I spoke with a coworker yesterday about ways to mitigate the impact of rising food prices in your weekly budget. Aside from the tips I provide here, I remind you that if you already have food storage, of any kind, you can in some ways escape the problems at the market due to the fact that you possess exactly the type of staples the lack of which in the market causes excess strain on your wallet. At some point, although not now and not hitherto, the cost of making your own bread will approximate the cost at which you can currently buy it, and if you have flour (or wheat with which to make it), the grain shortage doesn't matter to you one whit.
Part of the problem we see in commodity prices arises from the question of how grain affects other foods. Aside from the obvious impact of biofuels on corn, cornmeal, corn tortillas, corn chips, etc., the reallocation of corn from a food staple into a dubiously effective means of abrogating the energy crisis places strain on other grain crops as feed. Resultant therefrom, dairy and livestock, which depend upon the cost and supply of grain, rise as well, alongside every other commodity made from grain ranging from baked goods to ready to eat cereal.
Unlike the shopping centers I patronage in Europe, shortages in America constitute less a lack of goods instead reflecting lack of profit to bring goods to market. For example, Thursday I really wanted some donuts, so I went to a Wal-mart neighborhood market near my place of employ in search thereof only to discover first that the price had risen from $2/package to $2.50 but also that the shelf offered only three packages, none of which were chocolate. At some point, given Wal-mart's margin, it will not be worth the time and effort to procure, transport, store, prepare, display, tag, sell, etc., this particular good, and they will remove it from the offered wares. It doesn't make good business sense to sell commodities at a loss.
For those who didn't stockpile foodstuffs during our seven years of plenty, I offer some alternative ways to get the things you want. They combine both nontraditional markets and nontraditional foods, though nothing you wouldn't possibly consider in times of affluence.
First of all, with meat on the rise, it might behoove Americans who do not avail themselves of the opportunity to seek alternative game. I spoke with my boss who told me that in Wyoming one can, assuming the lot falls to one, purchase a hunting tag for $50 and then have the meat prepared for $100. Assuming a measly yield of 100lbs of meat, for $1.50 per pound, you bring home a freezer full. Show me where in today's market or even last year you can buy meat for $1.50/lb. Even if prices on those venues rise to double that cost, you still pay less for similar cuts of a game animal than for livestock. Why is that? Because livestock meat includes the cost of feed, licensing, transport, inoculations, etc., and we don't feed wild game. In fact, you can't get anything more organic than a nice Elk.
Secondly, consider alternative sources of foodstuffs. While I don't recommend second-hand perishables, you can mitigate some costs by purchasing foods that are near their date of expiry. For most food items, at expiry they are not "bad" to eat, they simply do not meet the store standards or guarantees. In order to prevent loss, stores remove these items from their shelves by a "sell-by date" which is non synonymous with its date of expiry, even though we assume they are one in the same. Stores don't want to stand behind products that reach a certain age, but they are probably still good (don't ignore mold, but most foods are just fine, they just may not be as crunchy).
At a Big Lots outlet on the way home, I routinely stop and check for baked goods. Around 18:00, the truck pulls up, unloads all the "expired" breadstuffs which sell for about 50% off in Big Lots. I buy Kashi cereal there for $1.50 per box, which isn't a bad price for ANY brand of cereal. Also they sell many common staples such as spaghetti sauce for the equivalent of the "sale" price at stores like Albertson's- $0.97/can. Now, not to discount the discounters like Wal-mart. I used to buy Lean Cuisine there for $2.12/meal when Albertson's/Smith's advertised it on sale 4/$10. Wal-Mart's every-day price is at or near the sale price of many items in competitor stores. Trust me; I know how their company works.
Consider also dented cans or discount racks in other stores. Especially if you intend to use the items right away or same week, you can save considerably on these bargain racks where the food is still just fine.
For those who worry about getting sick from their food, consider how rhobust your immune system really is. Think of all the crap we force-feed our intestines and live to tell about. You do not statistically have a lower chance of catching something from fresh food than you do from "sell-by" date food presuming you prepare it correctly. I cite your minds back to the Spinach scare of 2007.
I admonish you, as you experience what Americans have skirted since the rationing of World War II, to consider bulking up food storage as possible now and earnestly once this crisis abates. If you store up today what others won't, tomorrow you'll be able to eat what others can't. Take a lesson from one of my ancestors- Joseph who was sold into Egypt by Reuben and Judah and thereby spared Egypt from famine while she sold her wares to feed the ravaged world. We may not get a second chance to learn this lesson.
