Get Real About Groceries: It's Going To Hurt

As you look at this chart, you should wonder if the cost differentials are justified due to the rise of fuel and grains or is it just a result of corporations squeezing every last bit of profit out of consumers. Probably both but, either way, it's pretty stark.

If fuel is the reason, imagine what the prices will look like three to six months from now as the current price is based on the fixed fuel costs at the time of production.


Food Cost Comparison: 2007 to 2008

Good thread. I was wondering about this, too- whether or not the price increases were an honest chain reaction or are we being gouged by having prices raised to more than they should be.

But not only that- I wonder if or when gas prices do eventually drop, will retail goods reduce their prices again as well? Will the prices of other goods fall since the prices were raised in the first place to compensate for the impact the rise in gas prices put on business costs? It remains to be seen. Businesses sure do have a way of increasing their prices when their costs go up but they hardly ever reduce them once their costs decrease.

www.independencejournal.com...

In other words, each $1 increase in the cost of crude will pass through to your personal checkbook as about $7.32 a month in higher bills if you drive 1,000 miles per month. However, parking the car won't matter because even saving the $160 in fuel costs (basis $4 gas and 25 MPG) you'll still get whacked with a $30.66 increase as energy prices impact food, power, gas bills, and what have you...

...you estimate that each $1 move in crude will cost you personally $5 to $10 a month (depending on individual variables) on your middle income family budget...

It seems like a lot more than that to me.

www.cattlenetwork.com...


Beef hasn't moved much...but it will, There is a lag on the price becuase of hay and corn storage.......I also heard that alot of Beef farmers cashed out to do overwhelming costs........(weather, fertilizer, etc).....I expect that price to be double next yr..........


Thanks for the Chart!

[edit on 17-7-2008 by Pinktip]

Thanks for the data! I'll be eating more pears, oranges, strawberries and cucumbers, all of which became cheaper! I'll miss the lemons, though. Steak and chicken were relatively steady, so that's my protein.

You all have the links I just have real life experance. I'm 54 today I worked on my grandads farm for close to 40 years until the price of water and taxes cut the profit to zero.we doubled croped that means 2 crops on the same land in one year. Gives the land no time to rest. My tiny garden feed 3 to 5 families with very little work. But I have no marketable skills. Go fill your hummer if you think I should have gone to college. We supplied the 3 western states with watermellons and potatoes through the 60's and 70's. One of the largest producing farms on the west coast with just grandpa, me and one farm laborer. Oh i'm sure some day people will wonder what happened to the men and women who produced food on family farms. Once our land taken by banks and loan sharks is now all houses, 30% empty. You need a 5 bed room house or food to eat. I'm bummed and see no future. bil

It's only going to go up even more as the products on the shelf now were produced weeks or months ago, with energy costs at that time. What will the prices be by the end of the year?

biz.yahoo.com...

Inflation fears intensify as consumer prices rise at second-fastest pace in a generation

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Prices for a quart of milk, a plane ticket and a host of other products rose in June at nearly the fastest pace in a generation -- yet another economic shock wave that alarmed analysts and took a bite out of the buying power of Americans.

Consumer prices rose 1.1 percent in June from the month before, far faster than the expected rate of 0.7 percent and almost double the reading from May, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
The only time in the past quarter-century that monthly inflation has been that high was in September 2005, when prices jumped 1.3 percent, mostly because Hurricane Katrina shut down oil refineries and energy prices spiked.

Consumer prices are up 5 percent over the last 12 months, the fastest one-year change since 1991. As prices rose last month, take-home pay took a hit. Adjusting for inflation, weekly wages fell 0.9 percent in June, the third straight monthly decline and the biggest drop in almost four years.