Where is the money going: Food Prices

[nathan28]

Cost of a basket of 16 staples is up 6% for 1Q2010 vs. 4Q2009. "Modest" increase my ass. It def. is a case of nickels-and-dimes, though, becuase it's only about $2.50 more for a basket of goods. But 6% is no small matter! Also it looks like I need to learn how to bake. In good news, dandelion greens are relatively inexpensive if you have a knife or scissors.

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=61547

US: Retail staple food prices increase slightly in first quarter

Retail food prices at the supermarket showed a modest increase during the first quarter of 2010, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey.

The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare a meal was $45.54, up $2.64 or 6 percent higher compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. The total average price for the 16 items dropped by $1.87 or about 4 percent less compared to one year ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, 14 increased and two decreased in average price compared to the prior quarter.

Shredded cheddar cheese, deli ham, apples, vegetable oil, bacon, boneless chicken breasts and eggs increased the most in dollar value from quarter-to-quarter.

Shredded cheddar cheese increased 62 cents to $4.26 per pound; sliced deli ham increased 48 cents to $4.83 per pound; apples increased 25 cents to $1.50 per pound; vegetable oil increased 23 cents to $2.74; bacon and boneless chicken breasts increased 22 cents to $3.22 and $2.93 per pound, respectively; and eggs increased 19 cents to $1.74 per dozen.

“Improved demand for milk and dairy products here at home and from export markets was the driving factor behind higher retail prices found by our volunteer shoppers during the first quarter of the year,” said AFBF Economist John Anderson. “Higher retail prices for some meats were due to reduced supplies,” Anderson said.

Other items that increased in price quarter-to-quarter were flour, up 16 cents to $2.26 for a 5-pound bag; whole milk, up 11 cents to $3.15 per gallon; bagged salad, up 10 cents to $2.67 for a 1-pound bag; sirloin tip roast, up 9 cents to $3.69 per pound; Russet potatoes, up 8 cents to $2.26 for a five-pound bag; orange juice, up 5 cents for a half-gallon to $2.98; and toasted oat cereal, up 2 cents to $2.97 for a 9-ounce box.

Compared to a year ago, eggs increased 16 percent; apples increased 11 percent and toasted oat cereal increased 2 percent.

Two foods declined slightly in price compared to the prior quarter: white bread, down 11 cents to $1.71 for a 20-oz. loaf; and ground chuck, down 6 cents to $2.63 per pound.

Several items from the meat case decreased in price compared to one year ago: chicken breasts (down 13 percent), ground chuck (down 10.5 percent) and sirloin tip roast (down 7.5 percent).

The year-to-year direction of the marketbasket survey tracks with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index (http://www.bls.gov/cpi) report for food at home. As retail grocery prices have increased gradually over time, the share of the average food dollar that America’s farm and ranch families receive has dropped.

“From about the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home and away from home, on average. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now just 19 percent, according to Agriculture Department statistics,” Anderson said.

Using the “food at home and away from home” percentage across-the-board, the farmer’s share of this quarter’s $45.54 marketbasket would be $8.65.

AFBF, the nation’s largest general farm organization, has been conducting the informal quarterly marketbasket survey of retail food price trends since 1989. The mix of foods in the marketbasket was updated during the first quarter of 2008.

According to USDA, Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food, the lowest average of any country in the world. A total of 73 shoppers in 30 states participated in the latest survey, conducted in early March.

Sidebar: Tracking Milk and Egg Trends

For the first quarter of 2010, shoppers reported the average price for a half-gallon of regular whole milk was $2.00, up 1 cent from the prior quarter. The average price for one gallon of regular whole milk was $3.15, up 14 cents. Comparing per-quart prices, the retail price for whole milk sold in gallon containers was about 25 percent lower compared to half-gallon containers, a typical volume discount long employed by retailers.

The average price for a half-gallon of rBST-free milk was $3.62, up 54 cents from the last quarter, more than 50 percent higher than the reported retail price for a half-gallon of regular milk ($2).

The average price for a half-gallon of organic milk was $3.66, up 9 cents compared to the fourth quarter of 2009 quarter – about 80 percent higher than the reported retail price for a half-gallon of regular milk ($2).

