The cost of food

[maggie~hamilton]

Has anyone else noticed that SUDDENLY the cost of food is just skyrocketing? I mean, above and beyond the usual and expected inflation.

I used to love grocery shopping -- would make an evening of it, strolling about and taking my time. It's the one kind of shopping that I used to enjoy.

Now, I hate it. I am in and out as fast as I can. Because of the sticker shock. I can no longer get out of there for less than a hundred bucks, and that's just for 2-3 bags of stuff. A good load of a week's groceries can easily top $250. And I am talking about a household of two adults and two dogs.

Even the cost of take-out is shot up. I eat frequently at El Pollo Loco because, at least by fast-food joint standards, the food is healthy. And it's fast, and cheap. Or used to be cheap. The last time I was there, maybe a month ago, an 8-piece meal white/dark meat (whole chicken) with two large side orders, enough to last a couple days, was $12.99. I stopped by last night, ordered that meal and was shocked because that same meal is now $18.49. Almost 20 bucks for one freakin' chicken, 4 tortillas, 4 pieces of corn and a 16-oz serving of steamed veggies.

Then today I stopped at a favorite restaurant for lunch, got my usual meal, then decided to add a large diet coke. I gave the counter person two bucks, figuring on some change -- he said, "Um, that's $2.29." For a large soda???????

What's going on??!

(To say nothing of gasoline, which currently in L.A. is averaging $2.50/gal for regular unleaded.)

 

[rp2813]

More like, to say EVERYTHING of gasoline. Here in the Bay Area regular unleaded is going for nearly $1 more a gallon than in LA--or was that "2" a typo?. As with everything, the end consumer is footing the bill for the cost of getting the groceries and produce onto the supermarket shelves. Same would go for restaurants, fast food or slow. Everyone's costs have gone up with the price of gasoline and it's being passed along to people like you and me.

 

[maggie~hamilton]

yes, that was a typo -- should have been $3.50. Or more precisely, $3.49 which was what I paid last night at an ARCO station.

p.s. I was just to a friend and he said that groceries for his family of seven (5 kids - good Catholics, haha), runs around $700.00 per week.

 

[maytagbear]

well, I think you partially

answered your first question, Charles Richard.... It costs a lot more for growers, processors, and distributors to bring items to market, and I firmly believe that we are "eating" higher fuel costs.

I did my "big" monthly shopping this afternoon (I go two times a month), and for just me, it was $102.00. And that was food, not catfood, Clorox Original, and a few other non-food items. That was with 20.00 of club card savings, as well.

I'm just grateful that I'm able to get fresh vegetables (romaine lettuce, button mushrooms), fresh fruit...bananas, kiwi....

During the growing season, I make more of an effort to "eat locally," but in the winter, and with very little freezer space, it's a challenge. I DO believe that eating as locally raised as possible is a big part of the answer for everything.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[~sudsshane]

Cost of Food...

I have always thought the prices of food were high here in Florida in comparison to NY.
My partner and I went grocery shopping last night at Publix and spent $120.00. Can you believe $5.89 for a gallon of Milk!
$4.29 for Hellmanns Mayonnaise!
I have always been a coupon clipper. I love the excitement of getting a bargain! My partner makes fun of me when I dissect the Sunday Paper and my membership in Coupon Bug.
I had the last laugh last night when our savings was $24.00 thanks to the coupons! Publix also accepts competitor coupons which helps..

 

[selectomatic]

The price of fuel is affecting food prices in another way.

As more and more fossil fuel is being replaced by ethanol, more and more corn is going to that purpose. This directly affects the cost of feeding cattle and other animals, and therefore increases the cost of producing meat and milk.

That same corn is also used as a raw material for many other products, including many industrial chemicals.

As the price of corn goes up, farmers find that it makes sense to plant less of the other, less profitable crops, and more of corn.

It's all connected.

-kevin

 

[sudsmaster]

Frugality rocks

In reality, food in the USA, as a portion of average income, is still very cheap. One reason why we as a people have become so overweight. Restaurants encourage this - it costs them just pennies to supersize your meal, big profit for them when it costs you dollars.

Still, I try to buy as frugally as possible. I get gallon jars of things like mayo and mustard at Costco, and then portion it out into smaller jars or squeeze bottles for daily use. I get turkeys when they're on sale at Thanksgiving and New Years, put them in the chest freezer, and then prepare them throughout the year. When I was between careers and operating under reduced income, I got into various ways to prepare beans with veggies and brown rice - and I felt healthier on the more vegetarian oriented diet. I can't say the vegetable garden is a money saver - the amount I spend on seeds, irrigation equipment, and other stuff probably exceeds what I'd pay for the same produce in the market. I do it more for the fun and the fresh taste of homegrown hand-picked food at the peak of ripeness.

