Posted on 04/17/2014 10:58:45 AM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
Food prices at the grocery store are up, following an increase in production costs and wholesale prices. In March, retail food prices rose 0.4% from the preceding month, matching February’s increase. These marked the largest monthly gains in food prices since September 2011, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Food prices are often volatile and are affected by a number of factors. While certain factors reflect human decision — such as the changing tastes of consumers and farmers’ planting choices — others are forces over which farmers have very little control. Issues such as weather conditions and diseases can cause severe supply shortages that cause the price of products to rise.
In recent years, drought in the western U.S. has driven up the prices of meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables. Parts of California, the Southwest, and the Great Plains have suffered from three consecutive years of drought, according to Brad Rippey, meteorologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). More than two-thirds of California is currently covered by extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Of course, drought directly impacts crops. “Agriculture uses about 80% of California’s water,” Rippey told 24/7 Wall St., and, because of cutbacks in water delivery, “a lot of fields may have to lay fallow.”
Drought has also driven up meat prices because it caused feed prices to spike in recent years, Rippey added. The higher feed prices increase the cost of raising cattle for slaughter and, in the end, the meat prices for consumers. Bacon prices have gained more than nearly any other food tracked by the BLS since the start of the decade, rising 35% to $4.13 per pound.
The price of the only food product that has risen more than beef is bacon, which soared 53% since January 2010.
(Excerpt) Read more at 247wallst.com ...
Gosh, it’s almost as if it’s winter and there’s little food production in the continental US. And as if the price of oil remains near or above $100/bbl.
Also, fuel prices are insidious. Nearly every food product is, eventually, taken to or from market (or both) on vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel, which now cost more than DOUBLE what they did when Obama took office.
Gee, the Feds tell me inflation is only running at 1.1%?
why does my wallet tell me differently?
Who are you going to believe, the Feds or that lying cash register?
For those with no time to read the entire article, here is the list:
10. Grapefruit
9. Chicken
8. Turkey
7. Wine
6. Margarine
5. Peanut Butter
4. Coffee
3. Oranges
2. Ground Beef
1. Bacon
We look for staples on sale to restock our freezer and have noticed that things such as hot dogs, chicken and milk went up 25% or more in a matter of weeks, not 4 years.
Thanks for the short list.
you can make your own wine.....shoot a turkey...butter is better than margarine anyway..you can extend coffee by making it weaker or adding chicory.....the fruit and the meat and PB I’ve got no solution for....
All being supported by an artificial floor created by the doubling of food stamp recipients.
“...it’s almost as if it’s winter and there’s little food production in the continental US.”
The liberal-caused drought in California is already devistating food production and it’s going to get worse; a lot worse.
The Obamaconomy is blowing the misery index off the charts for the working class, people who live from paycheck to paycheck, and people who have struggled to save for their retirement. Gas, groceries, electric, insurance....
Great job, those sites make it as difficult as possible to make it though the entire list, multiple links must be opened , like 4 or 5.
I make my own peanut butter. I just planted a bunch of peanuts.
/johnny
I have a 2.5 gallon batch fermenting away as I write this. That's 12-13 standard 750ml bottles for less than $10 worth of ingredients.
For most of it, the answer is: plan ahead. Get a freezer. Buy a year’s worth when it’s cheap. Basic box wine is cheaper & better than making it. Wine is supposed to last years. Frozen turkeys are $0.69/lb around Thanksgiving. Butter freezes. Drink less coffee and savor it more. Meat freezes, buy half a cow at a time. Plant fruit trees. Get canned/frozen fruit when cheap.
Of course it’s all expensive now. Growing season has barely begun and the nitrogen vaults are almost empty.
Fruit, meat, PB all occasionally show up as loss leaders.
I just got whole local chicken for 88c/lb. Next day they had ripped the lower price tag off the same chickens & the price over doubled. Frozen wild salmon & cod are their loss leaders today.
I pay double for milk right from the local dairy farmer.
Pasturized, non homogonized, home delivery. Indeed a rarity.
I pay higher for local mom & pop coffee roaster. (best in state award)
I eat a lot of porridge (not too hot, not too cold).
Yep, it's amazing (/s) how the left-wing media pushed America towards blaming Bush for $2 per gallon...but remains silent when it pushes $4 under their hero.
I remember the left was calling for W to be drug out of the White House with a rope around his neck when gas prices hit $2.00 a gallon. I guess gas prices really aren’t that important with a lib in charge.
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