I guess the big question is, if everyone starts to stockpile food, won’t that create an even bigger problem?
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Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.
“Load up the pantry,” says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street’s top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. “I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn’t going to happen here. But I don’t know how the food companies can absorb higher costs.” The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They’re all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%. These are trends that have been in place for some time. And if you are hoping they will pass, here’s the bad news: They may actually accelerate.
The reason? The prices of many underlying raw materials have risen much more quickly still. Wheat prices, for example, have roughly tripled in the past three years.Sooner or later, the food companies are going to have to pass those costs on. Kraft saw its raw material costs soar by about $1.25 billion last year, squeezing profit margins. The company recently warned that higher prices are here to stay. Last month the chief executive of General Mills, Kendall Powell, made a similar point. The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food. A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That’s soaking up some of the corn supply.
You can’t easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk.
If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it’s the rosy memory of a bygone age.
Hey…You! Eyes off my Cat!
#31–jamie==good post at #28, but your insight fails on almost the same word game you played successfully. Why do poor people get sick more than rich, live shorter lives, and are fatter?
Take your time until you figure out they eat junk food because they can’t afford expensive food.
Sorry, but healthy food is not more expensive than junk food. Quite the opposite. Pound of potatoes 15 cents, pound of potato chips $3. 2 pound head of Romaine lettuce $1.29, 2 lbs of any junk food at least $3… $6 for chocolate bars, cookies, etc.
#18 – Are you a farmer? Urban sprawl has not eaten up “your” cornfield. Technology has made it possible for higher yield per acre. The government is currently paying farmers to NOT plant crops in some of their fields. (This was done, in part, to prevent farmers from going bankrupt as a result of low market prices due to EXCESS supply!)
Special interest groups and career politicians have messed up our government, too many Americans are uninformed and/or complacent, and the U.S. is spending too much money supporting the “rights” of illegal aliens instead of taking care of its own native sons and daughters…
Bobbo: “Take your time until you figure out they eat junk food because they can’t afford expensive food.”
Already addressed at #31 with “They’ll buy less junkfood at least?”
Even then, “healthy” isn’t necessarily “expensive” unless you’re buying ultra-organic soy products or something like that. Buying a bag of potatoes/lb or vegetables/lb in season are a bit cheaper when compared to $/lb of potato chips and twinkies. (as JimR already noted)
#36—jamie====try again. When food prices go up, everyone including poor people, buy less quality food==ie, junk food. Junk food is not expensive candy and fast food and deserts. It is empty carbohydrates==like pasta, potatoes in gravy, and bulk chips to make the pain go away.
Lots of variability, but the data is well established.
If the Domocrates has not blocked the drilling of oil in Alaska, fuel costs would not be so expensive, and the rush to ethenol would not be creating food shortages. Voting in Democrats will not solve the problem but only make it worse.
If the Domocrates has not blocked the drilling of oil in Alaska, fuel costs would not be so expensive, and the rush to ethenol would not be creating food shortages. Voting in Democrats will not solve the problem but only make it worse.
yeah, stockpile food so it’ll go bad and then you got to go buy more. What sheep
The drilling of oil in Anwar would have provided oil 10 years from now. It would only supply gas for about 6 months of current US use. Not the exact numbers…but it was very mush like that…
Regarding bugs getting in your flour and cereals — you need to keep them in air tight containers. If you just throw them in your pantry in their paper packaging, you will get bugs. Also if you put them in non air tight canisters, you will get bugs. Also, common sense says to have at least two weeks to a month of food and water stockpiled in case of a natural disaster. That’s just being responsible. I personally find it horrifying how people in our country do not know how to feed themselves if an emergency did hit. They can’t cook food or prepare food from basic ingredients. Can’t even make a basic soup, bread or anything from scratch. And the concept of planting a few plants to provide healthy fresh vegetables is totally out of the question.
Our family lives in the “wilds of Wisconsin”. Last winter we were snowbound for days at a time. Stockpiling food and non-perishables is a way of life…a responsible way of life.
For the individuals who got bugs in their flour…keep your pantry clean and food in sealed containers. I store extra cornmeal, flour, sugar, coffee, rice and pasta in air-tight bags in a large freezer. These foods last forever. I use a vacuum-type sealer available at any superstore to make them airtight. Only a small amount of each item is kept in “tupperware” for daily use. It is routine for us to have extra bar soap, tissue, toilet paper and toothpaste in the house at all times…it won’t spoil and eventually we will use it. We have started baking our own bread and expanded our veggie garden. Currently, local farmers cannot get feeder-corn at reasonable prices, and so are slaughtering their animals (cows and chickens).
Corn is grown for ethanol, not animals or people. Finally, I do not care how many countries laugh at us. It always seems that the ones who laugh the hardest are the first to come to us for medical advances and aid when they are in trouble. Here’s a bit of relevant, movie wisdom, “When you need it and don’t have it you’ll sing a different tune” (Bert Gummer)
great article..For those of you who do not believe this is going to happen…Great! Just don’t come to my house for supper.
I do believe in preperation..and anyone who is not seeing red flags now have lost their mind! To what extent it will be and how bad,who know’s.But is it going to get really tough pretty quick for hundreds of thousand’s???YES.
NOT JUST THE POOR EITHER…they are probably better prepared than most!