Disclaimer: The author holds approximately $2000 in Wal-Mart stock at current market prices. The author is not a physician, but he holds an MS in Biochemistry with an emphasis on metabolism.
Part of the problem we see in commodity prices arises from the question of how grain affects other foods. Aside from the obvious impact of biofuels on corn, cornmeal, corn tortillas, corn chips, etc., the reallocation of corn from a food staple into a dubiously effective means of abrogating the energy crisis places strain on other grain crops as feed. Resultant therefrom, dairy and livestock, which depend upon the cost and supply of grain, rise as well, alongside every other commodity made from grain ranging from baked goods to ready to eat cereal.
Unlike the shopping centers I patronage in Europe, shortages in America constitute less a lack of goods instead reflecting lack of profit to bring goods to market. For example, Thursday I really wanted some donuts, so I went to a Wal-mart neighborhood market near my place of employ in search thereof only to discover first that the price had risen from $2/package to $2.50 but also that the shelf offered only three packages, none of which were chocolate. At some point, given Wal-mart's margin, it will not be worth the time and effort to procure, transport, store, prepare, display, tag, sell, etc., this particular good, and they will remove it from the offered wares. It doesn't make good business sense to sell commodities at a loss.
For those who didn't stockpile foodstuffs during our seven years of plenty, I offer some alternative ways to get the things you want. They combine both nontraditional markets and nontraditional foods, though nothing you wouldn't possibly consider in times of affluence.
First of all, with meat on the rise, it might behoove Americans who do not avail themselves of the opportunity to seek alternative game. I spoke with my boss who told me that in Wyoming one can, assuming the lot falls to one, purchase a hunting tag for $50 and then have the meat prepared for $100. Assuming a measly yield of 100lbs of meat, for $1.50 per pound, you bring home a freezer full. Show me where in today's market or even last year you can buy meat for $1.50/lb. Even if prices on those venues rise to double that cost, you still pay less for similar cuts of a game animal than for livestock. Why is that? Because livestock meat includes the cost of feed, licensing, transport, inoculations, etc., and we don't feed wild game. In fact, you can't get anything more organic than a nice Elk.
Secondly, consider alternative sources of foodstuffs. While I don't recommend second-hand perishables, you can mitigate some costs by purchasing foods that are near their date of expiry. For most food items, at expiry they are not "bad" to eat, they simply do not meet the store standards or guarantees. In order to prevent loss, stores remove these items from their shelves by a "sell-by date" which is non synonymous with its date of expiry, even though we assume they are one in the same. Stores don't want to stand behind products that reach a certain age, but they are probably still good (don't ignore mold, but most foods are just fine, they just may not be as crunchy).
At a Big Lots outlet on the way home, I routinely stop and check for baked goods. Around 18:00, the truck pulls up, unloads all the "expired" breadstuffs which sell for about 50% off in Big Lots. I buy Kashi cereal there for $1.50 per box, which isn't a bad price for ANY brand of cereal. Also they sell many common staples such as spaghetti sauce for the equivalent of the "sale" price at stores like Albertson's- $0.97/can. Now, not to discount the discounters like Wal-mart. I used to buy Lean Cuisine there for $2.12/meal when Albertson's/Smith's advertised it on sale 4/$10. Wal-Mart's every-day price is at or near the sale price of many items in competitor stores. Trust me; I know how their company works.
Consider also dented cans or discount racks in other stores. Especially if you intend to use the items right away or same week, you can save considerably on these bargain racks where the food is still just fine.
For those who worry about getting sick from their food, consider how rhobust your immune system really is. Think of all the crap we force-feed our intestines and live to tell about. You do not statistically have a lower chance of catching something from fresh food than you do from "sell-by" date food presuming you prepare it correctly. I cite your minds back to the Spinach scare of 2007.
I admonish you, as you experience what Americans have skirted since the rationing of World War II, to consider bulking up food storage as possible now and earnestly once this crisis abates. If you store up today what others won't, tomorrow you'll be able to eat what others can't. Take a lesson from one of my ancestors- Joseph who was sold into Egypt by Reuben and Judah and thereby spared Egypt from famine while she sold her wares to feed the ravaged world. We may not get a second chance to learn this lesson.
Disclaimer: The author holds approximately $2000 in Wal-Mart stock at current market prices. The author is not a physician, but he holds an MS in Biochemistry with an emphasis on metabolism.
No comments:
Post a Comment