatoes, vegetables and fruits around longer than that and buy some things which aren't absolutely necessary. To my surprise, our grocery bills have gone down a little over the past ten years and we are spending less eating out by eating more lunches out and fewer dinners out.
Comparison shopping has helped a bit. There are many places selling food in our area. We patronize Giant, Whole Foods and the Reading Terminal Market (a public market) and farmers' markets in season. I find myself spending more for locally grown produce and less for prepared foods, even though we have not cut them out entirely.
Our next big plunge may to start growing vegetables despite being clueless about how it's done. There's nothing like learning something really new. Community gardens and small farms are being revived in the Delaware Valley on quite a large scale. up until now, I have helped a friend garden on a plot a few miles from us. I would like to figure out a way to grow vegetables on our property or even on our porch.
Bicyclist, I used to grow yellow plum tomatoes, which are small, in a box on my porch. My then elementary school aged daughter and I would sit on the porch in the late summer afternoons and munch ripe, sweet, warm little pear tomatoes off the bush. It was so fun!
Gardening is not hard. Like anything, the quality of the basics you start with makes a difference. Soil is where to start. As soon as you can, get several soil samples sent out for testing, so you will know what your soil lacks. You can then add in what it needs. Please go organic - the food will be better for you, and the soil will build fertility over time.
I'm sure you'll have plenty of mentors, and there are tons of good books out there. Just be sure you read ones suited for your area, and get seeds proven in your area. I live in Seattle, and there is no growing eggplants here!
Enjoy - gardening is miraculous and very gratifying.
I have a nice garden in the back, but I also like to grow some things in pots or flats on the patio.
Things that have worked well for me are lettuce, green bush beans, short-vined peas, and cukes.
I saw something on the news today about inflation. That certain things have really gone up - gas of course now, but also corn products 82%, tea 42%. There was a list, but that's all I remember.
I noticed the other day at TJ's (trader joe's) that 8oz of pinon nuts was $7.99. Wow, those really have gone way up. And as mentioned recently in another thread their large chocolate bars up to $4.99 from $3.50.
The program also said sizes of items have decreased instead of the price rising. Well, we already knew that, but it continues. There was a sale on a bag of sugar - now only 4 pounds instead of 5. And apparently some brands of toilet paper are smaller in width, and the inner cardboard spool is wider in diameter so the roll still looks the same size!
I noticed the other day at TJ's (trader joe's) that 8oz of pinon nuts was $7.99. Wow, those really have gone way up.
My local supplier tells me there have been crop failures that have caused skyrocketing pinion nut prices. They are insanely priced here now.
I was curious and did a bit of reading. The prices are higher for several reasons, primarily crop failures, but also a couple others. Most pine nuts come from China where there have been failures, but also the Chinese are using more themselves so they are exporting a lower % of what they produce than formerly. Another reason the price is higher at TJ's (trader joes') is becuase a couple years ago, after too many tainted Chinese items were imported, TJ's decided to no longer sell any foods from China. So they had to purchase from alternate sources which are more expensive.
I don't know where they buy them, but there is a large pine nut 'industry' in the SW (New Mexico, Nevada, AZ) where native pinon trees grow wild. There's lots in Calif desert mountains too.
I was looking in my 'larder' and found an unopened bag of pinenuts (1.5 pound) I purchased from costco probably a year ago. I know I would not have purchased that many if the price had been high. They are still good so I popped them into the freezer so they will keep longer. I only use them for pesto (and pesto crackers), but for me, there is no flavor substitute.
I think locally grown stuff is more expensive here than supermarket stuff, but growing food is risky (crop failures, weather changes and resulting changes in insect population) and expensive in its own way. I think people who sell locally should be paid a good price. I say this as someone whose entire crop, that was to sustain us in dark leafy greens all summer and fall and part of the winter, failed. I want to find out more about gathering local wild food. There are always people around who know how to do this if you look for them. Pinons grow here, and the big crop comes every five years or so. You have to cook them to be safe, and that's a reason why they're priced very high--another is that gathering them in any quantity requires creativity and industry.
One of our dogs who has urinary tract problems eats juniper berries whenever they're falling, like now--and I found out juniper is used for humans too to medicate for urinary problems. I bet we can lern tof ollow our noses too.
ApatheticNoMore
3-2-11, 7:08pm
I've been using walnuts in pesto instead of pinenuts. Because I don't even know where the pinenuts are coming from! And the walnuts come from California :D. I've also had some bad luck with rancid pinenuts. However if I could get a more local supply, I would consider trying ....
flowerseverywhere
3-2-11, 7:31pm
Last night I went to a lecture by Eric Schlosser who wrote Fast Food Nation and Food Inc. One point he talked about was the fact that our current food system has only been in place for about forty years. I know I am not the only one who remembers eating only root veggies in the winter, and having no fast food restaurants. There were no tomatoes from Mexico and Strawberries from Chile in the winter. Also, our supermarkets were closed on Sunday and had limited hours during the week. None of this 24/7 stuff with the supermarket shelves overloaded. I think my parents would die from shock if they walked into our local designer grocery store.
