Been to the supermarket lately?

The Radio Patriot ^ | Feb. 14, 2011 | Andrea Shea King

[patriotgal1787]

. . . . .

Last night I sent out an email to all on my list about the rising price of food in our supermarkets.  It included a post by Director Blue. This morning, as I was hearing Glenn Beck -- in a lead in to a commercial spot for a food storage company -- give out some facts and figures about how much food prices have risen, I was reading the responses to my email.  (I've  included them at the end of this post).

Friends,

I went shopping for groceries last Friday -- green peppers were $1.24 each -- at Walmart!  No peppers for me this week.  Lucky to have onions...  Below explains why, and that's not even counting higher prices coming due to increased fuel costs at the pumps -- Andrea

Food Distributor Sysco: Prepare for Food Price Inflation as Freezing Temperatures and/or Global Warming Kill 80-100% of Mexico's Harvest

I forget: is the proper term global warming or climate change? Either way, the following memo from food giant Sysco appears rather dire (PDF).

All of our growers have invoked the act of god clause on our contracts (force majuere) due to the following release:

The extreme freezing temperatures hit a very broad section of major growing regions in Mexico, from Hermosillo in the north all the way south to Los Mochis and even south of Culiacan. The early reports are still coming in but most are showing losses of crops in the range of 80 to 100%.

Even shade house product was hit by the extremely cold temps. It will take 7-10 days to have a clearer picture from growers and field supervisors, but these growing regions haven’t had cold like this in over a half century.

This time of year, Mexico supplies a significant percent of North America’s row crop vegetables such as green beans, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, peppers, asparagus, and round and roma tomatoes.

Florida normally is a major supplier for these items as well but they have already been struck with severe freeze damage in December and January and up until now have had to purchase product out of Mexico to fill their commitments; that is no longer an option.

With the series of weather disasters that have occurred in both of these major growing areas, we will experience immediate volatile prices, expected limited availability, and mediocre quality at best.

This will not only have an immediate impact on supplies, but because of very strong blossom drops, this will also impact supplies 30 – 60 days from now. Some growers are meeting with their boards right now to determine whether they should immediately re-plant, hoping for a harvest by late-march-to-early-april, or whether they should disc the fields under and wait for another season.

We are doing everything we can with our growers to minimize the effect of this disaster on you. With the unprecedented magnitude of this event we wanted to immediately make you aware of the conditions. We will continue to send out communications as our people on the ground report back to us. We thank you and we appreciate your understanding during this time.

Tiffiny wrote: "I was in Walmart and they had this sign posted to say there were manufacturer shortages. Funny... well not so funny."

Susan: "I buy local produce from the green markets. So much cheaper AND it keeps the money local with the small biz!!!"

Vic: "Interesting release. I bought a 50lb bag of onions at work (Sam's) on Saturday. They come in 10's or 50's. I noted we were out of 50's but and the price of the ten's had gone up about 25%. I went in the back and an palate had just come in with bags of the 10's in 50lb sacks. So I got a bag of 5 and got the 50lb. price. 20 lbs. for free. Hey who said men weren't frugal shoppers. Our 6 pack of green peppers are still. $5.96. Glad we grow and freeze our own green beans. The victory gardens are going to have to make a comeback this year."

Bob: "Try this: http://www.survivalseedbank.com/"

TMH: "Hey - try $2.50 for a pepper here in Idaho. We got you beat. Not good..."

What is happening in your supermarkets? Are you cutting back and making your food dollars stretch? How?

At the checkout, I chatted with a woman in line who told me she's now making things "from scratch". It's cheaper that way, she said.

How you're coping with rising food prices? . . . . .

[Revolting cat!]

14) With the money you save, enroll in French lessons.

[Revolting cat!]

Abbie Hoffman (remember him?) once published a book titled “Free” with instructions on how to survive without cash. (I think it was later incorporated into “Steal This Book”.) Your library might still have it, unless it’s been stolen.

[GailA]

It’s not just food prices, but cleaning, grooming, and hair products have gone out of site.

Learn the art of using COUPONS, you can at least halve your grocery bill.

Coupon Whisperer
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2671454/posts?page=30

You can grow bush green beans, and tomatoes if you grow noting else. I hide my green beans behind the flowers out front, which the Homeower’s A does not want but I don’t give a hoot, as they don’t know they are there. Buy the bush bean seeds at a co-op or farm store. CHEAPER.

[Loud Mime]

This is going to kill a lot of restaurant jobs. More unemployment on the way.

[GailA]

Produce prices skyrocket with freeze in Mexico, Southwest
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2673430/posts

[Palladin]

I want to eat at your house!

[knarf]

Why not just do the mixin’s in the fryin’ pan ?

[Overtaxed]

You can get quite a bit of meat from a couple of turkey necks.

[Dudoight]

Essentially we are safe to set out seedlings after March 15th. I have grown some heirlooms in the past. haven’t started anything in flats in the house this year. There is still time...but I don’t know if I will do it.

