Posted on 03/09/2011 5:17:50 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
In nearly every supermarket aisle, food prices are starting to rise.
General Mills just announced higher prices for breakfast cereals, Yoplait yogurt and Nature Valley granola bars. Last month, it raised prices on flour, pizza rolls and Green Giant vegetables.
Hormel Foods recently raised the price of Spam and Jennie-O turkey, with more increases to come. Caribou Coffee said it will follow other coffee sellers in raising prices. And Target's chief executive said last week, "We will need to raise prices to offset higher costs."
After years of quiet on the inflation front, a six-month spike in the prices of grain, meat, dairy, energy and oil is squeezing through the U.S. food system. The wave hasn't hit consumers full-on, but it's coming.
"The fact is, all commodities are going up," said Edward Usset, a grain-marketing specialist at the University of Minnesota. "Fiber, fuel, metals, just across the board, everything is going up."
On Friday, corn soared another 25 cents a bushel — the daily maximum — meaning that corn prices have virtually doubled in six months. Wheat prices are up 32 percent in that time. Hog prices, up 30 percent. Milk prices, up 21 percent.
The Consumer Price Index hints at the changing tide. In 2010 food inflation was calm, inching up just 1.5 percent. Then in January, food prices rose 0.5 percent for the month, and "all six major grocery-store food groups posted increases," the U.S. government reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
Sounds like you got wiped out.
watch for the Global Leftist War on Commodity Trading to fire-up in earnest any day now
Savvy shoppers who cook from scratch are going to get out of this much easier.
I have noticed that prices have risen more for name brand, convenience, and higher end items than the basics. I can still get a can of store brand tuna for $.65. Name brands I can’t get for less than $.75 on major sale, they are now just over a dollar. One local store has a “dinner for two” special in the pre-made food section that saw a 13% increase, but the milk prices haven’t changed yet.
Kale is still cheap, onions rose a while ago, but I haven’t seen a new price rise lately. Certain vegetables that got hit this winter are higher and the bag o’ salads are ridiculous, but a lot of the basic root vegetables aren’t rising yet.
I’ve noticed in the last few weeks that there is lots of SPAM on the shelves but you can’t find Corned Beef anywhere!
In my supermarket a pound of butter and a pound of bacon are almost the same price as a gallon of gasoline, hamburger is selling for almost what steak was a year ago and eggs are nearly $2 a dozen. It is actually cheaper for me to treat myself to salmon or tuna steaks on the grill than to have a steak.
I used to have a Bill Mauldin cartoon (Willie andd Joe) in which Liberty ships are unloading supplies in the Russian ports.
Two commie officials are going over a translation book trying to figure out what they had.
There stacked on the pier were cases of Mazola oil and spam along with other name brand US made products.
**like how a half gallon of ice cream now has 1.5 quarts***
And just a few weeks ago it was 1.75 quarts, down from a half gallon just a few years ago!
bookmark
Psst! Find a friendly meat manager and have him give you a manager’s discount. Some will do it even if the item won’t expire for several weeks. Others are such jerks that they won’t give you a discount even if it expires the next day. It all depends on the attitude of the meat manager.
***The Coupon Whisperer gets his groceries (and a lot of other stuff) for FREE or close to it.****
My poor old mama never used coupons as they for things she normally would not buy.
It has carried over to our family as we rarely use coupons for the same reason.
Companies are trying to get people to buy stuff they normally would NOT buy by bribing them with coupons.
Or, the coupons are for a buck off a pack of ridiculously priced razors (or some such equivalent).
I have found it is much cheaper to buy store brands with no coupons than the name brands with coupons.
Albertson's has Star-Kist tuna this week at 3 for $1.00. Good until next Tuesday.
Prices effective Wednesday, Mar 9th - Tuesday, Mar 15th (except as noted)
***When wheat prices went to the teens in 2008 the price of bread went up with bakers blaming the high cost of wheat.***
I remember back in the late 1960s or early 1970s when bread went up a whole TWO CENTS a loaf, and the eastern city people went into near riots, led by unions, calling for boycotts of bread till the price came back down.
Just two I saw last week.
Kraft Mayo, 30oz jar, down from 32oz. Same price or higher.
Much pasta now in 12oz 'pound' boxes.
And coffee...
And what 2 commodities does the Gov. exclude from the inflation index ?? You guessed it, food and fuel.
Kroger still has the bags of sugar for $1.98 so we have been stockpiling those. I hear sugar is headed way up. I just paid $2 more for a bag of coffee beans yesterday. Up from 3 weeks ago. Everything I picked up in the store yesterday was way up. Our dog food went from $1.39 to $1.55 per can in one week. Fresh baked bread is way up so I have just started making bread for about 50 cents a loaf. We like it better anyway.
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