Meanwhile, the price of food is skyrocketing....

[garybeck]

For certain foods I purchase regularly, I seek out the best price and purchase the same product regularly. One example is cheese.

For several years I've been purchasing my cheese from a local shop that carries the "ends" from some of the local dairies. They have had a few different varietes - Colby, Jack, ... - at only $1.99 / lb. This is roughly half of the closest price I can find in the grocery store. Usually it's about $4-$5 / lb.

About 6 months ago they raised the price to $2.99/lb. A 50% increase in price - even for the "ends" which I'm sure some dairies just toss away! Since then I switched to Costco, which had a 2-lb block of Monterrey Jack that came out to $2.09 /lb.

Yesterday I was in Costco and the same block of cheese went up to $2.79/lb. That's a 35% increase!

Then I started to notice that all the regular things I buy at Costco had gone up as well. The 4.5 gallon "cube" of soybean oil I get for fuel in my car that used to be $12.79 is now over $19.00. Another 50% increase. I realize I'm using it for my car, but cheese and vegetable oil are used in so many different products so I'm sure there is a ripple effect on other food prices.

I'm not an economist but I can tell you something significant is going on.

I recall reading recently that food (and energy) prices are not taken into account when determining the rate of inflation anymore. Which economic genius thought that up? I found this on Wikipedia:

-------
The older preferred measure of inflation in the United States was the Consumer Price Index (which includes food and energy costs). This is still used as the indicator for most other countries
--------

They say we switched to the new inflation formula and exclude food and energy because those prices fluctuate too much. From my viewpoint it appears they are just trying to hide what's really going on and paint a more rosy picture.

I guess our food, heating, and fuel costs can double but Bush can go on TV and announce that inflation is still low?

If most other countries include food and energy in their inflation figures, why don't we? What would our inflation rate be if we included food and energy? At this rate, we'll have long lines at the soup kitchens and they'll announce record low unemployment because the formula doesn't include jobs that are lost if they are replaced in a foreign country.

Inflation, schminflation... When our food costs are going up by 30 - 50%, gas is creeping to $4/gal, gold hit an alltime high yesterday, and bank forclosures are at a record high,

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and

You don't need an economist to know something is brewing in our economy, and it doesn't smell good.

[NightWatcher]

1. costs going up, dollar value going down....

at least if I cant afford groceries, I'll lose some weight

[onehandle]

2. All goes back to the oilman president.

Enjoying high food and energy costs?

Thank a Republican!

[Champion Jack]

10. BINGO!!! Print those up on a sheet of stickers about 20 up per page

put one everywhere you go

[w8liftinglady]

14. good idea!

[bdamomma]

36. that is a very good idea

[kdmorris]

3. Have you seen the price of eggs and milk?

Milk is over $5 a gallon where I live (South Florida). A dozen large eggs are $2.99. A loaf of bread is $1.99.

I told my husband that I don't know how people are surviving. We watch our money carefully, but we actually have some money to watch. I cannot fathom how awful this must be for someone on food stamps or part of the working poor that has watched their food bill skyrocket like that.

[garybeck]

5. Yeah, I think the untold story right now is

the people on food stamps, minimum wage.... they must REALLY be hurting right now.

[kdmorris]

12. Yep

And it breaks my heart because I can't give as much to the food bank as I might because the price of food is hurting me, too (along with the price of gas) So, once again, the most vulnerable among us suffer the most.

[RebelOne]

13. Everything is more expensive in South Florida.

I was amazed at how much cheaper everything was up here in North Georgia after moving from Miami.

[kdmorris]

19. Yes, I travel to Atlanta frequently on business

And, even in the city there, everything is cheaper. I guess it's because everything has to travel 8 hours down the coast to get here.

[Neecy]

22. it's pretty stunning

I don't buy eggs all that often, but I picked up a dozen at the store last week and did a double-take at the price - double what I normally pay.

I wonder how people with large families are coping.

[taught_me_patience]

29. Is something killing all the chickens?

1 dozen eggs

2005 - $1.39
2006 - $1.99
2007 - $3.49

WTF!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!

[tridim]

34. Bush was president..

2005 - $1.39 (Bush was president)
2006 - $1.99 (Bush was president)
2007 - $3.49 (Bush was president)

I think Eggs were about $.79/doz in 1999.