[dragnet2]

All these greedy SOBs are now having these sales event, but just before the sale, they’re jacking up the prices...The *sale* deal your getting is actually higher than ya paid last time at the regular price.

This is getting like what happened to the housing bubble 5 years ago...With prices going up daily...

[Delta 21]

Im just glad to hear that someone still believes in GOD !!

[Fledermaus]

Let’s not forget non-food items. They too are constantly going up in price.

When on a good special, if you can (along with coupons) stock up on toilet paper and paper towels.

I use more and more cotton towels in the kitchen than paper. Cheap to buy and cheaper to wash than throw away. Use old t-shirts for dust rags, etc.

Toothpaste you like on sale? Get a lot. Buy the generic brands of bar soap. Look for sales on laundry detergent and load up if you have storage. Travel on business and stay in hotels? Pack up all the toiletries if staying more than one day and they’ll replace. Small bottles of shampoo can go a long way.

Of course we all can list these forever. The thing is it’s not the times that make these ideas good, they are time tested ideas. My grandparents gardened and canned and froze. Jars and jars and jars of food in their garage storage.

But then I still blow it all on pizza on Friday night! lol

[dragnet2]

Wow...You’re good...Thanks for that...I really love being cheap...I even replaced my nights with 4 watt instead 8 watt bulbs...lol

[Flamenco Lady]

You’d really be in luck tonight. I cooked one of the cheap turkey’s from my freezer that I got around Thanksgiving. We had the usual sides to go along with it too: mashed potatoes & gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and crescent rolls. For desert we had a heart shaped brownie with cream cheese hearts swirled in it and topped the brownie with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce from the raspberries I froze last summer. The turkey was about 22 lbs. so we will have leftovers for the next couple of nights for dinner. I froze the carcas, and the dark meat for later uses.

[Flamenco Lady]

A good way to really get to know when sale prices are really sale prices is to record your purchases in an excel file and then sort them by product. I simply enter all my purchases directly from my grocery receipt into my computer and keep a price comparison chart, where I can go to check what the prices have been on a particular product. After you have done this a while you will see just how often the stores raise their regular price for a product, just before it goes on sale. You will also know instantly which sales prices are not really a sale price at all.

It also enables you to visually see what prices are on the rise, see the patterns stores use in their pricing, etc. One pattern that keeps showing up at the local store where I buy most of our bread because we like one of their store brand breads, has been repeated over and over for months. The price per loaf starts out at $1.29 per loaf, and then goes up to $1.49 the next week, then $1.69, etc. and usually peaks at $2.29, and then starts coming back down until it reaches $1.29 again. Now that I know the pattern, I buy a large quantity of the bread when it is $1.29 and freeze most of it, so I don’t have to buy bread during the weeks that the price is higher.

In doing so, I have also found that I have caught a lot of errors on the receipts too, and they always seem to be in the store’s favor. When I find them I take the receipt back to the store and have them make the corrections and give me a refund for the amount they overcharged. The other day they had made an error on a group of items I bought, where the regular price was recorded on the receipt instead of the sales price. I was refunded about $22 that time, but I often find I have been over charged around $5, so the errors can certainly add up if you don’t take the time to check your receipts. Some stores never make a mistake and others are notorious for it, so scrutinizing your receipts can also reduce your over all grocery budget.

[Siouxz]

My son was talking to the deli lady at his grocery store yesterday. Last week they were paying 17.00 for a case of tomatoes. They said this week it’s 32.00 a case.
He brought home about six bags of groceries—no meat—and paid 84.00!
Making plans for a larger garden.

[Trinity5]

Pretty much any activity performed at a gym can be done at home for free. If you are to the point that in order to save money you pull donuts out of the garbage why are you ok with spending money for a gym membership?

[Le Chien Rouge]

Gym equipment my home/apartment lacks:

1) Lat pull down
2) Shoulder press
3) Bench Press-incline and decline
4) Free yoga classes
5) an Elliptical machine
6) a stair master—I live in a one story
7) various free weight
8) an indoor track
9) pull up bars
10) quad extensions
11) Hamstring machines
12) eye candy to keep me motivated

A good daily workout keeps me healthy and my mind focused.
It is a much better hobby then sitting a bar after work.

I have NOT had a cold in 3 years, haven’t missed a day of work due to illness in over a decade, and have never spent a day in a hospital.

Membership is 15$ bucks a month is money WELL spent.
The money I save from dumpster diving more than pays for the membership.

[who knows what evil?]

Basements and garages the new green houses.

There is a vendor at a NC farmer's market that grows thousands of veggie seedlings in his garage by using a 'dense planting' method. I have tried it, and it works like a charm. By using a couple of Earth Boxes or pastry buckets; you can grow quite a few veggies in a very limited space. If you have a back yard; raised beds or square foot gardening are a good idea. FR posters should check out the weekly 'garden thread' at FR for tips...

[Vaduz]

Good idea thanks