Posted on 03/26/2012 2:41:28 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
According to the federal government, food prices rose 4.4 percent in 2011.
That’s hogwash.
I do a lot of the grocery shopping for my family (my wife cooks wonderful meals and cleans up the kitchen – it’s only right that I help in some fashion).
And I can tell you, from direct experience, that food prices are skyrocketing.
We buy most of our groceries from Sam’s Club, Reasor’s, Food Pyramid, Wal-Mart and Braums. You tend to buy groceries close to your home (you don’t want the ice cream to melt on the way home).
We are charter members of the Sam’s Club near 41st Street and Sheridan Road. We live half-way between that Sam’s and the one at 71st Street and Mingo Road.
At Sam’s, we save money by buying food in bulk. For instance, we buy grated cheddar cheese in a big package. We take it home, repackage it in smaller freezer bags and freeze it.
We buy fish, hamburger, bottled water, fruit (canned and fresh), toilet paper, paper towels, peanut butter, oatmeal, spices, rice, flour, charcoal, bagels, vitamins, shaving cream, rotisserie chicken (its great) and lots of other stuff at Sam’s.
You can’t get everything you need at Sam’s and you never, never, ever want to go in there when you are hungry. You will come out with a case of asparagus or a gallon jar of dill pickles (which we did once – it took us a year to eat all of it).
In the past year, I can’t think of any single item we buy at Sam’s that hasn’t risen in price. They still have some of the best prices in town, but rice has gone up maybe 30 percent, hamburgers 40 percent, toilet paper 20 percent – and the list goes on and on.
Reasor’s is a block from our house. They carry a lot of stuff that we can’t buy at Sam’s and Reasor’s has terrific sales. The staff at Reasor’s is always friendly and they will check in the back if a product is sold out on a shelf.
We buy produce, meats, bread, soup, chips, cookies, cheese, juice, dairy products, frozen food, cereal, baking goods and other stuff at Reasor’s.
Everything has gone up – even sales items. During their periodic “12-hour sales,” Reasor’s used to sell Coke or Pepsi products at $2 for a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans. Now, the sale is around four packs for $11.
I can remember buying Oreo’s on sale for $1.99. Now, it’s a sale if they cost $2.99. Cottage cheese that used to go on sale for $1.99 is now on sale at $2.79.
Obviously, there are some produce items that might be selling for less than a few years ago but that would be the exception.
And Reasor’s has some killer meat sales (pardon the bun) but unless you have extra freezer space, it’s hard to take advantage of bulk buying. We have a refrigerator in the kitchen and one in the garage and both freezers are usually packed (with mostly meat).
Food Pyramid has some great sales but overall, their prices seem a bit higher than Reasor’s. We buy a lot of hard goods at Wal-Mart but not a lot of groceries.
We buy milk and ice cream at Braum’s. Braum’s milk just seems to taste better and they have the best price in town. Braum’s ice cream is outstanding but awhile back, they went from a half-gallon carton to a three-pint carton – which I considered a price increase.
So our family strategy is:
1. Buy in bulk at Sam’s and repackage.
2. Buy more than you need on sale at Reasor’s and Food Pyramid.
3. Eat more at home and less at restaurants.
4. Grow fresh produce in our back yard this summer.
5. Buy fewer processed foods (they actually sell frozen Texas toast) and cook more at home.
With gasoline set to rise over to $4 a gallon this summer, groceries will have no choice but to continue raising prices.
Last year, former President Bill Clinton actually warned that there could be food riots around the world in 2012 because of political unrest, famines, droughts, floods, earthquakes and other problems.
In Tulsa, not only are grocery costs soaring but the trash bill, water bill, electric bill and gas bills are all potentially increasing by double digits.
I don’t know how people on fixed incomes will cope. (I don’t know how ordinary people can afford to smoke, drink at bars or gamble at casinos, either – but that’s another column).
Maybe it’s time we elect another president who has policies that will stem grocery inflation instead of putting America’s middle class further in the poor house.
The reports also don’t take into account the shrinking of package sizes. For instance tuna is still about the same price, but a 6 oz. can is now 5 oz., and i’ve even seen 4.5 oz ones. Lots of other things have got smaller too to keep from raising the price.
Life's not too rough if you are still buying the grated cheese rather than spending less to buy the big block and grating it yourself. Also, I've noticed that it tastes better when it is freshly grated rather than having whatever additives the manufacturer adds to keep it in separate shreds after months of refrigeration.
Who could argue with such solid statistical data such as:
“And I can tell you, from direct experience, that food prices are skyrocketing.”
Rural living has many advantages, and I wouldn’t trade it for the best cities I’ve lived in - but I sure miss having 4 or 5 choices within a 5 minute drive, like the author describes...
As it is, I have to drive 30 miles (each way) to a town that has one Walmart, one Brunos (high-end grocer, but occasional good deals on things like meat and produce) — we’re pretty much at the mercy of all the retailers in town - and they know it... :(
ping
I might add that the can of tuna you get is called Chunk style. but it is filled with Tuna mush and water. Probably 3 ounces of water.
There is a lot more generic everything in our house. Name brands and coupons, still are not buying the ‘house’ brands or generic. And even the coupons have inflation in them. Many require you to buy 2 or more these days.
Laugh all you want, but I saved my last bag of flour and sugar marked at 5lbs. Those might be valuable antiques some day.
of course this leaves out obama moochelle and virtually every cabinet member and member of congress
You don’t have to be a statistician to know that gas cost $1.79/gal when Obama was inaugurated. You just need to pay your own bills and live on a budget!
This aggravates me more than the rising prices. Not only does changing the size of certain staples screw up a lot of recipes but they're insulting my intelligence as well, as if I'm too stupid to notice that a half gallon of juice is now 54 (or 48) ounces.
Although I can’t quote each price as things go up, I have noticed packaging in smaller sizes while prices remain either the same or slightly higher. My take is that what used to cost me $80-90 per week, just a year ago, the same groceries I always buy now cost me $120-140+. And I shop at Winco (a lower priced Costco store). I do prefer butter to margarine, and the butter which used to be $2 is now $4 for the pound...and it’s the cheaper brand (I prefer Challenge Butter but it is usually too expensive.) Food prices have gone up significantly...and I seldom buy chips, dips, cookies, candy, and other gimmicky foods.
“Life’s not too rough if you are still buying the grated cheese rather than spending less to buy the big block and grating it yourself.”
Grated cheese?? Holy cow, they’re living like kings!
EVERY ice cream package is geting smaller, therefore the price is going up.
As for the ‘melting’ ice cream-—where I live, EVERYBODY going to the grocery store has at least 1 and usually 2 collers in the back of the vehicle!! It’s 24+ miles one way to the grocery store. We don’t ‘go to the store’ every day!!
For several months, one food item we buy often was $1 each. Last week it was $1.08. We reviewed other items, and it appeared the increases ranged from 8% - 11%. Not good.
Hey, with the price of gas they’ll be walking more and high food prices will lead them to eat less. A fitter, happier America! (and with no jobs, we can all sleep in, too)
Worse than Jimmy Carter over again. If the GOP wants to get the W.H. they better start talking about inflation not only through prices but also through size reductions. Drive it home with folks. I personally find that it is easy to spend $60 or $70 at the grocer store and I usually buy the biggest so I pay for product instead of packaging.
It’s not just the grocery store either.
My local Burger King’s ‘Dollar Menu’, has burgers at $1.39 instead of a dollar... they haven’t changed the name of the Dollar Menu either....psyc ops I guess
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