OMG: What Just Happened to Food Prices

[JohnyMac]

MrsMac and I are back in RI as she has a fistful of doctor appointments scheduled and a eye surgery scheduled for this week. I have a few things that need to be done to all of which will cost money - DAMN!

Well we went off today to the local big chain supermarket (Stop&Shop) to refill the frig here and I was shocked to see the prices of things! On sale chicken thighs were $1.29 a lb. in the big family packs! Chuck for a 4# pot roast was  $24- and it was on sale! The brand of coffee we buy is no longer 12 ounces it is now 10 ounces. A flippen green pepper was $1.99 a pound. Paper towels that normally were $1.99 a roll was now $2.49. The list goes on and on.

I did pick up some marked down meat with the sell-by date ready to expire BUT oh my God the prices were through the bloody roof!

Looking at protein, to be quite honest with you while up at the cabin we have been eating deer 2-3 nights a week in one form or another, some form of pasta with appropriate protein like sausage or meat (deer) balls and previously purchased protein while on sale or marked down due to product being close to the "pull date."

For starch we have been working on our 100 lbs of potatoes we purchased in the fall, rice and spaetle which I make.

For veggies we have been working on the acorn & butternut squash, carrots, sauerkraut put in the root cellar this past fall. We also have frozen veggies purchased while on sale in the fall.

Home made apple sauce is served with almost every meal. I make it from the three bushels apples my neighbors and I picked for free this fall. Most deserts are made from those a fore mentioned apples and powdered chocolate purchased (Cake) a year or so ago in 2 lb. cans from a restaurant supply store.

During Christmas we STOCKED UP and I mean we STOCKED UP on sugar (Cane & 10X) and flour at holiday pricing.

The whole reason I bring this up is:
1) I am shocked with food prices of late. Are you seeing similar price increases on food where you live?
2) You need to plan and buy things in large quantities when you can.
3) If you have any extra money, buy food! NOW!
4) How are people going to afford these prices? 


 

[APX808]

As I have mentioned previously, in Argentina we are having 30% inflation, and you can ALWAYS see the food is what most price increases you can notice.
I'm buying in bulk the foods I can store, in the last year, the economists around here say buying food was the best investment in the country.

How are you going to pay for it?

Well, what happens is that the unions will start pushing for better salary improvements and then there is a race between salaries and prices, welcome to high inflation economy, where no matter what you do you always lose.

[Well-Prepared Witch]

I'm not surprised at all.  Between the beef herd sell-off due to the last two years' drought and the extreme cold and weather interrupting shipping, it's been coming.  I haven't seen such significant increases, though, but I go shopping every week, so it's a more gradual thing for me.

[special-k]

Yup.  I noticed the sudden price hike at the grocery store about 2 weeks ago.

[rah45]

C'mon, guys. We all saw this coming. The exponential increase in food intake in Colorado from the legalization of marijuana was bound to affect the markets. Supply and demand. Stoners gotta munch, yo. 

[special-k]

C'mon, guys. We all saw this coming. The exponential increase in food intake in Colorado from the legalization of marijuana was bound to affect the markets. Supply and demand. Stoners gotta munch, yo. 

[JohnyMac]

Yes Wellie you are right, "I haven't seen such significant increases, though, but I go shopping every week, so it's a more gradual thing for me." I understand that when things only go up 10¢ here and there you don't see it. However when you kind of drop out of the economy and then drop back in you do see it. 

Here are a few recommendations:
> If you do not have a chest freezer buy one. They cost around $100- and I have seen them for as
   cheap as $79.95. They remain super cold even when the electric goes out. This time of year
   you could even wheel it out to the porch to keep it cold even if the electric goes out.
> Buy in bulk. When chicken thighs are 99¢ a pound buy 20 #'s and freeze them in manageable
    chucks. For us that's 3 thighs per meal. If people come over pull three thighs per two adults.
> Occasionally, frozen veggies are on sale. Buy 'em up and put them in your freezer chest.
> Buy pasta and cans of pasta on sale. Both store well. I would recommend you store your unopened
   box's of pasta in zip lock bags to keep beau-weavels down.
> When something is on a great sale - Buy it! We have about 10 lbs of butter in the box freezer along with three
   4# bags of sugar and similar in flour on the shelf. Yes we have umpteen canisters of wheat put
   away BUT that is for another day.
> Hunt! Some of the best protein you will ever put in your mouth comes from the woods. Will deer
   taste like a well marbled Angus steak - No! Is it good in it's "mother naturalistic sense"
   ABSOLUTELY! It just needs to be cooked a bit differently.

   With that said, wild turkey is the best turkey you will ever put into your mouth! There is
   none better even an organic raised Bourbon Red at $5- a # from the health food store can't
   compete.

    MrsMac squeals when I bring home a rabbit as she much prefers that over chicken. To me I would
    rather have the chicken.  I love squirrel as it tastes like pot roast to me if cooked
    properly. Nutty and deep with flavor. MrsMac does not like them as much as she thinks of them as
    "tree rats." What I keep explaining to her is they eat only great stuff like nuts and such. Funny
    thing though is she cleans the plate.

    Then there are ducks and geese. Wild ducks and geese (goose) are nothing like the store bought
    cousins raised on the farm. To my palate served med-rare to medium they taste like lamb. So
    treat as lamb with plenty of garlic, olive oil and rosemary.

I am sorry as I am going off topic here. Bottom-line, buy when the price is down, store it away and hunt. A morning in the woods with even only a squirrel or a rabbit hanging on your belt is worth even more to me then spending a hour or so in church. 
   

[thatGuy]

Building a coop and raising your own is a good idea too, ducks put on a pound of meat per pound and a half of feed.. That means you're getting feed for $10-15 per 50lbs and that will raise up a 3-4 fat ducks.. Ever ate a duck breast?!

[JohnyMac]

Your 100% correct TG  Our neighbor across from the cabin raised ducks this past year and we had 5 of them processed along with the turkey's and chickens I reported on in an earlier post. Also duck eggs are just as good as chicken eggs just a bit bigger 

[thatGuy]

I forget the specs JMac but duck eggs are actually better for you than chicken eggs.. Something about less fat more protein or something like that.