Everything Bush touches turns to a smelly pile of shit. It's a trend he has set throughout his entire miserable life.

[bdamomma]

37. and of course * does not care about sh$t

[starroute]

55. Bush doesn't *know* shit

From last August:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/18902.html

The Labor Department's most recent inflation data showed that U.S. food prices rose by 4.2 percent for the 12 months ending in July, but a deeper look at the numbers reveals that the price of milk, eggs and other essentials in the American diet are actually rising by double digits.

Already stung by a two-year rise in gasoline prices, American consumers now face sharply higher prices for foods they can't do without. This little-known fact may go a long way to explaining why, despite healthy job statistics, Americans remain glum about the economy.

Meeting with economic writers last week, President Bush dismissed several polls that show Americans are down on the economy. He expressed surprise that inflation is one of the stated concerns. "They cite inflation?" Bush asked, adding that, "I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of people's sense of optimism." . . .

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its July inflation report that egg prices are 33.7 percent higher than they were in July 2006. Over the same period, according to the department's consumer price index, whole milk was up 21.1 percent; fresh chicken 8.4 percent; navel oranges 13.6 percent; apples 8.7 percent. Dried beans were up 11.5 percent, and white bread just missed double-digit growth, rising by 8.8 percent.

[SammyWinstonJack]

53. Turns to gold for his corporate cronies, however, or his base,

THE HAVES AND HAVE MORES!


THANKS for nothing!

MIDDLE CLASS REPUGS!


MORANS!!111!!

[knitter4democracy]

43. Bakery outlets help, and we have a farm-market-like store that's cheaper.

That store and the bakery outlet are busier than I've ever seen them lately. The bread and stuff at the outlet are old, but they're still good. Bread that goes for $3-4 sells there for $0.79. It helps. Horrocks has eggs for $1/doz, so that's the only place I get them during the winter when our local farmer's stock goes down (otherwise we get his farm-fresh free-range eggs for $2/doz).

[paparush]

4. Also, Oil, Gas, Diesel are more expensive...thus..

the increased price of food harvest, refinement, and transport are all passed along to us consumers.

[Thothmes]

67. In addition, I believe a substantial volume of corn

is being diverted from food production to ethanol production.

[Selatius]

6. The rational for eliminating food and energy from inflation calculations was to...

get a better picture of the stability of the money supply itself. The argument was that temporary fluctuations in the price of energy and food cloud attempts to gauge the stability of the money supply.

It may be useful in that context, but I must emphasize that it has no real world benefit for average people who work for a living. They still feel the pinch from food and energy prices. They cannot exist without energy to run the infrastructure. Neither can they exist without food.

Under Reagan, food and energy were phased out of calculations, and when Clinton came along, he junked the fixed basket of goods in favor of a basket with substitutable products in terms of calculating inflation. The rational being that if steak got too expensive, then people substituted with hamburger meat, and if that got too expensive, then they can eat something else...like dog food. Likewise, they began substituting cheaper-priced products in order to lower inflation reporting a bit further.

[garybeck]

20. Ah, so it was Reagan to who did that.

figures.

[Selatius]

21. If we calculated inflation the way the Carter Administration did, we're looking at 10% inflation.

Most of that would be largely due to oil price instability. Carter's Administration was plagued by that in the 1970s, which saw the Arab Oil Embargo and the Iranian Revolution that basically took Iran's crude oil out of the control of the US when Iranians overthrew the pro-US dictator Shah Pahlavi.

[garybeck]

49. and the inflation is what Carter is most criticized for... how f'in ironic. n/t

[Mike03]

66. Yes, Selatius, you are correct

I'm so glad that some folks here know how these numbers are cooked.

Why is it a shock to anyone that we are experiencing record inflation? It's been going on for three years!!!

Thank you!

[redqueen]

7. Thank Republicans & Big Oil & their supporters.

Idiot enablers or profiteers all.

[Occam Bandage]

8. Meanwhile, a full quarter of our corn crop goes to ethanol.

And corn ethanol is not cleaner than gasoline, nor is it any more efficient, as it takes as much energy to produce as you get by burning it. And every candidate is in favor of it, because it amounts to a huge handout to agribusiness...which is necessary to win the support of our first state in the primaries. Thanks, Iowa!