I live in an area where the cows and chicken do so I can get high quality dairy and eggs from local farmers. Local meat is a little more challenging, but it is available if you want to pay the price.
My large garden in 20x60 feet and my kitchen garden is four 4x4 squares. I am learning to supply as much as I can to us, but it is a challenge and a huge amount of work. Storing food is a skill that takes years to acquire. As we age we will have to pare down the size of our garden.
I don't see how you can realistically stock up. While I do think it is wise for all of us to have some food on hand to avoid running to the store when there is a local storm or emergency, I can't imagine months worth of food. Maybe now learning to eat lower on the food chain and developing a menu of legume and grain based meals might be prudent. learn how to make your own breads and other baked goods. Anything you can do to eliminate the middle man is helpful to the bottom price line.
early morning
3-2-11, 9:43pm
Oh, I well remember not having fast-food places around, and no imported produce! When I was still at home, we used to can enough veggies and fruits to get us through the winter. One year Mom even canned beef, although my grandparents always had meat handy, to be butchered as needed. Eggs were more of a luxury in the winter, and we couldn't wait to get the first fresh greens, which were generally dandelions. We had cold frames, and a root cellar, fished and hunted. No middle man there! Canning is an easy skill to learn, BTW, but I agree, growing and preserving your own food is a lot of work! I've not done a lot of it in the past few years, but plan to do more this year.
The price jumps have been noticeable where I am. I am buying produce off the quick sale rack. Two weeks ago tomatoes were outrageous - lots of people refused to pay that price, and I got them for half off the following week and still fine to eat. I am not about to stock up when prices are so high. To me it's like buying stocks at peak prices. I am trying to eat fewer grains and more vegetables. I figure it's good to get used to a diet like that since I can always grow my own vegetables, or others near me can, but I am far away from the grain belts. Some vegetables are also more affordable right now. Root vegetables, for instance, haven't been hit by the frosts that destroyed many above ground vegetables recently.
Here is a list of what prices on certain commodities have done over the past calendar year (as of Mar 1-2). The only thing that has gone down in price is natural gas. I found this on a blog I enjoy. I do not know the original source.
Heating Oil +44%
Natural Gas (-19.3%)*
Crude Oil +23%
Gasoline +32%
Wheat +76%
Corn +88%
Soybeans +30%
Oats +74%
Canola +46%
Live Cattle +21%
Lean Hogs + 13%
Pork Bellies +46%
Milk +18%
Gold +25%
Silver +100%
Copper +31%
Platinum +17%
Palladium 81%
Cotton +141%
Orange Juice +15%
Sugar +45%
Cocoa +21%
Coffee +46%
Lumber +17%
The natural gas company where I am is using the fact that supply prices are down as an excuse to try to jack up their distribution price, claiming it won't affect the consumer (though of course, when the supply price goes up, the distribution price won't come down; it will still remain higher). Trust them to try to destroy the silver lining.
ApatheticNoMore
3-5-11, 8:22pm
They say food prices were initially driven by weather and rising demand for certain food etc. but are now being driven by oil prices. Wait isn't this exactly what is predicted by various theories of interlocking crisises? Yes. Global warming has a potential impact of food production, oil has a very definite impact of food costs etc..
We even have feedback loops going on: "high food prices were partly to blame for the popular uprising in Tunisia earlier this year, which led to similar movements in Egypt and Libya." And now the uprising in Libya is contributing to rising oil prices, which is contributing to rising food prices .... feedback loops ...
However the reasons oil is being driven up right now are not necessarily permanent (yet), there's a lot of reaction (aka speculation) to political situations going on etc.. Plus the joke that is central bank created inflation is always a wild card in any of this, distorting the real feedback.
This is merely a foreshadowing perhaps of what is to come. Because we can see very well from this the impact of oil on food costs. Maybe we're going for first time as farce (speculation driven increases), second time as tragedy (supply crunch driven increases). For the 3rd world it's already tragedy, but for most americans it's not tragic yet (merely costly). "Said Scrooge, 'answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?'"
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/03/news/economy/food_prices/index.htm?iid=EAL
By the way the big "gas costing $4 a gallon". Um I just need to look out my window when I pass a gas station because lots of places are selling gas for $4 a gallon now here, although at other stations you might get it for $3.95.
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