At the fast food places, I almost always buy from the "value" or "dollar" menu. Usually it's more than enough to satisfy my hunger and the less the better when it comes to fast food anyway. I happen to prefer dark chicken and so I occasionally take advantage of KFC's bargains on that - like a 10 piece bucket of legs and thighs for $10 or less, and such. I try to bring a refillable bottle of filtered tap water with me - soft drinks are huge profit centers for fast food places - and water is healthier anyway.

 

[gansky1]

Ethanol - FEH!

You're right, the price of corn is leaping upward as demand for federally subsidized ethanol increases. Farmers are switching more of their cropland over to corn because of higher profit margins so the prices of products made with wheat, soy and other grains will increase as the supply decreases. It takes more energy/fuel to grow the corn, get it to market and refine it into ethanol than is derived from the end product. While I fully support the need to research alternative sources of energy, we're throwing good money and precious time after nothing. The whole sham is propped up and artificial and will hopefully come to an end soon, but they told us the Iraq occupation would last six months - tops.

 

[sudsmaster]

The whole ethanol thing is a bit complex, and a moving target, but my understanding is that with modern methods corn-derived ethanol gives more energy than it takes to produce it. In fact, I understand it has pretty much the same net energy balance as gasoline (which takes energy to drill/pump/transport/distill/crack/refine).

 

[lederstiefel1]

Germany

Just to give you an example, Charles, for what is going on here in merry ol' Europe, expecially in Germany:

Gasoil (Diesel) is meanwhile at 6.82 $ per gallon (converted)! And Super is somewhat arround 7.66 $ per gallon...

Supermarket chains have announced here a month ago that they will start a large-scale price increase and ALDI and LIDL started in first line with it!
But that is nothing new! When we got the Euro instead of our old Mark they took their chance already to betray people for the first time. As 2 Marks are 1 Euro they took over very often just the prices we had in Mark (DM) to Euro (€)! Things that had cost, say 1,50 DM nowadays are available for 1,50 €.... That was only possible in Germany, as no other currency had such an easy change factor (2:1) as the German Mark!

But not enough...

We had three times an increasing in gas prices last year and also four times in electricity rates! And they've just promised to rise it again at January 1st 2008!!

Rubbish fee has been risen for the factor ten during the last ten years and even water is nearly as expensive as wine here although we have plenty of it! We pay now about 4.50 € per cubicmeter (1,000 liters) which is almost 2,36 $ per 100 gallons!

Not to mention inflation with about 4,5 % compared to an income rising of 2,6 % which a lot as in many sectors income was downsized instead of increased, telling the employees "that they are too expensive for the global competition" while themselves having incomes of 50,000,000 € per anno...

Last but not least I'm not talking about general VAT increasing in January 2007 from was 16% to now 19% here in Germany!!

What shall we say??

Ralf

 

[rapunzel]

'In reality, food in the USA, as a portion of average in

That is only true to a point Sudsmaster. It is processed foods that are still relatively cheap, but when you consider the cost of fresh premium, especially organic, produce, we are talking top $$$$. How many people do you know that prepare a meal from scratch on a regular basis? Who has the time and wants to spend that sort of money? The largest population demographic doesn't consist of people with the necessary resources to eat farm-fresh every day. Even most farmers can't afford to do that anymore.

Here in Australia it is the same. It is much more affordable and convenient to buy pre-seasoned, salt, fat and sugar laden, oven-ready fish fingers from the freezer section, than to buy fresh fish. A small punnet of strawberries will easily set you back $5. Raspberries and Blackberries even more.

An average family of four now spends $500 per week to eat reasonably well, and that would not include premium cuts of lean beef and fish.

If costs keep spiralling as they currently are, we may yet see a new crime wave emerge, where people are being mugged for their groceries in supermarket car parks.

Cheers

Rapunzel

 

[foraloysius]

Ralf,

The scam overhere in the Netherlands was even bigger. Some store owners changed prices from Guilders into Euros like they were the same and the Guilder at that moment was 2.20! In most countries the conversion to the Euro has increased the prices, but we can't go back.

Louis

 

[48bencix]

Homemade

I hear you on those prices. My partner goes to the Air Force commissary with his Mom, who has privileges, once a week. That takes care of the meat, and many other basics. We never go out to dinner. And the left overs are great for lunches. I do go out for lunch almost every day, and try to aim for around $5.00, which usually means a sandwich.

We do a lot of slow cooked meats, which are cheaper and more flavorfull. We also go to Trader Joes for a bunch of stuff like bread, fruit, yougurt, cookies and other treats. They have great stuff and prices too.

I used to buy filet mignon about every two weeks, but no more. And very seldom a steak. Usually I have meat once a day, I prefer something like a cheese sandwich for lunch.

We do shop sales too, for meat especially. We go to Save Mart, Safeway, and Raleys and get what is on sale. We rarely get something that is not on sale. This all goes into a 25 cu. ft. side-by-side. We do not have extra refers or freezers, so that is a savings on energy too.