[blondie58]

15. yep, I am a postal worker

andour fleet was recently replaced by some vehicles that that ethanol. I was told that it was a federal mandate. We have to go way out of our way to gas up- used to have regular gas right on site and the ethanol fuel seems to really burn up fast. It is a major inconvenience.

[Buzz Clik]

42. The corn going to ethanol would be going to feed livestock.

Not exactly an efficient fuel conversion, either. In the U.S., very little of the farm land going to corn is being taken directly from human food. That's not necessarily the case in other countries.

All that ethanol-from-sugar will soon be replaced by the conversion from cellulosic materials, a far better alternative.

[Coexist]

9. the cost of my Thanksgiving dinner DOUBLED this year.

I am serious.

I felt ill at the checkout.

[knitter4democracy]

45. I really cut back this year. I hear ya.

We hosted all of the in-laws and my mom and her hubby, so we were feeding 17. I cut a couple of sides, started stocking up in September when I found things on sale, and waited until the good turkeys went on sale just a couple of days before Thanksgiving. It still cost us a bundle. We're not hosting next year, thank goodness.

[tridim]

11. Obviously food and energy should be the top two indicators

Since both are staple products. Everyone has to buy them.

I guess the silver lining is that food and energy prices are impossible for people to ignore, because the price is right in front of our eyes. It's proof that Bush and the rest of the GOP are lying and will continue to lie about the economy until they're thrown out on their asses.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. A Pet Peeve

I'm sure you've heard "economists" (someone please take those degrees back) say that food and energy aren't included because they're too volatile.

You know what that really means?

It means IT'S TOO HARD. Yep. We don't include things in the inflation number that make the math too hard.

Now, in 1920, it may have indeed, been really hard to come up with a computable and valid monthly mean and would have been very long work. But, in the computer age the only explanation is that the profession has become so entrenched in conventionalism that it won't change. In this digital age, getting this number is easy.

The root cause? Laziness.
The Professor

[AndyA]

18. And that is the silver lining here.

People hear Bush state how great things are going, that inflation is not an issue, etc., yet they see what it costs at the supermarket and gas station every week.

People can put 2 + 2 together pretty easily when it's so in your face each week that it can't be ignored. People must have food, and people must buy gasoline. And no amount of voodoo economics or numbers crunching is going to fix that.

This will not be a good year for the GOP if gas prices remain high or go higher, if the country goes into a recession, and if food prices keep rising. People know who's responsible, and they will vote accordingly.

It's a struggle, but I know the low income people, kids just starting out on their own, and people on fixed incomes are getting hit the hardest. We need change in America, big change, and we can't do it if we elect people who are indebted to the status quo in America.

Big corporations are donating LOTS of money...do research...follow the money...we do not want the recipients of that money in office, they owe too many favors for those donations.

[tridim]

23. I know when I first started out on my own, around 1992..

Gas was less than a dollar and I spent about $30/week on groceries. Life was sure easy back then, and cheap. I worked hard for my gas money/college savings back then and just barely scraped by.

It must suck to be a kid today with a new set of wheels.

[INdemo]

24. The true economic picture is beginning to unfold and will be a Major issue this fall

a big plus for Democrats

[lldu]

16. And Social Security Recipients got 2.3% increase.....

No way does this even go towards helping the older Americans. Now that inflation is only figured by taking Aug-Oct inflation and compare it to the previous year's Aug-Oct inflation. Only 2.3% inflation? Heck, I think it was over 2% JUST FOR LAST MONTH!

[DesertRat]

25. All of the staples have gone way up

Milk, bread, eggs, cheese. I don't know how the working poor are feeding their families.

[earth mom]

26. I saw a liter of 7 up priced at $1.99 at the grocery store last night.

My eyes bugged out when I saw it. I've seen it for $1.59 this past year, but have refused to buy it unless it's on "special" for $1.25 or less.

To see it at almost double of what I'm willing to pay...well guess it's time to give up soda. :grr:

[kestrel91316]

28. Soda is just a way for corporations to part people from their hard-earned

money while giving NOTHING of value in return. Empty calories and a fast ticket to obesity and diabetes.

Make your own if you want, but stop paying corporations good money for it.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/2004-12-01/Brew-Better-Soda-at-Home.aspx

[earth mom]

32. Shoulda said I like diet 7up...

and water and coffee and tea.

