Costs Surge for Stocking the Pantry

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: The New York Times

With a few exceptions, nearly every grocery category measured by the Labor Department, which compiles the official inflation numbers, has increased in the last year. Milk is up 17 percent, as are dried beans, peas and lentils. Cheese is up 15 percent, rice and pasta 13 percent, and bread 12 percent.

No food product has gone up as much as eggs, jumping 25 percent since February 2007 and 62 percent in the last two years.

While food costs increased, overall inflation held steady in February as the cost of gasoline declined that month, according to the latest Consumer Price Index, which the Labor Department updates monthly. That was an unexpected dose of good economic news that opens the door for more aggressive interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, which is trying to head off a recession.

But many analysts do not expect the lower inflation rate to last. Gasoline prices turned around in March and are setting records every day, hitting a nationwide average of $3.28 a gallon in the most recent report by AAA, the automobile club. That puts more pressure on consumers’ pocketbooks as they muddle through an economic slowdown.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/business/15consumer.h...

[dchill]

1. My, my, that Bush Labor Department is really...

on top of things, aren't they. I'm no expert, but I could have told them that years ago. It's just that the rate of inflation is affecting their investments, now. They'll have to move into milk and bean futures, I guess.

[Frustratedlady]

2. That doesn't match reality in my area.

Bananas are 69 cents/lb., strawberries $4.88/lb., bread is $1.99/loaf, meat has more than doubled. I bought a 2 1/2# roast the other day for just under $10.

A week ago, they were saying groceries had risen 5%. Looks like someone questioned that number or finally shopped for groceries and learned their numbers were wrong.

Someone had best pay attention.

[Skittles]

8. you know it lady

it's like these so-called "experts" DON'T DO THEIR OWN SHOPPING!

[Lorien]

9. Pretty similar prices here, though bread is $2.99 a loaf

cage free grain fed eggs are $3.89. I'm doing a lot more of my shopping at Costco and Save-rite.

[hedgehog]

3. I buy layer mash for my chickens from a local feed mill and the cost has

just about doubled in recent weeks. My dad was saying that meat prices should jump as farmers thin their herds because they can't afford the feed. I pointed out that just about every processed food you buy in the grocery store contains corn.

[jwirr]

4. Your dad is correct. As the cost of production goes up so do our

prices. When we heard about the grain crop failure everyone was talking about the price of bread but that was not the only crop that is having trouble and when a farmer has to buy these crops to feed their animals then everything goes up.

If I am not mistaken that is why we used to have parity laws? I can still afford most of our food but I worry about the real poor who must make food stamps stretch and the cost of this to third world countries.

[pengillian101]

10. I worry, too.

"I can still afford most of our food but I worry about the real poor who must make food stamps stretch"

That's why making donations to local community food shelves is important right now, more than ever. The link below has a zip-code search to find your local food bank.

http://www.secondharvest.org/

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. If possible, give them cash

While they appreciate donations of non-perishables, they can turn $1 into $5 to $10 worth of food.

To top it off, commodity foods that are donated by the government (rice, beans, etc.) are down as well.

[jwirr]

17. My church has food shelf Sunday every first Sunday of the month.

We ask people to bring non-perishables, cash or paper products such as toilet paper, sanitary pads or other items like toothpaste, shampoos etc. It really is getting rough out there for many and the food shelves are really running out of items.

[celestia671]

14. It's hard..

I only get a certain amount a month and I have to stretch that out as far as I can. Everything is so expensive now. You can spend $100 before you know it.

[jwirr]

18. Be sure to go to places that help like the food shelf because the

truth is that those who give want us to get help and not take the brunt of the economic crisis on our back. It is not fair that the working poor, poor, elderly and disabled people carry the load. My church gives because they care not because they have to and that means we need people to be willing to come forward to accept this help.

By the way I too am on a fixed income but I am lucky to be able to be living with my daughter. We also use a program named SHARE which is a food buying club that allows you to save some money.

[celestia671]

19. We have a Feed the Hungry in our area

It's run by one of the churches. I went to them in December because I temporarily lost my FS benefits. It is pretty helpful.

[high density]

5. I thank the Ethanol lobby for a lot of it

What a joke.

[OKthatsIT]

6. DUMP the Federal Reserve. Let's print our own money.

The BANKSTERS are going to destroy every last value and steal every resource, before their finished stealing from US ALL.

[girl gone mad]

11. No politician..

except for Ron Paul will say it, and he was treated as a joke by his own party because of it, but I can tell you that much of his support was over monetary policy. It's not the kind of issue that gets media coverage, yet there is a groundswell of opposition to the Fed's policies and the endless bailouts for billionaires.

[ozone_man]

13. That's the real problem here, isn't it?

They need to be abolished or at least bring an end to the fractional Federal Reserve and make them operate under the treasury department. They're out of control.

[lovuian]

23. Print the Amero since its worth a peso and Loonie

thats what this is about

[ShockediSay]

7. Binge borrowing, and a stupid war on the cuff

Maybe somebody should ask McCain {rhymes w/ same}
if he found a book to read on economics, about how
we should continue to finance the war in Iraq, on borrowed
money, {the reason the dollar is dropping precipitously.}

The National Debt has DOUBLED since Bush-Cheney-McCain took
office. So who's supposed to pay up?

[cliss]

12. Looks like we're all going on a diet ~

whether we want to or not.

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Yeah, maybe that's the silver lining

Seriously, if we have to eat more chicken and less beef, or beans and rice, that's a good thing. If we have to prepare more food at home and eat out less, that's a good thing. It's getting harder to fill the grocery cart with cheap but filling food. Now if we could just get rid of high fructose corn syrup!

[sarcasmo]

20. No payments, no contracts, spend smart and live smarter.

[tanyev]

21. Another surge brought to you by the Bush administration.

[NashVegas]

22. I Plan My Menu By What's On Sale

Today I bought about $140 in groceries for $100. Half of it went straight into the freezer.

[Danmel]

24. Food Prices are crazy

Milk is close to $4.00 a gallon, butter is $4.00 a pound, my kid wanted string cheese and I didn't get it for him because a bag of string cheese was almost SEVEN bucks! The other day apples were $2.49 a pound at the local Stop and Shop! (and they weren't even ORGANIC!)

And about gas prices going down- not here where I paid $33.7/9 for regular- it cost me $52. to fill my tank and I have a mid-size sedan- no SUV.

My husband and I are professionals- we both work full time- it is not easy out there for us, so what it is like for people who aren't as lucky?

[natrat]

25. predictions for hyperinflation make the current numbers look trivial