Food prices soar as incomes stand still

[Rapunzel]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/food-prices-soar-as-incomes-stand-still/

Food prices soar as incomes stand still

NEW YORK - Writer Jen Singer, the mother of two teenage boys, wrestles with her grocery list every week to keep the household budget from getting away from her.

"I'd like the government to stop by my house, come food shopping with me and see where the real costs are," she said.

The adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is impossible thanks to apple prices, she said.

"We go through one of these every few days," she said, holding a loaf of bread. "It's a big part of my take home pay."

Some experts believe food inflation is greater than the government thinks


It's is not her imagination. While the government says prices are up 6.4 percent since 2011, chicken is up 18.4 percent, ground beef is up 16.8 percent and bacon has skyrocketed up 22.8 percent, making it a holiday when it's on sale.

"Oh my god!" Singer said as she spied bacon for $3.

"The things that are going up in price are the things I absolutely need to buy," she said. "It's the meat, it's the milk, it's the eggs and it's getting out of hand."

ConvergEx market strategist, Nick Colas, said that mothers could tell the government a lot about inflation.

"Food inflation is far greater than the government thinks it is," he said.

But the big problem for families:  Wages are not budging.

"If my income isn't going up, how am I going to keep up with inflation?" Singer asked.

Median income is up only 1 percent a year.  For Singer, that makes it hard to save for college tuition - which has been rising 6 percent to 8 percent every year for five decades.

"The price of college is terrifying and so we're looking at cheaper schools or scholarships, I hope," she said. "You know, 'Run faster in track.' That will really help me out a lot."

 Many are concerned that while economists paint a benign picture, middle-class families are quietly struggling.

"The disconnect is severe, because it's the economists that make policy but it's the people who have to live with the outcome of that policy and that disconnect is growing to the point where I think it has to break soon," Colas said.

Jen Singer shops carefully to try to stay within her household budget

To economize, Singer keeps the heat down in the house.

"We might as well wear a parka around here because it is the only way I can save money on heating," she said.

As the costs go higher and the budget battle continues, every now and then she finds something at a great price.

A victory.

[Rapunzel]

Mark Levin
Obama's solution for income inequality: higher food, medical and energy prices

[jmyrlefuller]

The adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is impossible thanks to apple prices, she said.

Apples are about 99 cents a pound-- it was a bumper crop this year. In fact, it was a pretty good year in general for fruits and vegetables. Animal products, not so much... there is a beef shortage, but that has been ongoing for a few years.

This article is just agitprop in an attempt to restore food stamp funding.

[happyg]

I'm not so sure. I live alone and my grocery bill is triple what I spent when my three boys were at home. Everything is higher, even at discount markets.

[Luis Gonzalez]

Quoting an old rock standard:

"You ain't seen nothing yet, beh,beh, beh baby."

[mountaineer]

Apples are about 99 cents a pound-- it was a bumper crop this year. In fact, it was a pretty good year in general for fruits and vegetables. Animal products, not so much... there is a beef shortage, but that has been ongoing for a few years.

This article is just agitprop in an attempt to restore food stamp funding.

Perhaps, but the prices certainly are rising where we live, and those of us without food stamps have to pinch pennies. It's unusual to find apples around here for less than $1.50 per pound. All produce is considerably more expensive than a couple of years ago and I don't know whether we've yet seen the effect of the California drought. The price of beef has been rising for quite a while, as you noted.

You can still get pasta cheap, though that doesn't make for a very balanced diet!

[Chieftain]

Perhaps, but the prices certainly are rising where we live, and those of us without food stamps have to pinch pennies. It's unusual to find apples around here for less than $1.50 per pound. All produce is considerably more expensive than a couple of years ago and I don't know whether we've yet seen the effect of the California drought. The price of beef has been rising for quite a while, as you noted.

You can still get pasta cheap, though that doesn't make for a very balanced diet!

Why I keep chickens....I put 40 lawn and leaf bags full of shredded leaves in my hen yard last Fall.  They keep the yar.45 d from getting muddy, and the compost they make goes (in part) to a neighbor's community garden, and the rest into my own.  I grow all kinds of stuff all year long, including a bunch of different greens just for the chickens to eat.  We always have fresh eggs, more than we can use at the moment, but that's fine.  Our six Rhode Island Reds are all good for about 200 eggs a year and that ain't a bad thing to have handy if it ever comes to a barter economy.  I figure I can trade a fresh egg for six rounds of .45 ACP...

 

[Rapunzel]

Apples are about 99 cents a pound-- it was a bumper crop this year. In fact, it was a pretty good year in general for fruits and vegetables. Animal products, not so much... there is a beef shortage, but that has been ongoing for a few years.

This article is just agitprop in an attempt to restore food stamp funding.

I can tell you I've seen this in my own food bills.  The increase in beef has a lot to do with the cost of feed which is related to ethanol.. add in a drought causing ranchers to reduce herds, etc...then there is salad greens.. they've skyrocketed in price... I don't eat iceberg in my salads.  One reason is drought, another is the hidden inflation in WE and another is energy costs since O was elected have doubled.

[Rapunzel]

Oh, and I do splurge buying non GMO milk each week.. not cheap, but worth the price to me.