Martin

 

[seamusuk]

Makes me Quite Glad....

That we still have the £!

Having said that food has gone up way more than the alleged inflation rate over here as well-one of the most startling examples being a loaf of bread- over £1.20 for a "decent" brand up 30-40p in the last 3 months!. Milk is now 40p+ a pint in most places, although 2 and 4 pintds work out a bit cheaper.

As for Petrol- thats about £1.05 per litre- So approx $8.10 per Gallon!

Seamus

 

[maggie~hamilton]

One of the things that the "gubmint" and oil officials keep throwing in Americans' faces is the fact that, even at 4 bucks a gallon, we're still getting a "good deal" on gas compared with what Europeans are paying.

As if to say, "Stop whining about being gouged a little bit - look what we're doing to the Europeans" ---- the implication being that it's okay for the oil companies to gouge Europeans on gas, so we "Murrkins" just need to shut-up about it and be grateful we are only getting ripped off a little bit.

 

[sudsmaster]

I learned as a penniless college student back in the 70's how to make ends meet on a very tight budget. I believe what was true then is true today: packaged foods are usually many times more expensive than their ingredients. One needn't make everything from scratch, but rice, chicken, and fresh green vegetables - in season - are not at all costly. Making a burger at home and using a bit of lettuce and maybe tomato, and some good wheat bread, is generally much cheaper than the fast food variety and probably safer and more nutitious as well. Soda pop is a very expensive way to get water and sugar, along with some rather unhealthy other ingredients, like phosphoric acid (dissolves your teeth and can make you calcium deficient), artificial colors and flavors (made from petroleum, how yummy). And even the sugar is phony, with either high fructose corn syrup substituting for sucrose, or one of a number of synthetic sweeteners which try to trick the body into thinking it's getting something for nothing but it doesn't really work out to be that way.

Even bottled water costs more than gasoline, per gallon.

My guess: if you're too busy to prepare a meal from basic ingredients, then slow down. Smell the roses.

 

[launderess]

Well, as one who received basic "home eco" education growing up during the 1970's, know a thing or two on how to make a food budget stretch. Still shop the old ways, visiting various shops and markets based upon what one needs and prices. Milk comes from one shop for instance, meats from another. Am a member of several "bonus clubs" as supermarkets, and always peep shelves and store circulars to see what is on offer each week. While will use coupons and club savings to stock up on things we use, I don't buy for the sake of buying because it was on sale. Mother would buy cereals and such because they were "on sale", soon to find out we children didn't like the stuff and put a hate on the matter. Well until Big Daddy would come downstairs (a man who hated to see his hard earned money go to waste), and laid down the law. Better to force down cereal one didn't like, than have a sore rear end! *LOL*

Hardly bother eating out or buying pre-packaged foods. Am a very good cook and baker so always make from scratch. A good cut of ham on sale can go for a roast for Sunday dinner, sandwiches the next day, or with biscuts at dinner. Finally the bone can be used in greens or making split pea soup. Girls/guys it's all in how one runs a household. Ask MeMaw, she'll tell ya! *LOL*

 

[seamusuk]

Fuel in The UK

Hey Charles

Its not the oil companies that are screwing us silly -its our "delightful" Prime Minister and Chancellor.

Out of that £1.05 over 70p is tax.

Casn ya guess why we tend to have smaller cars lol!

Seamus

 

[maggie~hamilton]

Taxes.

Yes, that's another whole issue.

Got the following interesting response from a friend:

=======

You have your nerve. Just when the only important (wealthy) people and corporations are getting the country just about as they want it, and here mere nothings like you go ruining it all with your constant whining... Can't you shut up and enjoy watching the dawn of a "new day", Jesusland meets Corpocracy USSA?! Is that so damn hard...?

Actually, how can we be surprised? Read Paul Krugman in the NYTimes, he's currently shining a light on why the stock market is no longer responding to the desparate attempts to loan back some cash flow, because this time it's rotten to the core. Mark of a bad parasite is that they kill the host, suck it dry. When you gut the foundations of an economy and society, it begins to collapse and sink, and with the dollar in the toilet, *everything* becomes a luxury item. It makes it so much more fun to be rich. When everyone has a car, three TVs and a stereo and computer and all, the solopsist "have mores" don't feel so much "superior" to the masses anymore.

It's going to take the country decades to clean up all this mess, if we're still smart enough to throw the bastards out. Will the lessons be learned: never trust the rad-right idealogues again? For awhile, yeah. Beyond a handful of years... well, I don't hold much hope for the larcenous selfish capacity of too many of us to be bought off cheap, for a few bucks of token "tax relief", for grandiose lies about whatever self serving fantasy you have, to be played for suckers once more, so that it all will start again. Memories are short when you're easily distractable...

Nice job writing, honest, too -- send it to Daily Kos -- they might use it...!