I figure I'll give up the 7 up soon because I won't pay those prices...but there is NO way I'm giving up my coffee and tea! :evilgrin:

[tridim]

35. How long before coffee doubles in price?

I bet it's coming.

Thankfully tea will probably always be cheap. No frills Chinese green tea is cheaper than water.

[kestrel91316]

39. You can actually buy tea grown in the US (South Carolina).

http://www.sallys-place.com/beverages/tea/american_classic.htm

And local coffee = Kona. Though Mexican and Central American coffees are ALMOST local.

[tridim]

41. I've been looking for Kona and can't find it.

Any ideas?

[kestrel91316]

64. Take your pick:

http://www.google.com/search?q=kona+coffee&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

[2hip]

38. Bail on the soda

Carbonation reduces the calcium in the bones.




              Edwards '08 tees!

[SoCalDem]

48. Unsweetened ice tea (made with tea bags) is our favorite

cold beverage..add a wedge of lemon (if we can still afford lemons) and you're good to go.

People have been drinking tea a lot longer than soda pop, so I'm pretty sure it's still
safe"..

[2hip]

59. Chilled Mint and Chamomile combo is my standard fare

with a healthy dose of bee vomit (honey). lol

It's calming yet refreshing and because I buy the tea bags in bulk (http://www.sfherb.com/), very inexpensive. With the bee die-off, the honey's gone up in price but I watch for sales and load up big-time. Waaaaay healthier than soda and no useless plastic bottle to trash the environment. Totally win-win.




    Edwards '08 tees!

[knitter4democracy]

46. Not that long ago, sale was $0.90 a 2-liter.

The prices have been shooting up in the last few years.

[democrank]

27. Here`s one way I know we`re in deep trouble....

Few days ago I paid $450 for 125 gallons of kerosene and saw red peppers for $3.99 a pound. Thank goodness I know how to stretch a buck.

Thanks for posting this, garybeck.

[garybeck]

30. Yup, heating costs are really hurting this year.

I can't believe how much it costs every time they come and fill up that tank with that stuff.

[vickitulsa]

31. I shopped for groceries yesterday

as I always do on the 3rd of every month because that's when my SSDI "check" arrives direct deposit in my account. I receive $740/month, my total income; and after I pay my lot rent of $375/month, well, you can see what I have left to live on.

And I can describe very well what I feel when I shop for groceries these days: PANIC.

It's a terrible feeling -- an insidious, rising tide of panic that just won't go away. The fine folks at DHS cut off my food stamps about a year ago for no reason I can get anyone to explain to me. I can re-apply, of course, but then my car is not reliable now and I cannot afford to get it fixed, so the drive to DHS to wade through their miserably long process is daunting at best, and the amount they were giving me ($65/month) seemed hardly worth it anyway.

So I've just been paying it all myself, and it's getting so hard now I just don't know WHAT to do.

Yesterday I was only able to get about HALF what I normally used to buy each month on the 3rd. Prices had jumped so much just since last month that I had to be careful that I closed my mouth again after reading each shocking price label so I wasn't stumbling around with it hanging open permanently.

And I noticed something else, too: other people moving through the store with similar looks of shock and worry on their faces. Putting things back on the shelf (like me) after realizing they just cannot afford them now. Telling their children who ask for things that they can't have them. Little old ladies and men in their scooters with just a handheld basket they fill with pitifully small amounts of food -- to get them by for how long?, I wonder....

It's heartbreaking. When FOOD prices are going up steadily and by this much, people who live on the edge all the time anyway but who have always struggled to keep going just feel like giving up.

[knitter4democracy]

47. I've felt that panic, too.

We had a couple of bills get screwed up this fall, so I had to cut way back on all expenditures, and boy, was that hard.

Our Big Lots is next to the bakery outlet, and I've found the cheapest prices there for many things. I start there, then I go to Horrocks (a great farm-market like store with some of the cheapest prices in the area), and then I go to Meijers for the rest, usually sticking to the loss leaders and staples on sale.

It sounds like you need that $65, though. Do you have a friend who can drive you over there? If you lived near me, I'd take you. Heck, that's why I keep a knitting project in the car. It's my waiting knitting for all the times I have to sit and wait somewhere.