Compared to a year ago (first quarter of 2009), the retail price for regular milk in gallon containers was unchanged while regular milk in half-gallon containers decreased 8 percent. The average retail price for rBST-free milk increased about 13 percent in a year’s time. The average retail price for organic milk in half-gallon containers dropped about 1 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the prior year.

For the first quarter of 2010, the average price for one dozen regular eggs was $1.74. The average price for “cage-free” eggs was $2.91 per dozen, about 70 percent more per dozen than regular eggs. Compared to a year ago (first quarter of 2009), regular eggs increased 16 percent while “cage-free” eggs were unchanged.

Source: fb.org

Publication date: 4/6/2010

[Hammer of Los]

An interesting post you've made there nathan. I'm enjoying the thread.

I eat really fucking cheap. As far as I can tell when you start looking up recipes and find "popular during the Great Depression" you've passed home ec, right? E.g., salt pork, $2.15/lbs., which is 3500 calories worth, a little more than a day's worth of energy for me. Of course I can't eat that much fucking fatback, so liver pudding, which just went from $1/lbs. to $1.25, and souse, which went from $1.25 to $2/lbs. (sum ~$4.50)

I dont even know what those things are! No, I don't suppose I would eat them! You must think I'm crazy.



They don't sound terribly appealing.

At any rate, my local Sainsbury's doesn't stock them. I would know.

I bet J Sainsbury is an interesting fellow to research. I don't remember reading much dirt, but then I use the guy's shops. I don't especially care to learn awful things about him, his family or his company. I like to shop in one place. Its convenient. And our local store is staffed by nice, friendly, local people of many races, ages, and levels of physical and mental ability. I dig the place, and they dig me. Oh, and young manager trainee types scurry about with clipboards looking earnest, concerned, and concentrating. Oh go on then, I'm sure they are awful in a contemporary corporate food giant sort of way.

I confess. I buy the most expensive things in Sainsbury's. Deliberately, to have at least some indicator of quality and/or absence of mass farming methods. It's a good job I have the earnings of my other half to pay for them. I'm blessed in this life, and I know it. I really don't know why I seem to suffer from mild depression. It must be the things I read about on the internet. That's what I get for reading Rig Int instead of mumsnet.

Ahem.

Personally I like chocolate and fizzy pop. I consume too much of them. I know its unhealthy. I worry about my health a little. I weigh very little despite what I eat. I'm not sure why, I can eat 200g of chococolate and drink a litre of lucozade (carbonated energy drink) sitting up too late in front of this here PC.

But I shop for four. My bills are high. I go almost every day to Sainsbury's, so everything is fresh and we waste little. I cook simple stuff mostly. We do eat fresh fruit and vegetables nigh on every day. Maybe I will tell you more about what me and my family eat. I don't add it up, I'm bad like that. I don't even check the receipts. I have a phobia of money, tallying, and accountants. I'm sorry about that. I really am incompetent as a home economist. As indeed I am at just about everything.

You did notice I was wearing a dress, didnt you?*

Fresh fruit and veg are very expensive compared to meat, dairy, and especially cheap mass produced processed foods here in the UK. I'm sure you could find the figures. I guess ultimately its simply down to the cost of production. Of course, a great many factors affect that. They should subsidise fresh fruit and veg, but that would cost them money, so they don't.

Now, I like a fry up with bacon, eggs, fried bread, mushrooms, tomatoes, black pudding and sausages myself. I don't know what I would do without the humble pig. Yes, I would be a kinder more compassionate soul and live more healthily, I dare say. I suppose it would improve my moral and spiritual development to go vegetarian. We often discuss this at the dinner table. But I love bacon!

*Strictly speaking, I am a genderless eternal spirit temporarily incarnated in what appears to be the body of a male human. In this incarnation, I have considered transvestitism but do not practice it. Frankly, I want to join the cult of David Shayler. I do so hope the fellow is alright these days.

ps Oh Barracuda you well-fed fish! You make me quite jealous. But you have given lots of good advice there and made a super post, so thanks for that. And yes, I would certainly like to bum one, thanks very much. Smoking is my worst vice.

pps Super post from Perelandra too! Great advice and informative.

[Perelandra]

Part 1 of documentary "Pig Business". More at Link.