Our friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just published their October 2008 data and it’s mixed news.
Overall, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was down 1 percent from September. Good for pocketbooks, but bad for the economy. One D word–‘deflation’–has economists fretting about another–‘depression.’
OK, OK, what about food? Looking at the specifics, we can see that food prices increased slightly (0.5%) from September to October. But they have swelled 6.3% since last year.
Cereals and grains were the second biggest riser from
last year, as prices are up an average of 12.5% (fats and oils were up 18.3%). I’ve seen this lately, as I’m now paying $3.70 for my morning box of cardboard, i.e. Grape-Nuts.
The worst part is that some real staples are much more expensive than they were a year ago. In that span, the increases are staggering: beans–26%, potatoes–31% and rice–43%!
I’m curious: has the rising cost of food changed the way you cook or shop? And has it made you more careful to avoid wasting it? Or are you too depressed to bother?
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Lest you think the BLS is completely stodgy, it published some fun Thanksgiving data, including a chart of frozen turkey prices from the last four years. For those grumbling about the cost of Thanksgiving dinner, at least turkey prices seem to be lowest at this season.
10 Comments
I have a budget of $250 a month to feed myself and my husband. A couple months ago I started being more diligent on making a shopping list, and my food spending has actually gone down. Today is the 20th and I have only spent $100 of my budget. I still buy splurges, but I shop the sales and so the increases have not impacted me much.
Spouse and I eat out less because of the costs AND waste less because the restaurant meals were almost always too much for seniors.
We rarely have waste at home.
Cost hasn’t influenced my food purchasing choices as much as location. I live in Canada and prices for some items are always higher than in the States, where I used to live. You think $3.70 is bad? I’ve never been able to find a box of cereal here for less than $3.97 so I don’t buy it.
My SO has been very diligent at bringing home leftover food from his work, and we have been very, very grateful for it. He brings home deli meat and cheese as well as cooked entrees. That has helped our budget immensely. This food would otherwise just be thrown out, so we are reducing wasted food, too. Yay!
I’ve been trying to hit the “loss leaders” at the grocery when I can, especially goods with a long shelf life like dried pasta, beans, and canned goods. Items like that easy are to stretch, especially in stews and soups.
I shop pretty much the same, since I’ve always been a frugal shopper. I look for loss leaders, like Lisa, and I make as much stuff myself as I can.
And as you know, I’ve been workin’ hard at reducing our food waste!
Because I was pretty good about freezing and canning produce from our CSA this summer (I even have a little stash of frozen chives and basil), we’ve been able to make quite a few dinners from the cupboard & fridge so we haven’t had to buy much at the grocery store.
Oatmeal from the health food store, instead of boxed cereals from the supermarket. Stock up on good pasta when it’s on sale.
Leftovers for lunch almost everyday.
And since we’ve reduced our meat consumption (like Michael Pallen suggests, more as a flavoring or side dish than the main attraction), our food $s have stretched. Milk is the thing that seems to cost a fortune.
I have started to purchase dried beans, nuts and other bulk stuff through a wholesale farmer who delivers to our area every couple of months. Dried beans have saved me a lot of money versus canned (and taste better). Most of our produce comes from our CSA which turns out to be much less expensive than the grocery stores here in NYC.
We are definitely eating less meat because it has gotten so expensive and have started eating more whole chickens instead of buying the parts only. I haven’t bought bacon in months because it’s been so expensive. Instead I’ve been experimenting with smoked cheeses and other non-meat ingredients.
I definitely think twice about eating leftovers since the price of food has gone up so much.
Bacon is expensive here too but I still buy it because it’s pretty much the only meat I eat; it goes with my breakfast on the weekends and into pastas during the week. One of the main grocery chains north of the border is Loblaws and they have a lower-cost version called No Frills. At my last apartment there was a No Frills a 5-minute walk away where bacon was $2.99 a package. At my new location the Loblaws is most convenient to go to and bacon is $3.99 for the same brand.
I don’t mind paying more for fruits & veggies (I just wish it paid the farmers more). I only hoped that the processed foods would increase more, so that whole foods would be more comparable. We stock up on loss leaders, so typically only buy dairy & produce at the grocery. We have been making more things from scratch, espcially baby purees. We’ve also grown more veggies this year.
Price rises have changed the way I shop. The overall way I cook remains the same — use what’s available, healthy, season and on sale — though the individual items change up a bit. And when those dried beans or rice go on sale, I spend a lot of that week’s grocery budget stocking up and up and up. We cook what we have and look for recipes that fit what’s in the freezer, at the produce stand or in the pantry. I’m the one in the house who is super careful not to waste food, but the increase in prices has grabbed my other’s attention. And people don’t look at me quite the same weird way when I recycle the leftovers and turn them into something else.