[garybeck]

50. suggestion - look in your area for a discount/overstock food outlet

i've been able to find one in every town I've lived in. here in Burlington we even have one with a good selection of healthy and organic foods. i remember back on the west coast there was a chain called "canned foods grocery outlet" where you could get really good deals. good luck.

[Supersedeas]

33. between food, healthcare, gas and taxes -- what is left for the lower middle class but labor & more

of it

[bdamomma]

40. which is exactly what these thugs want, they want us to work

our a$$es off, because the way they see it they were given the gift of prosperity by God. That is how effed up they are.

[superkia]

54. If they keep us broke and working every minute of our lives...

we cant even think of defending ourselves or care at all about what is happening to us, we are too worried about having a roof over our heads and something to eat.

Everyone should check out a documentary by Alex Jones : Endgame: The Blueprint For Global Enslavement

It falls inline with what is taking place in our country, destroy the middle class and run everyone into poverty. Its a great tool to use for control over us.

[undergroundpanther]

61. Control the food supply

Control the people and who lives and who dies.

Fuck corporations and Eat the rich, they have no shame They will bleed us all dry.We need to bite the"masters" hands.And bite it clean off so the rich won't be pickpocketing the poor,working poor and middle class anymore.

[GuvWurld]

44. This is related - items not available for sale

I was shopping yesterday and found the produce section was missing garlic and other items and the meat department did not have skinless chicken breast as it usually does. In fairness, this is a remote area of northern CA and the weather has been bad. I can't be sure, but I don't recall seeing items unavailable during previous stints of bad weather when our community has been just as remote as it is now. When more items become scarce, will rationing be far behind?

[cap]

51. if you can ... join a CSA , it really helps

we just signed up for a family portion of vegetables -- 1 big box/week for $600. That's about 6+ months of veggies. You can usually pay for it in installments. But do it now. The good ones are getting full quickly. You need to sign up now so the farmer can have seed money without taking a loan.

Can and freeze what you dont eat.

Food is ridiculous. The other day I spent $20 on 3 large cottage cheese and the salad bar. I think I am going to start cutting out the salad bar. Cant believe it.

My MIL just spent $90 on nothing. That woman watches her pennies.

[live love laugh]

52. So is gas...$2.83 at XMAS time, $3.09 today and not a peep on the "news" about it

Yet during XMAS, I couldn't turn on a new "show" without hearing them say that gas was DOWN for the holidays this year--by $.03 :eyes: but now that it's up by .25+ cents, nothing.

We are all supposed to be stupid, I guess.

[eShirl]

56. my next project is an indoor vegetable garden

starting with salad greens (herbs, leaf lettuce)

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-336/426-336.html

[Lance_Boyle]

57. Guess what? You're part of the cause.

Using virgin cooking oil for fuel is... ungood. Or do you think it's only corn that's affected by the biofuel phenomenon?

[SpiralHawk]

58. "Eat my shorts." - Commander AWOL

"Or perhaps you would like some freaking plastic turkey? Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[WinkyDink]

60. Inflation = The Story They Refuse to Write.

[Sugar Smack]

62. I want to thank you for this post.

I've acquired a pretty good supply of rice and dried beans. It's the "just in case" scenario. Canned chicken stock, diced tomatoes.

[guitar man]

63. no kidding

Food prices along with fuel/energy costs are killing my family budget. My 2 year old daughter has a type of allergy to anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup in it, so feeding her has gotten exceedingly expensive.

And, as far as food stamps go, with our income, it is, as Maxwell Smart would say "missed it by this much". I mean, our gross income is a little over a thousand bucks too much to qualify for any kind of aid.

However, as of the first of the year I will be taking a $100 a month pay cut in the form of a $100 a month hike in our family's health insurance premiums from my employer.

I think it is high time to move the lines that define what "poor" is in this country. What was an OK salary when I took the job in 2005 just ain't shit anymore.I wonder just how many people are really out there working and struggling like we are. God knows we'll never get the real numbers out of the lying assholes we have in office now. :grr:

[Mike03]

65. Glad people are noticing this

Respectfully, this has been going on for at least two years.

The inflation numbers presented by the Fed don't represent reality whatsoever.

I used to bang my head against the walls here trying to encourage people to stock up on things that they use often, not just groceries but shoes, clothing, etc...